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/                            Max Payne 2                            
|                      The Fall of Max Payne                        |
|                   A Max Payne 2 guide by Sado                     |
|                            Version 0.41                           |
\___________________________________________________________________/

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            Information about the Author and the Game                    
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Hi, Sado here. I'm 17 and proud to be a dutchie. Dutchieland (By most
known as the Netherlands) isn't such an exiting place to be so 
there's nothing better to do than writing stuff about... stuff. 
Anyway, good of you to open this guide, hope it will help you a lot.
As you can see it is not fully finished yet, but hey, there's no
rush. Look at the version info all the way down if you actually care
about how the updates are coming along. 

Well, Max Payne 2 kinda is fun, otherwise I wouldn't be writing a 
guide about it. Played it on all difficulties and I actually beat all
of them in 8 days. Yeah, I got nothing better to do. That's why I'm
wasting more time by writing this guide, huzzah! For sake of the 
gaming industry, go get yourself a LEGAL copy at your stores right
now if you don't own this game already and help out companies like
Rockstar and Remedy who make magnificent games. Make sure to read
the legal stuff and treat this guide with dignity... It has feelings
too, you know!

Sado

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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                            Legal Issues
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You may print this thing out, use it as toilet paper, set it on
fire to keep your hands warm or you could just read it, as long as 
this documents remains 100% of its original form. This document is
for personal use only. You may not publish this document, or use
any part of it, without permission from me, the author. You may not
display this document anywhere without permission. Email me if you
want permission, and please be precise in what you want to do with
this document. 

All trademarks and copyrights found in this document are owned by 
their respective copyright and trademark holders.

WARNING: This document, like the game, contains excessive use of
foul language, voilence and blasphemy. If you feel offended by this,
or if you are not allowed to read about these kinds of things in
your community, then I advice you not to continue reading. Also, this
document will spoil a lot of the game, such as the dialogue. Always
try to figure out how to get past a point by yourself first. 

 ___________________________________________________________________
/                             Contents                              
|                        and Search System                          |
\___________________________________________________________________/

Use the contents below to find your way around in this guide. If you 
want to quickly skip to a certain chapter, look at the number/letter
combination between the "[xx]" and hit ctrl+f on your keyboard. Enter
the combination and hit enter twice to quickly skip to the chapter.

Contents:
1.0 - Character Information and their Histories
   [1a] - Max Payne
   [1b] - Mona Sax
   [1c] - Detective Winterson
   [1d] - Jim Bravura
   [1e] - Vladimir Lem
   [1f] - Vincent 'Vinnie' Cognitti
2.0 - Walkthrough
   2.1 - Part 1: The Darkness Inside
      [2a] - Legend
      [2b] - The Prologue
      [2c] - Chapter 1: Elevator Doors
      [2d] - Chapter 2: A Criminal Mastermind
      [2e] - Chapter 3: The Depths of my Brain
      [2f] - Chapter 4: No 'us' in this
      [2g] - Chapter 5: A Sign of her Passage
      [2h] - Chapter 6: A Linear Sequence of Scares
      [2i] - Chapter 7: The Million Dollar Question
   2.2 - Part 2: A Binary Choice
      [2j] - The Prologue
3.0 - Weaponry
   [3a] - Melee
   [3b] - Molotov Cocktails
   [3c] - Grenades
   [3d] - Dual Desert Eagles
   [3e] - Desert Eagle
   [3f] - Dual 9MM Pistol
   [3g] - 9MM Pistol
   [3h] - Striker
   [3i] - Shotgun
   [3j] - Sawed-off Shotgun
   [3k] - MP5
   [3l] - Ingram
   [3m] - Dual Ingrams
   [3n] - M4 Carbine
   [3o] - AK47 Kalashnikov
   [3p] - Dragunov
   [3q] - Sniper Rifle
4.0 - Payne to the Max
   [4a] - Don't want to end up in a grave? Learn how to strafe
   [4b] - Learn how to aim to stay in the game
   [4c] - Learn how to throw to steal the show
   [4d] - Walk while they talk
   [4e] - No Payne, no gain
   [4f] - It'll be fine, as long as you keep using Bullet Time
   4.1 - The Million Dollar Questions: FAQ
      [41a] - In-Game Questions
      [41b] - General Questions
   4.2 - Behind the Payne
      [42a] - Max Payne
      [42b] - The 'Fall' of Max Payne
5.0 - Version Information


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/			Character Information                       
|                        and their Histories                        |
\___________________________________________________________________/

- Max Payne -                                                    [1a]

A few years ago, his family was brutally murdered by Junkies that 
were high on a drug named V, for Valkyr. At that point, Max was still
with the NYPD, but after the murder, he was transferred to the DEA. 
he worked together with Alec Balder and the mysterious BB, and they 
were to solve the Valkyr case. It took them 3 long years to finally 
get a breakthrough in the case, and Max was to meet up with Alec in 
the Roscoe Street Station. However, things went completely wrong as 
Max got involved in the robbery of a bank, and as he made his way 
through dozens of thugs, he witnessed Alec getting shot in front of
his eyes. Supposedly, a mob boss named Jack Lupino was behind the 
robbery, and Max happened to work undercover as a gangster for 
Lupino. He went back to Lupino's hotel, only to run into the Finito
brothers, who were ordered to kill Max since apparently, Lupino
figured out about Max' real employer. 

Max went for Vinnie Cognitti first, a guy working for Lupino, and 
after having found him, he left him alive in exchange for some 
information. After a lot of killing, Max made his way to Lupino and 
killed him. However, it seemed things were way more complicated than
that, as suddenly a woman named Mona Sax stepped in explaining the
situation. Lupino worked for Punchinello, head of a crime family, and
 Punchinello was married to Mona's twin sister, Lisa. But Mona had 
other plans to solve the case and slipped some Valkyr into Max' drink. 
After waking up, he came in contact with Vladimir Lem, a russian mob 
boss with old fashioned principles. 'Vlad' offered to help Max out 
with his fight against the mafia and told him to take care of a man 
named Boris Dime who turned over to Punchinello's side, taking with 
him a ship full of weaponry. Max went there, killed Dime, took the 
cargo back and went for Punchinello's restaurant after having made a 
deal. Spiteful, Punchinello didn't show up and rigged the restaurant 
with explosives. Max made his way out and Vlad, now having become 
best friends with Max, took him to Punchinello's manor. 

Having arrived there, Max found out even more. Lisa Punchinello was 
dead, and although Max wanted to kill Punchinello for his crimes, he 
got taken care of by a mysterious army of killer suits. Max tried to 
get out of the house but bumped into a woman who was the boss of the 
killer suits. Injected Valkyr into his body, she left Max, thinking he 
would die. But he didn't, and Max crawled back to the streets, 
waiting in an all-night diner for new information. BB called, and 
told Max he wanted to meet. After some pondering, Max figured out BB
was actually also working for the same woman who was with the killer
suits, and BB actually was the one who murdered Alec. Max took care
of BB and was contacted by an indivual named Alfred Woden, who 
wanted to meet Max. 

