Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne vs World War Z
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne is an FPS game (2003) while World War Z is an FPS horror game from Saber Interactive Inc (2021).
Quick answer: Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne rates higher, 8.1 to 7.3 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, World War Z under FPS and Horror.
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.
World War Z is a heart-pounding coop third-person shooter for up to 4 players featuring massive swarms of hundreds of zombies, focused on fast-paced, gruesomely spectacular action.
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
The novel is framed around a series of interviews conducted by a fictionalized version of Max Brooks, author of The Zombie Survival Guide (this is a real book in-universe, where it is known as the " Civilian Survival Guide"). An agent for the United Nations Postwar Commission, Brooks travels the world a decade after the end of what is most commonly referred to as the "Zombie War". The pandemic begins twenty years previously in the early 21st century,… (Wikipedia)
Characters
Max Brooks as the Interviewer, explicitly identified by name as Max Brooks in the audiobook, an agent of the United Nations Postwar Commission and implied to be the author of the Civilian Survival Guide . Steve Park as Kwang Jingshu, a Chinese physician. Frank Kamai as Nury Televadi, a smuggler and human trafficker. (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reviews for the novel have been generally positive. Gilbert Cruz of Entertainment Weekly gave the novel an "A" rating, commenting that the novel shared with great zombie stories the use of a central metaphor, describing it as "an addictively readable oral history. " Steven H Silver identified Brooks's international focus as the novel's greatest strength and commented favorably on Brooks's ability to create an appreciation for the work needed to combat a… (Wikipedia)
At a glance
| Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne | World War Z | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 8.1/10 | 7.3/10 |
| Steam rating | Very Positive (94%, 14,615) | Very Positive (82%, 32,551) |
| Critic aggregate | 86/100 | No aggregate |
| Price | $2.49 | $14.79 |
| Install size | — | 50 GB |
| Steam Deck | playable | unsupported |
| Released | 2003 | 2021 |
| Developer | — | Saber Interactive Inc |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne vs World War Z, 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 gameWorld War ZFPS horror 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 ShooterWorld War ZZombies, Online Co-Op, ActionThe 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 criticWorld War ZScore 7.3 · 82% on SteamThe 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 reviewsWorld War Z32,551 reviews · 22 add-ons · 50 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 ✓$2.49World War Z$14.79Read live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne ✓PlayableWorld War ZUnsupportedValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne takes 3 of the marked rounds to 0. 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 World War Z 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: Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne (playable)
- The safer bet by weight of reviews: World War Z (32,551 reviews)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
ActionThird-Person ShooterShooterSingleplayerThird Person
Where they differ
NoirClassicBullet TimeStory RichAtmosphericDark
ZombiesMultiplayerOnline Co-OpCo-opPvESurvival Horror
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. World War Z 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 1 for World War Z. 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 World War Z in scope?
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne has drawn 14,615 Steam reviews. World War Z has drawn 32,551 Steam reviews, ships 22 add-ons and installs in 50 GB.
Is Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne or World War Z better?
By the GamingPickz Score, Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne rates higher (8.1 to 7.3). 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 World War Z?
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne is cheaper right now at $2.49, against $14.79. Prices move, so this is read live from Steam and can change.
Should I get Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne or World War Z?
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne rates higher, 8.1 to 7.3 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.