Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne vs The Evil Within 2
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne is an FPS game (2003) while The Evil Within 2 is a horror open-world game from Tango Gameworks (2017).
Quick answer: Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne rates higher, 8.1 to 7.9 on the GamingPickz Score, and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne is the cheaper at $2.49.
What each one is
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne is filed under FPS. In contrast, The Evil Within 2 under Horror and Open-World.
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne is a violent, film-noir love story. Dark, tragic and intense, the in-depth story is a thrill-ride of shocking twists and revelations. Love hurts.
Detective Sebastian Castellanos has lost everything, including his daughter, Lily. To save her, he must descend into the nightmarish world of STEM. Horrifying threats emerge from every corner, and he must rely on his wits to survive. For his one chance at redemption, the only way out is in.
Story, characters and reception
Plot
See also: Max Payne (series) § Characters Comic panels are used as cutscenes to provide plot exposition in the game. Two years after the events of the first game , Max Payne ( James McCaffrey ) has been acquitted of the charges against him and reinstated in his old job as a detective for the NYPD, thanks to his connections to the Inner Circle secret society . The story is narrated from Max's perspective, who recalls the events of the past few days. (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reception Max Payne 2 received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, while the PS2 version received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator website Metacritic . Steve Polak of the Australian The Daily Telegraph , who enjoyed the first Max Payne game, also praised Max Payne 2 , calling it an "outstanding" game that "keeps alive the sense of atmosphere and engaging gunplay-oriented action that was so exciting in the first release. "… (Wikipedia)
Plot
Three years after the events of the first game, Sebastian Castellanos (Marqus Bobesich / Hiroyuki Kinoshita ) has left the Krimson City Police Department, haunted by his experiences at the Beacon Mental Hospital. His only child, Lily (Kiara Gamboa / Sakura Sakai), supposedly perished in their house fire, and his wife Myra (Elizabeth Saydah / Rika Fukami ), unwilling to accept her daughter's death, abandoned him. This, coupled with his trauma, results in… (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reception Critical reception The Evil Within 2 received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic . Ray Porreca's score of 7/10 on Destructoid said it was "Solid and definitely has an audience. There could be some hard-to-ignore faults, but the experience is fun. (Wikipedia)
At a glance
| Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne | The Evil Within 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 8.1/10 | 7.9/10 |
| Steam rating | Very Positive (94%, 14,615) | Very Positive (92%, 30,959) |
| Critic aggregate | 86/100 | 80/100 |
| Price | $2.49 | $39.99 |
| Install size | — | 40 GB |
| Steam Deck | playable | verified |
| Released | 2003 | 2017 |
| Developer | — | Tango Gameworks |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne vs The Evil Within 2, point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max PayneFPS gameThe Evil Within 2Horror open-world gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max PayneAction, Noir, Third-Person ShooterThe Evil Within 2Horror, Survival Horror, Psychological HorrorThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne ✓Score 8.1 · 94% on Steam · 86 criticThe Evil Within 2Score 7.9 · 92% on Steam · 80 criticThe GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Content and scale
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne14,615 reviewsThe Evil Within 230,959 reviews · 40 GBReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne ✓$2.49The Evil Within 2$39.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max PaynePlayableThe Evil Within 2 ✓VerifiedValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne takes 2 of the marked rounds to 1. That is only what a number can decide, not which you will enjoy more.
The two on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueMax Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne and The Evil Within 2 on the axes the GamingPickz Score is built from, on the full 0 to 100 scale so each dot is its real position. Change either axis to compare them on any measure.
2 games have both
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- Multi-platform
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
Which to pick, by what you want
- The higher-rated of the two: Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne (GamingPickz Score 8.1)
- The cheaper right now: Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne ($2.49)
- Better on a Steam Deck: The Evil Within 2 (verified)
- The safer bet by weight of reviews: The Evil Within 2 (30,959 reviews)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
ActionThird-Person ShooterStory RichShooterSingleplayerAtmosphericThird PersonDark
Where they differ
NoirClassicBullet TimeCinematicCrimeDetective
HorrorSurvival HorrorPsychological HorrorOpen WorldGoreViolent
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. The Evil Within 2 is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 0 accessibility features for Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne and 4 for The Evil Within 2. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne and The Evil Within 2 in scope?
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne has drawn 14,615 Steam reviews. The Evil Within 2 has drawn 30,959 Steam reviews and installs in 40 GB.
Is Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne or The Evil Within 2 better?
By the GamingPickz Score, Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne rates higher (8.1 to 7.9). That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, not our taste. "Better" also depends on price, length and platform, which the table above lays out.
Which is cheaper, Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne or The Evil Within 2?
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne is cheaper right now at $2.49, against $39.99. Prices move, so this is read live from Steam and can change.
Should I get Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne or The Evil Within 2?
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne rates higher, 8.1 to 7.9 on the GamingPickz Score, and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne is the cheaper at $2.49. It also depends on what you want: the "which to pick" section above calls out which is cheaper, lighter on storage, better on a Steam Deck and the safer bet by weight of reviews.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
How we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.