Max went to his place, an old government building, and learned about 
the Inner Circle and it's members. The woman with the killer suits was
Nicole Horne, president of Aesir Coorporation, a succesful company. 
She was the one behind the Valkyr project, together with Inner Circle 
members. Valkyr was first meant to increase the stamina of soldiers 
during the Gulf War, but turned out to be a big failure. After the 
Inner Circle gave the project up, Horne revived the project and sent 
the Junkies to Max' house. Max' wife worked for Horne and found out 
little information about the secret Valkyr project, and thus she had 
to die. After having told all this to Max, the Inner Circle was 
suddenly assaulted by the killer suits, and they killed everyone 
except for Alfred Woden. 

Woden left Max with the assignment to kill Horne, in exchange for 
freedom, since half of the police force was after Max. Max made his
way through the killer suits and went for Aesir coorperation's main
building. He encountered Mona there again, who was actually hired by
Horne just like the killer suits. Although Horne ordered Mona to kill
Max, Mona didn't because she didn't want to kill a nice guy. Shortly
after that, Mona was shot in the head by one of the building's guards
and seemingly had suffered a fatal wound. However, as the elevator 
she collapsed in moved up and came down, she mysteriously 
disappeared. Max took the elevator up and killed Horne for what she 
had done to his family. Max' revenge was complete. Or was it?

Now Max Payne works for the NYPD, under supervision of Jim Bravura, 
who constantly chased him in the first Max Payne. He works together 
with Winterson, a well respected female detective. During a regular 
investigation Max runs into Mona Sax, a woman he thought of as dead, 
and from that point on everything changes. 

- Mona Sax -                                                    [1b]

A mercenary working for anyone who requires her services, she is at
first working for Nicole Horne. However, she doesn't kill Max in the
first game as she thinks of Max as a nice guy. In Max Payne 2, she 
works for a diffirent party, one unknown to Max. However, things are
complicated as she is a murder suspect and wanted for the murder on
a senator. Although Max should take her in when they meet, he 
doesn't, as he has a crush on Mona. And that feeling appears to be 
mutual. 

- Detective Winterson -                                         [1c]

A well respected detective, she works together with Max on their 
cases. Jim Bravura, who used to be chief of an NYPD police force now
works as their boss. She seems to have a new boyfriend who is doing
all mysterious about, a relationship that is going to work against 
Max and his efforts to find more about the Inner Circle.

- Jim Bravura -                                                 [1d]

Head of a local police station, he gives assignments to Detective 
Winterson and Payne. He knows Max Payne from their meetings in the 
past during quite contrary positions. As Max ravages through New 
York in the first game, leaving only a trail of death, Bravura is 
constantly on Max's heels. As we all know, Max is not that good in 
negotiating, and their cooperation soon turns into a less friendly 
one as Max resumes his way to undercover his true identity. 

- Vladimir Lem -                                                [1e]

A russian mob boss who claims to have mended his ways. He and Max 
became friends during the first game and that friendship continues 
in this game as Max rescues Vlad from Gognitti's men. Vlad has 
bought the Ragnarok, Jack Lupino's old club, and is turning it into
a restaurant with the name 'Vodka'. However, for a mob boss who has 
mended his ways, he still has an awful nice supply of weapons in the 
back.

- Vincent 'Vinnie' Cognitti -                                   [1f]

He used to work for Lupino, and is still connected to the Mafia. He
turns Vlad's restaurant into a morgue as they get into a mob war. 
During the first Max Payne, the russians and the mafia were also 
fighting a mob war, and this game, that battle intensifies. Vinnie is
a big fan of Captain Baseball Batboy, a cartoon that is on TV 
regularly during the game, and has a huge collection of the cartoon 
in his home. He doesn't only appear like a loser, he IS a loser, but 
you'll get to feel a bit sorry for him later in the game. 

 ___________________________________________________________________
/                           Walkthrough                             
\___________________________________________________________________/

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                               The Legend                        [2a]
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You will see several icons while reading the walkthrough. These have 
been put there to tell you what to do to advance further into the 
game. You will also get additional information, such as the locations
of secret items, stuff related to Max Payne 1 and what enemies
appear where. Here is a legend of how to use them:

[i]: This indicates there is an item that can picked up. These 
     usually are painkillers.

[d]: This tells you what to do to advance further into the level. 
     It's the 'd' of 'directions'.

[e]: This tells you about encounters with enemies. You will usually  
     get strategies on how to get past them.

[c]: The cutscenes. These also include the television shows you can 
     watch along the way.

(?): A part of which I don't know exactly what is said. If you know 
     the answer, please send me a mail.

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                    Part 1: The Darkness Inside                   
                             Prologue                            [2b]  
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The Manor, Now

Female Voice: God! I turned out to be such a damsel in distress.

Max: They were all dead. Love kills.

Max: Did I love her? Was there a choice?

Max: The past is a gaping hole.

Max: You try to run from it, but the more you run, the deeper, more 
     terrible it grows behind you, its edges yawning at your heels.

Max: Your only chance is to turn around and face it.

Police Officer: We are at the scene, repeat, we are at the scene!

Max: But it's like looking down into the grave of your love.

Police Officer: Check the area! Hold your fire!

Max: Or kissing the hole of a gun, a bullet trembling in its dark 
     nest, ready to blow your head off.


The Hospital, Earlier Tonight

Nurse: We are losing him!

* Max lies on a brancard, heavily wounded.

Nurse: Multiple gunshot wounds! pupils blown, head-trauma, god only  
       knows what else!

Nurse: He's in shock. Start two large-bore IVs. Get him to ICU, stat!

Nurse: He's not responding! This guy is a train wreck. We are losing 
       him.

Max: When I woke up in the hospital earlier tonight, I thought it 
     couldn't get any worse.

Max: My eyes opened, and everything slid into focus.

* Max takes off all the hospital gizmo's attached to his body.

Max: She was dead.

Max: I was hurt. My crime, what I had done, was like a hungry pit 
     behind me.

* Max crawls to a get his jacket, and puts it back on.

Max: I had to run, get as far away from it as possible.
_____________________________________________________________________

"The world was out of joint. I was hallucinating. I had to get away",
thinks Max. The screen moves through the halls of an empty 
hospitals, into Max' room. He hears all kinds of strange voices and
seems to be confused. He can barely keep on both of his feet. You 
can hear sirens outside, where drops are raining down from the sky. 
It seems to be a stormy evening. Lighting luminates most of the room, 
and you need to find a way to get out of there.

[i] Look at the closet behind you and open it with your [use] button. 
    Grab the two Painkillers.

[d] Navigate yourself through the hospital. Most of the doors are 
    locked, so you should have no problem finding your way around. 

[c] "Hello? Anyone there?", says Max. You hear all kinds of voices 
    in your head. A blinding flash turns the screen to max' face
    "What are you so afraid of? What do you want from me?" asks a 
    female voice. Suddenly there is a woman in the room, and Max has
    some fun with her. "There was a blind spot in my head. A bullet
    shaped hole where the answer should be. Call it denial. I wanted 
    to dig inside my skull and scrape the pain away", ponders Max.
    You hear a telephone ring in the other room. Move to it and press
    the [use] button. "Is this the Payne residence?" asks a harsh 
    female voice. People who played Max Payne 1 will recognise the 
    voice of Nicole Horne. A flash blinds the screen once again, and 
    a nurse seems to tell a doctor about a detective they brought to
    the morgue.

[i] There are 3 Painkillers in the Med Kit in front of the door
    saying 'Exit'.

[c] As you walk into the next room, you see a dead man lying on the 
    floor. Max grabs the gun the man is lying on. "I'll deal with 
    Payne. He's as good as dead", says a voice on the other side of
    the wall. "Freeze, NYPD!", yells Max. "Found him!" says 
    mercenary.

[e] Use your gun to shoot down the Mercenary. Go for the head if you 
    want enemies taken care of quickly. If you run out of ammo and 
    need to reload, then move yourself behind the wall and wait until
    your gun in ready for us again. Then finish him off. Move over 
    his body to pick up another 9MM pistol. 

[c] "She's one of them. She's here to kill me", says a female voice. 
    Max almost drops on the floor, and sees the female's face on a 
    picture in the wall. "Back off, Payne", says another female
    voice. You look behind you and see a woman. "Winterson!" yells 
    Max. You move through the door and see a children's daycare. If
    you look closely at the drawings that are against the windows you
    might recognize a familiar scene from Max Payne 1. 

[c] Address Unknown TVshow. 
    John: ...The countryside was sickingly pretty. The sun setting 
    on a sweet summer day. Rain sparkling on grass. Birds in the 
    trees. Children playing.
    
    * Screen fades to some strange building with a Pink Bird as logo.
    
    John: The Pink Bird Mental Institute.

    * John seems to be in a room, recieving the treatment of a mental
      patient.

    John: Mirror's men pretended to be hospital wardens.

    Eerie voice: The flesh... The flesh... I think I'm dead... I 
    don't know... Death is coming! It is coming! They are here! Get 
    away! I'm gonna hurt you...

    John: They said I was an escaped mental patient.

    Eerie voice: Diagnosis... Paranoid Schizophrenic. You are insane.
    Psychotic. You have retentive pills to get better.

    John: They lied that I had killed my girlfriend. John Mirror came
    to mug me in the bathroom mirror. The flamingo was with him.

    John Mirror: Muwhaahahahahahahahaha!

    Flamingo: Mirrors are more fun that television.

    John: Mirror claimed my girlfriend had turned evil. Joined him.

    Flamingo: She has dyed her hair in red.

    John: Waaaaaaaaaah! I smashed the mirror. I killed them all.

    Narrator: Stay tuned as Adress Unknown continues.
    
[d] Get into the elevator and press the [use] button to move to 
    another floor.

[c] "Payne!" says Jim Bravura. "You're not going anywhere. What 
    happened out there?! You did it. You killed her, didn't you! You 
    killer her!" he continues. "No. I can't", says Max. You watch as
    Bravura gets shot by bullets from an ingram. Blood smears against
    the wall as you duck for cover. You press the button of the 
    elevator to return to the previous floor. The mercenary 
    accidently hits the gasholder, which then drops on the side and
    gets launched straight into the elevator next to you. "They were 
    after me. It was my fault", says Max. He barely survives the 
    explosion and tries to get out of the mess. "You can't run from 
    the past. You'll end up running in circles. Until you fall back
    down into the hole you were trying to escape from. Only the hole
    has grown deeper.", ponders Max.

[c] In the room lies the body of a woman. It's the same body as you
    saw earlier in one of your illusions. "I had tried to run from 
    it. Edit it out. Winterson was dead. I was a murderer", ponders
    Max. The screen fades out.
_____________________________________________________________________

The Manor, Now.

Max: A false start.

Max: The hospital wasn't the beginning. It was past the point of no 
     return, the fatal choice already made. And it would get worse 
     before the end.

Max: The past is a puzzle, like a broken mirror. As you piece it 
     together, you cut yourself, your image keeps shifting. And you 
     change with it.

Max: It could destroy you, drive you mad. It could set you free.

Police officer: You inside! Drop your weapons and come out with your
                hands above your head.

Max: You'll see the choices you didn't know you'd made, like staying 
     at work late to chat with a friend, instead of hurrying home to 
     your family.

Police officer: Fan out people! Circle around! Cover all the exits!

Max: Kissing her, I think of the cold laws of cause and effect.

Police officer: Where are those extra units? Call the central! We 
                need every available unit here now!

Max: I am afraid.

Max: But I start again from the beginning, trace my own steps back to 
     the scene of the crime. 

#####################################################################
                   Part 1: The Darkness Inside                   
                    Chapter 1: Elevator Doors                    [2c]    
#####################################################################

New York City, Last Night.

Max: I had wanted to be punished for what I had done. 

Max: But Alfred Woden had kept his word.

Max: With his influence, ridiculously, I had emerged from my history 
     of voilence unscathed, a hero.

Max: I didn't thank him. I couldn't stomach it. I left the DEA.

Max: I went back to where I'd started out, back to the job, the 
     NYPD.

Police Officer: ...Repeated shots fired from in a warehouse there. 
 	          Please acknowledge.

Max: I'm on it.

Police Officer: Ten four.

Max: This wasn't a call for a homocide detective. But I knew the 
     adress. The warehouse belonged to Vladimir Lem.

Max: He was connected to organised crime. We went back a while.

Max: 'Like brothers caught on diffirent sides in a civil war'. His 
     words.
_____________________________________________________________________

Max drives onto the driving place, the fence shutting behind him. 
"Help!", screams a voice. Max gets out of the car and hides behind 
the door. "Need backup! Unknown number of armed purps inside! 
Possible hostage situation!" yells Max. "Ten Four, backup is on it's
way!", says the Police officer on the other side of the line. "I'm 
going in!", says Max. 

[d] The warehouse isn't a hostile place... yet. Just move to the 
[i] delivery car and open the door with the [use] button. Grab the
    Painkiller and the 9MM pistol. There is nothing more on the 
    driving lane, so move to the fence to your right. The fence is 
    open. Keep moving and open the door. The inside of the warehouse 
    appears to be a maze, but it isn't that bad. Just find your way 
    through. Whenever you see red crates when venturing around, watch
    out -- they are explosive. Make good use of them when you are in 
    a battle with thugs. You will also see a lot of green canisters,
    they can explore as well. Just shoot at them. 

[c] "With no way to deal with the past, I kept my eyes on the road, 
    off the rear-view mirror, and the road killed behind me. I chased
    lesser mysteries, other people's crimes", says Max.

[c] People might recognize Dick Justice from Max Payne 1. During a 
    cutscene in the ending parts of Max Payne 1, a mercenary is 
    talking with another mercenary about giving names to their 
    weapons. One of them named his weapon 'Dick Justice'.

    Dick Justice TVshow.
    Female Voice: Please!

    Thug: Die! Die!

    Dick: Freeze! Oh no... no... no! Please! God! No, baby. Nooooo!

    Narrator: Stranded in a dark and voilent night. Dick Justice, 
    alone hard-boiled fugutive cop. Praying for the murder of his
    wife. On a quest for vengeance through the criminal underworld. 
    In the city's heart of darkness.

    Dick: The rain was coming down like all the angels in heaven had 
    decided to take a piss at the same time. In a situation like mine
    you can only think in metaphors. They had killed the love of my 
    live. They are going to pay.

[d] Before you move further into the complex, when you met the
[i] cleaning guy, move back into the room, go to the left. You will 
    see a set of boxes you can jump on. Be careful not to fall down.
    Jump from box to box until you reach the Ingram ammo. You can 
    jump to more boxes when you timing is good enough to reach the
    Ingram pistol. This gun will come in handy during the fights that
    are up ahead. Go back and follow the guy to the door, which he 
    will open up for you. 

[c] "NYPD!", yells Max as he charges to the person. "Whao, easy, 
    officer, easy! Just cleaning the place! Come on officer I work
    for the cleaning company!" says the cleaning guy. "You didn't 
    hear anything suspicious, did you?" asks Max. "Uhm... no.. no... 
    oh wait! You mean the gunshop upstairs!" replies the cleaner.
    "Take me there. Move", demands Max. "Sure... if that's what you
    want", says the cleaner. Max pushes the cleaner into the 
    direction of the opened room. "You know officer, you cops got it 
    easy. All you have to do is go to the crime scene and look around 
    a bit. We're the ones who have to clean up that mess, brains, 
    guts 'n shit", says the cleaner. "Detective", snarls Max. "Oh, 
    you're DT huh? You know what I mean. You get the credit, and what
    do we get?", continues the cleaner. "Right", says Max. "Oh yeah!
    You know what I'm saying", laughs the cleaner. "After you,
    detective..."

[e] Watch out as this guy will be shooting at you with a 9MM after
    you go through the door. The best thing to do is to keep facing
    him even while you pass through the door, and once he grabs his
    gun, perform a shootdodge to the back while blazing your guns at
    him. Once he drops, quickly turn around and use your remaining
    Bullet Time to take care of the cleaner attacking you from 
    behind. 

[c] "Oh detective... I got something for ya", says the cleaner while
    he reached for his gun. After shooting the guy and some other 
    dude attacking Max from behind, Max continues deeper into the 
    warehouse. "The purps were masquerading as cleaners", thinks Max.

[d] A mysterious tune will start playing on the background. Never 
[i] forget to pick up guns enemies drop. Grab the two 9MM pistols on
    the ground and move towards the next door. Open it by using the 
    [Use] button in front of the keypad. Also Notice the 'Ragnarok'
    board on the right. What could it be doing here?

[c] Some gunshots are heard coming from the next room. "I'm not a 
    voilent man by nature, but it pisses me more than anything when 
    they do that", says a cleaner. "It's an insult, that's what it
    is!" says the other cleaner. "We're trying to clean the place, 
    they should have more sense than to blood on the floor", says
    the cleaner. "That's the ticket! We should find a way to kill
    them without spilling any blood. You know, gas 'em or poison 'em
    or something", replies the other cleaner.

[i] While moving through the small workplace into the next hall, be 
    sure to check out the cabinet for a Painkiller. 

[e] There are two cleaners having a conversation. If you're having 
    trouble taking care of them, simply run in, activate Bullet Time 
    and keep strafing around them while firing your dual 9MM pistols.
    They both have a simply 9MM pistol so they will likely miss all 
    of their shots if you do it right. Borrow their discarded 
    pistols -- they won't mind. Continue through the doors upstairs.

[c] "...As soon as Jackie Brown finishes the guy he's taking care of,
    we're done.", says a cleaner. "Okay. I'll gather up the group. 
    Make sure the clean up is done. Once we're outta here, there 
    won't be a shred of evidence for the cops to find", says the 
    other one. "That's just a ghost story", replies the cleaner. 

[e] Looks like these guys are up to no good, cleaning bodies of the
    people they killed. Time to be the hero. The guys having a 
    conversation are a bit hard to fight since you're in a staircase
    and you can't aim too well. The best thing is to move as closely
    to them as you can, and shoot the guy standing in front of the
    opened doorway with a clean shot in the head. Quickly move to
    the other one and fire your way through. Be careful not to hit 
    the canister filled with gasoline. Don't forget the guns!

[c] "The room looked like a gun storage, but it had been cleaned 
    out", ponders Max. He moves past the empty crates. In the 
    next room he notices a shining red button. "The messaging machine 
    had a message on it", observes Max. He listens to the message.
    "You have reached Annie Finn. I'm not here right now because I'm
    doing some nasty things that kill. So leave a message after the
    beep", says Annie. "You have one new message", says the answering
    machine. "Sweeet Annie. Vlad here. To be a gun in your gentle
    care. Ah, a man can dream. Sorry I coulnd't be there, something's
    come up. Nothing to worry about, but keep an eye out for 
    trespassers. If anything happens to you, if anything comes up...
    Just whistle... And I'll be there.", says Vladimir Lem. "Beep! 
    You have no new messages", says the answering machine.   

[c] "I told you to sit down!", says a voice on the other side of the
    wall. Time to jump in! "Enough chitchat. Finish her!" says the 
    tough guy in the cleaning suit. "Wait! The mob guys attacked us! 
    I have no beef with you guys, you took them out! Listen! I work
    for Vladimir!" yells the woman. "Honey, you work for no one", 
    says the cleaner. "We... We... Can...", stumbles the woman. Max 
    opens the door. "NYPD, drop 'em!", says Max. The guys look at 
    each other and then one of them starts shooting at Max, who hides 
    behind the wall for cover. "Finish her!" orders the cleaner. 
    "Oh god! Nooo!" screams the woman. "Like all the things in my
    life, it started with the death of a woman. I couldn't save her", 
    ponders Max.

[e] The two guys will come after you with, one armed with an ingram
    and one with a 9MM. Watch out for the guy with ingram, as this 
    gun can hurt you the most. Enter Bullet Time for a brief period
    of time and shoot them down. You will then hear distant voices
    nearing your position. Grab the dropped guns and hide in the room
    with the body of the woman (She should be Annie Finn, since she 
    owns the gunshop). Once they near your spot, get into Bullet Time
    and keep firing your Ingram at them 'till they drop. Don't worry 
    if you run out of bullets; when you're in Bullet Time you will
    swiftly reload. 

[i] Don't forget to take the shotgun with you. When you get back into
    the previous room, you can open a safe containing some shotgun 
    ammo. Also, you can open to cabinet next to it for more 
    Painkillers. Don't forget to use these when you are seriously
    wounded! You can activate them by pressing your Backspace key, to
    which the Painkillers are assigned by default. Keep moving back
    from where you came from and open the safe to the left for more
    9MM ammo. 

[e] Now it becomes a little more tricky as there will be more enemies
    coming after you. This will be your first 3 on 1 battle, one that
    is typical to Max Payne 2. When you enter the room, hide behind 
    the crates you can't miss. You will the 3 cleaners flood into 
    the room going for your spot. Don't let them corner you -- take
    the initiative. If you have enough ammo left, use your ingram and
    spray them to death. If you don't, then use your dual 9MM to kill
    them. Keep moving towards them with your guns blazing and don't 
    worry about the reload. You should have no trouble taking care of
    them in Bullet Time. 

[i] Search the safes for a shotgun, some shotgun ammo and more
    Painkillers. 

[c] Max moves deeper into the warehouse, where some cleaners are 
    making a run for it. "Come on! Come on!" says one of the cleaners
    in a panicking voice. "Finally", says the cleaner as the elevator 
    arrives and opens... to reveal a gun wielded by a woman. "Hey!" 
    yells one of the cleaners. They are in confusion while she places
    her desert eagle on their foreheads, leaving none of them alive.
    "Mona?" asks Max in a dazed voice. "Max... We gotta stop meeting 
    like this. In Max Payne 1, Mona keeps saying this line everytime
    they meet again. "Mona!" yells Max. 

[e] When you move into the next storage room, watch out as there are
    two guys below you, one with a shotgun. Take care of them any way
    you want; just watch out not to get hurt too much.  

[d] Move back to the elevator and press the [use] button near the 
    keypad. Enter it. Press the operating button and wait for the 
    elevator doors to open. 

[c] "If you think nothing can get to you, you're lying to yourself. 
     At best you're temporary dead. A lighting bolt can reanimate you 
     without a warning", ponders Max. As the elevator moves down, 
     he eagerly awaits to get into a new fight. He walks out of the
     elevator into an empty space. "My backup had arrived, but the
     cleaners were slipping away, making a run for it".

[e] Move into the direction of the room you were in while talking to
    the cleaner you met first. There will be a guy ramming a vehicle 
    into the room. Enter Bullet Time and keep it on, move towards the
    guy and shoot him. Be careful, there are 3 more guys here to your
    right, one firing at you with a shotgun. Systematically wipe them
    out by moving to them, emptying your clips. Once you killed all
    4 enemies, turn off Bullet Time and collect the dropped weapons. 
    Keep moving when you enter the next room; the storage right in 
    front of you will fall over. If you don't move, it will fall on 
    top of you. One guy will get himself killed, one guy is moving
    away from you firing a shotgun, and one will suddenly appear from 
    your right. Take care of the one from you right first, leap into
    a Shootdodge and fill him with holes. The other one will get 
    away; follow him. Note that the guy that killed himself dropped
    his weapon near the vehicle, you might want to pick it up to
    replenish your ammo. 

[c] Max sees a lot of bodybags on the floor. As he opens the door, a 
    cleaner hops into a car and tries to get away. "Get in! Go! Go!" 
    yells the driver. Max keeps firing his 9MM pistol at the car. The 
    car turns around and goes for Max. Detective Winterson pulls Max
    out of the way. "Max!" says Winterson. "You alright?" she 
    she continues. "Damnit", says Max. "Payne! We're working together
    on this...", says Winterson. 
_____________________________________________________________________

Bravura: You got sloppy Payne. You screwed up. It's unacceptable that 
         she's dead. You can do better.

Max: *Thinking* I played it as business as usual.

Max: *Thinking* But everything had changed the moment those elevator 
     doors opened to reveal Mona.

Max: Annie Finch was a licensed gunsmith, licensed dealer in 
     firearms.  

Bravura: Right. The property owned by Vladimir Lem. Three groups, 
         one: Russian DOA's who had connections to the OC.

Winterson: Identified as Finn's employees.

Bravura: Two: the mafia. 

Bravura: And three: the clowns wearing the cleaning company 
         jumpsuits.

Max: They mentioned a name, "Kaufman".

Bravura: This one's evil. It has only started. I don't like it. I 
         don't like it a bit.

Bravura: It's yours, Payne. It makes no sense.

Bravura: For you, Winterson, Homocide, Sebastian Gate. 

Bravura: It's going to be all over the news.

Winterson: The senator?

Max: *Thinking* Winterson was the ideal, what the job was all
     about. Someone to look up to. Bravura knew it too.

Bravura: We got lucky. There's an eyewitness. 

Max: *Thinking* She was hovering over my shoulders, wispering 
     warnings.

Max: *Thinking* I didn't want to listen.

* Max looks at a picture of Mona.

Max: *Thinking* Mona was the suspect in Winterson's case. 

Max: *Thinking* I didn't tell them I had seen her. I wanted to 
     stall. 

Max: *Thinking* Maybe it was because she was alive when everyone 
     else kept dying on me, survivor's guilt washed away.

Police officer: Detective Winterson's phone!

Winterson: Give me that!

Police officer: Your boyfriend!

Max: *Thinking* The computer search on the 'Squeaky cleaning company'
     and 'Kaufman' had come up empty.

#####################################################################
                   Part 1: The Darkness Inside                   
                 Chapter 2: A Criminal Mastermind                [2d]
#####################################################################

Max: I need to talk to Vlad. Get his version. Be the bearer of bad 
     news on Annie Finn.

Max: Vlad had bought the old 'Ragnarok'-nightclub. He was renovating 
     it into a trendy restaurand, 'Vodka'.

Max: Mona's appearance had triggered a dislocation, Schizophrenia. I
     felt elation, but with it, fear that all the past evils had come
     along for the ride. 
_____________________________________________________________________

"Vlad!" yelled Max. Standing in front of the door, he heard gunfire
inside. The door was looked. "Max! 911! Bad guys with big guns! They 
got me pinned down the entrance hall! Could use some help! Could use 
it now!" yellad Vlad from inside. "I had to find another way to reach
Vlad. No time to call for backup. My case had a life of it's own. I 
got in through the backdoor", says Max. "Memories of my previous visit
here lurked in the shadows. A musty smell under the coat of new
paint".

[c] "Ladies and gentlemen. Allow me to present Max Payne, New York's 
    finest, with the biggest mobster body count ever. Dearest guests. 
    Prepare to die!", says Vlad through the mic, gunshots heard on 
    the background. "Max! I'd love to come down and welcome you, but 
    I'm busy dodging bullets and hiding under a desk at the 
    moment!" continues Vlad. 

[d] Welcome to the old Ragnarok club. It bring back memories indeed.
[i] Anyway, someone graciously killed the first guys for you and
    they lie to your right. Go there and grab the two Painkillers.
    Take the stairs and go up.

[c] "Help!" says one of Vlad's men. "Get him!" orders one of the 
    thugs. They exchange some fire and Vlad's guys drop on the floor.
    "And he's down. All clear here", says the thug. "Hey, they want
    war, we'll kill 'em, right feds?" says another thug. "They got 
    what's coming to them. Now we just need to find the motherfucker
    that's hiding behind the microphone and shut 'em up", continues
    the thug. "Yea! Pull his plug!" cheers one of thugs. "What's he
    coming by anyway?" asks another thug. "Hehehe, don't ask."

[e] "Who's there?!" says one of the thugs. Looks like they spotted 
    you. If you still got ingram ammo, enter Bullet Time and kill 
    them with rapid fire. Otherwise, grab your dual 9MM and shoot 
    them in Bullet Time regardless. Beware though, as two of them
    have an ingram, and one has a shotgun. Keep moving or you'll 
    fall!

[d] Check the dead guys. There is a small room next to them that
    looks like Vlad's office. Go in.

[c] "Someone was talking on the other line", thinks Max. "...Nothing
    to worry about, baby. I'm going to be alright. When haven't I 
    been alright? Max is here now. You know Max. I'll call you when
    it's over. I love you, baby", says Vlad through the phone. "Vlad
    was a perfect gentleman, reassuring his girlfriend. Someone... 
    other than Annie...", thinks Max. Max moves over to the mic. 
    Vlad, shut up and stay alive. I'm coming", says Max. "Max! You 
    heard him! He's coming for you!" replies Vlad. "Max! These guys 
    are a really lousy shots. You should have no problem taking 
    them!"

[e] Watch out as an enemy will approach you from behind. It's only 
    one; shoot him. 

[d] Keep going upstairs and open the door. 

[c] "He's coming!" panics one of the thugs. Bullet rain through the
    air. "He's a wolf! Stop 'em!" yells the other thug. "How do you
    like it now!" replies Mike the Cowboy. He keeps firing his AK and
    easily shoots the thugs. "Hey! You're Max Payne!" says Mike. 
    "Afraid so", replies Max. "Max! I am Mike, Vladimir's friend! 
    You're the sheriff! How about making me your deputy?" says Mike. 
    "Let's go bail out your boss before he talks us all to death", 
    says Max. "That's right!" says Mike. 

[d] Mike is a handy guy, he has an AK. Don't despair if he dies; it
[i] might even be better to let him die in the long run. However, if
    you keep him alive, he can fight alongside of you and help you
    a lot. Grab the weapons the thugs left behind and continue up.

[c] "They asked for it. Just follow the trail", says Mike. "Very good
    show, very funny! Baseballbat!!" cheers Mike. 
    
    TVshow Captain Baseballbat-boy.
    Narrator: ...Adventures of Captain Baseballbat-boy! Episode 
    165! Captain Baseballbat-boy's girlfriend!

    BBBboy: Ewww! She's not my girlfriend!

    Narrator: Captain Baseballbat-boy's archnemesis.

    BBBboy: That's more like it. 

    Narrator: Bicyclehelmet-girl has been kidnapped by the villanous
    Maxwell's Demon!

    BHgirl: Get your hands off me you ugly freak!
    
    Maxwell: Muwhaahahahaahah...

    Narrator: To save her, Baseballbat-boy must battle through a 
    horde of Demon's minions! The freaking-zombie-demons-from-outer-
    space!

    Zombies: Booooo...!

    BBBboy: Base's loaded... Fast ball!

    Zombies: Boooooo....! Splat!!

    BBBboy: Grand Slam!
 
    Zombies: Mwaaaaaaaah! 

    BBBboy: Hiyaaaa! 

    * Splatting sounds on the background

    Narrator: Captain Baseballbat-boy has hit a homerun! But can he 
    find Maxwell's secret lab before the game is over? Found out in 
    the next episode of the adventures of Captain Baseballbat-boy!

[d] enjoy the toons. Captain Baseballbat-boy is also the well-known 
    comic from Max Payne 1. Hence the name 'Frankie 'the bat' 
    Niagra'. Continue to next room when you're done. 

[c] "Jesus Christ! Apocalypse now! Got some heavy shit here!" Says
    one of the thugs while peeking into the weapon crates. "Tone it
    down! Just take everything! Leave them nothing!" orders the other
    thug. "And be on the lookout, the Russians are sneaky bastards!"
    continues the thug. 

[e] They are about to run off with some nice pieces. Activate Bullet
[i] Time and take a gun that fires rapidly. Kill them all before they
    can grab their own guns. Afterwards, take all the weaponry from
    the crates. The weapons should include ingrams, shotgun ammo,
    a couple of Painkillers and some desert eagle ammo. Don't forget
    to open the cabinet on the floor for another Painkiller.

[c] "Winterson would've found a way to do this nice, neat and clean.
    Logic told me backup should be on it's way. Someone must've 
    heard the gunshots.... Logic was such a liar", ponders Max. He
    walks towards the door to the staircase. "Teeth, the whole set 
    for a tooth. The only way to do it. Hey Chip, one of ours? We
    go daddle on 'em", says one of the thugs. "Hehehe... Hey what
    can you do? Vinnie's the boss! And for the time, he's too busy
    playing with his toys", says the other thug. "Gun business is
    our business. Ours! I don't care who says otherwise. We're in
    the gun business!" replies the other thug. "Right... What can
    you do?"

[e] Two guys around the corner... But they will shut the door tight.
    You will have to take the stairs.

[c] "We'll get there! Up the stairs!" says Mike.

[e] Now comes a hard part, be sure to have healed fully. Mike will
[i] probably take the initiative and run right up. Shoot the first
    guy that comes on your way. Grab the Painkiller he drops and use
    it if you aren't healed yet. Don't follow Mike down; instead, 
    run on to the highest point of the room. There will be a guy with
    an ingram waiting, waste him quickly. Run to his position and 
    shower the guys downstairs with your ingram. Run down the stairs
    and kill anyone still down there. If you want to keep Mike alive, 
    then don't grab their guns yet but keep moving to the back of the
    room, to the door. Notice the four Painkillers there... Take them
    and use them if you are hurt. Storm into the next room. If you
    played Max Payne 1, you will feel right at home here! Look at the
    ground and shoot the guys downstairs, preferably with your 9MM or
    desert eagle as they have the most accurate shot. run down the
    stairs and watch out for the two guys coming through the door.
    Quickly shoot them as they will open fire on you the moment they
    see you. Don't drop your guard yet; two more guys coming through 
    the door. Waste them the minute they enter your sight. If you run  
    out of Bullet Time, make us of shootdodge. Still no time to rest. 
    Assist Mike in the next room as there are three guys hiding 
    behind crates and other stuff. Your ingram should have plenty of
    ammo after all the killing, so make good use of it and blast your
    way through. Follow Mike into the next room with the pit. There 
    will be a guy to the left of you shooting at either you or Mike.
    Quickly kill him. The guys down in the pit are sitting ducks;
    don't drop your guard and make use of your replenished Bullet
    Time. Spray them or make use of the more accurate weapons.

    Perhaps now it's best to move back into the previous rooms to 
    pick up dropped weapons. There will be a molotov cocktail between 
    them too if you did it right; this'll come in handy in a few 
    minutes. In the room before the pit is a cabinet, open it for
    some grenades and three more Painkillers. Pick up anything you 
    can find and heal up; there will be a tough battle up ahead in
    which you will need all firepower possible. If you haven't 
    already, then quicksave with the F5 button. You might need it in
    the next struggle, depending if you want to keep Mike alive or
    not. 

[c] "Max, my friend! It was fun for a moment there! But my gun 
    doesn't have unlimited ammo. If you can, hurry!" says Vladimir.
    "Big trouble!" says Mike. "Max! Damnit! Aaaaargh!" screams Vlad.
    "That was bad!" says Mike. Vlad wouldn't be able to hold on much 
    longer. If it wasn't too late already", thinks Max. 

[i] In the room with the pit, on the upper floor, there is a table 
    with a shotgun and two shotgun ammo on it.

[d] Move down into the pit, don't fall. Falling hurts quite a bit in
    this game, so it is not worth it. Before you open the next doors,
    be sure to have healed, reloaded and wait for your Bullet Time to
    be fully replenished. Select Grenades as your secondary 
    weapon. Then open the doors.

[c] "What are you doin'? Kill the Russian'!" yells Vinnie. "Vinnie,
    this is embarrassing! Did you teach them how to shoot?" says
    Vlad. "Kill him, fuckin' kill him!" orders Vinnie. "We're coming
    boss!" yells Mike. "Give up, Vinnie. They are coming to take you
    away!" says Vladimir. "Can you hear them?" he continues. "Shut 
    up! Shut up!" screams Vinnie. "Come on, Vinnie, you're not really
    cut out for this!" says Vladimir. "Die Russian'! Fuckin' die 
    already!" yells Vinnie. "You're not even trying!" replies Vlad.
    "Hang on, Vlad!" says Max. "Max!" yells Vlad. "I'm coming", says
    Max. "Ah, not Payne! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! What are you waitin' for?!
    Circle around and kill 'em! Kill the cop!", yells Vinnie. "They
    way your hands are shaking, you couldn't even track!" says Vlad.
    "Shut up!" screams Vinnie. "Payne! You'll fuckin' pay for this
    Russian', you'll fuckin' pay!" says Vinnie while running through
    the front door. "My hero! You saved my life! I could kiss you!"
    says Vladimir. 
_____________________________________________________________________

Max: Vinnie Cognitti, a criminal mastermind?

Vlad: He is wiping out everyone he sees as competition on the black
      market gun trade. The mafia underboss has a made a deal with
      someone powerful.

Max: What was it you did for a living again?

Vlad: Scout's honor, detective, I have mended my ways, evolved to
      a higher level. Vodka will be the best restaurant in the city.
      I'll be rich and famous.

Vlad: Annie was a princess. They killed her for no reason.

Max: You hurt your hand just now? 

Vlad: A hot date yesterday. Can I tempt you?

Max: Let's pretend I'm on duty.

#####################################################################
                   Part 1: The Darkness Inside                   
                 Chapter 3: The Depths of My Brain               [2e]   
#####################################################################

Max: Home sweet home.

Max: Something in the night felt like a door had been opened, An echo
     of the past, an old monster snapping its eyes open in the depths
     of my brain.

Max: Closing your eyes forces you to look at the darkness inside. 

Narrator: And now, address unknown. 

Max: I hadn't slept in a long time, when I did, my dreams were 
     nightmares.

John: I was trapped in a nightmare. My evil double had taken my
      girlfriend.

Max: In a nightmare, every choice you make is a wrong one.

John: Following him, I had someone slipped into a twisted alternate  
      reality, Noir York City. 

Max: I woke up at night, afriad that day was a dream I'd forget.
_____________________________________________________________________

Max is in his room, it's night, and the television is on on an 
episode of Address Unknown. Max is confused and gets up, only to 
hear a sudden knock at his door. Who could it be at this hour?

[e] Address Unknown TVshow
    John: My double was John Mirror, the devil incarnate, a fallen 
    angel.

    Flamingo: The flesh of fallen angels.

    John: He was a serial killer. He had framed me for his murders. I
    was hiding at a cheap motel. One night, I woke to a knock at my 
    door. Someone slipped a note under my door, it was a clue. I 
    descended into a mystery, desperate to find him, to find my 
    girlfriend, to save her. 

    Max tries to shut off the television, but it doesn't. "That's 
    odd", says Max.

[d] Look around in Max's apartment. Players of Max Payne 1 will 
    notice the photographs of Michelle, Max's murdered wife, and 
    a picture of him and Alec Balder. On the floor are all kinds of
    cds named 'Late Goodbye', which is the title of the theme song
    to Max Payne 2. Go view the credits to hear it. Walk towards 
    your front door, and suddenly, a picture of Mona is slipped
    underneath the door. Wait a second, isn't this going exactly as
    said on the television? Anyway, there isn't much to do here
    other than opening the door and following the knocks. Find the
    big set of stairs that take you all the way down and open the
    door. Do it fast, cause it's creepy in here.

[c] "Max...", whispers an eerie voice. "Max...!" whisers it again.
    You see how a body slides out. The body looks like Mona's. 
    Suddenly, she is on the table behind Max. "Max... sorry I woke
    you", says Mona. "...It's a secret... You must tell no one",
    she continues. The phone starts to ring "You'd better answer 
    that". Max walks over to the phone and picks it up. It's Vlad's
    voice on the other side. "We need to hit the place now, Payne's
    in there", says a voice on the other side of the door. "They
    know you're in here", says Mona. "Payne! Drop your weapons and
    come out with your hands above your head!" says Bravura. "This
    is your final warning! Run, Payne, run!" he continues. "Bring
    him down... Shoot to kill..."

[d] Move away from the police squad. Seek for cover behind the 
    buildings. 

[c] "You don't need a lawyer, just tell us what you did", says 
    Winterson. "Payne, yer done. Everything you say will be used
    against you", says Bravura. "What are you hiding? She's alive,
    isn't she?" says Winterson. "You knew they died. You killed your
    family. You killed them all", continues Bravura. "Confess!" says
    Winterson. "Do I get my phone call?" asks Max. "You already got
    it", snarls Winterson. "Don't push your luck. Payne, sit down!"
    says Bravura. "Don't get any bright ideas", says Winterson.

[e] Grab the gun and shoot Bravura and Winterson. 
_____________________________________________________________________

Max: When you're waking up, the world is a blur.

Max: What was clear in a dream suddenly makes no sense.

Max: No surreal rescues. No easy, magic way out. 

Max: But you are awake.

#####################################################################
                    Part 1: The Darkness Inside                   
                    Chapter 4: No 'us' in this                   [2f]
#####################################################################

Max: *Thinking* I had woken up to knock at my door. 

Max: Mona. I was wondering when you'd show up. 

Mona: Max.

Mona: I'm not here to kill you.

Mona: Aren't you going to ask me in?

Mona: You are in danger.

Mona: Both of us are. There is a contract out on us.

Max: There's no us in this. You are a murder suspect, I should take
     you in. 

Max: *Thinking* I was hiding behind the badge. 
_____________________________________________________________________

Looks like Max was having a nightmare. But we're back in the real 
world now, and suddenly Mona is paying Max a visit. 

[c] "The real thing is never what you think it will be", thinks Max.
    "Sniper!" says Max as he peeks through the window. He notices the
    sniper in a block office opposite of his apartment. "They found
    me", says Mona. "This was a mistake", she continues. "Wait, 
    Mona!" says Max. "She had woken me up. She had come and gone. And
    now I was being shot at", thinks Max. "I had to catch her, find
    out what was going on".

[d] Move into the window next to you and pick up the phone with the
    [use] button. 

[c] "Winterson!" says the woman on the other side of the line. "It's 
    me, Max. I'm at home. Sniper outside the window. Sounds like
    more gunmen behind the door, closing in. I need help", says Max.
    "Max? O-okay... Hang in there! We'll get you out. Who's after 
    you?" asks Winterson. "Can't talk, don't know, gotta go", replies
    Max.

[i] Get the Painkiller next to Max' bed. There is some 9MM ammo in
    the closet in the shower. 

[d] Just follow the gunshots to the front door. Move past the dead
    guys. The elevator and the door won't open. Go for the open door
    instead. 

[c] "Something is blocking the door from the other side", comments
    Max as he tries to get through the door to the staircase.

[c] "Oh no you won't! Get out! Get out!" says a lady as she fires 
    her shotgun. A cleaner flies out of the apartment into the 
    hallway. "No one's driving me out of my home", says the lady
    as she sees you. "Careful with that gun, lady", says Max. "The
    detective from 304? I have another gun like this if you need
    it", says the lady. 

[d] Face the lady and press the [use] button. She will show you
[i] where she has another shotgun with some ammo. 

[c] "Okay, let's see that shotgun", says Max. "Alright. Come in!"
    says the lady. Max grabs the shotgun. "Thank you", says Max.
    "My pleasure", replies the lady. "This used to be a nice
    neighboorhood", comments the lady. "He was trespassing, you
    saw it", continues the lady. "There used to be a time when you
    didn't have to lock your door", says the lady. "Lock the door and  
    don't open it for anyone but the police", recommends Max. 

[d] Alright, 'enough chitchat'. You can do the same thing to her
[i] as Annie Finn, but I just kept her alive in return for the
    shotgun. Look around in the lady's place. There's a Painkiller
    in one of the cupboards. Then get out of there and look 
    carefully to your right. See that open window? Jump through it
    on the ledge. This will require some of your l33t sk1lls in 
    jumping. Jump from ledge to ledge and keep moving. Get into the
    open window before the guys down on the ground can fire their 
    rounds at you. 

[c] "Up there on the ledge! He's up there!" says one of the cleaners
    down on the ground. 

    Lords and Ladies TVshow
    Lord: My lady, wait!

    Lady: My lord!

    Lord: My lady this is a surprise finding you here. Were you 
          looking for me by chance? 

    Lady: My lord I was... Oh... This is so difficult.

    Lord: My lady...?

    Lady: My lord, I came here to see you, but now that I am here, I
          see that this is a dreadful mistake...!

    Lord: My lady, no! Surely...

    Lady: My lord, I must go. Should anyone see you here your 
          reputation would be ruined!

    Lord: My lady.... stay...!

    Lady: My lord, please...

    Lord: My lady!

[d] Want to know how to awaken the snoring guy? Turn off the telly
    and he will say some insane stuff you can't really make anything
    out of. Anyway, there is another open window there, so jump 
    through it into the hallway. Watch out for enemy fire!

[c] "Kaufman wants him taken care of. So let's just find the guy and 
    go home", says one of the cleaners. "You know what this is? The 
    finale. The climax before the credits roll", says the other 
    cleaner. 

[e] Don't know what the cleaners are doing here, but it must being
    something unfriendly. They are after you too, by the way. That
    might be going to be a problem. Anyway, draw your weapon and 
    shoot the two guys coming from your right. Hide behind the set
    of small boxes if you have to. Watch out for the third guy 
    joining the two from the left.

[c] "Such a nice young man, coming to see an old lady like me?" says 
    the granny. "Just passing through, ma'am", replies Max. "Such a 
    nice boy. Not like the ones upstairs. They say they're 
    renovating, but it's too quiet. They are up to no good", 
    continues the woman. "The doctor gave me pills for my hip, but
    it's all better now. You should take them. You look a bit 
    pinched, dear. They're in the bathroom. With all these claners
    you would think the place would be neatened. I've heard them 
    talking in the corridor. Oh, I remember some of the days in the
    countryside with my Ben. Or was that something I saw on TV?" says
    the woman.

[d] She rattles about all kinds of things, so just continue and never
[i] mind her. However, if you're patient enough, she will open the 
[e] door to the bathroom for you and to three free Painkillers. Move
    into her little apartment to the open window. This is an 
    excellent place to kill some cleaners from. Grab your most 
    accurate gun, the desert eagle or the single 9MM pistol and 
    carefully take the cleaners out. If you still have a grenade or
    a molotov cocktail, throw it to the red cans and watch them 
    explode. Finish off the ones that survive. They will try to hide
    behind the black delivery car. When it's safe, get out on the 
    ledge and go to the left. Get on the thing and move up to find 
    another window. 

[c] "I had found the sniper's nest. The room was filled with 
    surveillance equipment. They had been spying on me for days,
    weeks, months even. My every action observed, recorded and 
    analyzed. the place was the proof every paraniod dreams of", 
    says Max.

[i] Pick up the sniper rifle.

[c] Max used the recording machine to hear his voice, tapped from his
    telephone conversations. 
    - Conversation 1 -
    
    Winterson: Winterson!

    Max: It's me, Max. I'm at home. Sniper outside the window. Sounds 
         like more gunmen behind the door, closing in. I need help.

    Winterson: Max? O-okay... Hang in there! We'll get you out. Who's
               after you?

    Max: Can't talk, don't know, gotta go.

    - Conversation 2 -
    
    Max: Leave a message.

    Bravura: Max? Where are you? You're late again! Look, this  
    insomnia crap isn't fooling anyone. I know what it's like... Eh..
    I just wanna to help! You should come to an AA meeting with me...

    - Conversation 3 -

    Girl: Thank you for calling Dangerously Azons. For Candy, press
          one. For Sandy, press two. For Mona, press three. 

    * Max pressed 3.

    Girl: You have pressed 3, for Mona.

    Mona: Hi! This is Mona... What's your name?
    
    Max: ...I just need someone to talk to...

    Mona: Honey, this is a phone sex line. All we do is talk!

    Max: Right. It's... How do you fix something like that... how do 
         you make amends... I thought it would help, but it only made
         it worse...

    Mona: Just give me your creditcard number and I can listen to you
          all night.

    Max: Killing them all didn't bring them back. It only made it 
         worse.

    Mona: Hey what are you some kind of weirdo?!

    Max: Sorry... this was... sorry...

    * Max hangs up the phone.

[c] "The building trembled as in a seizure. The sound of an explosion 
    came from the direction of my apartment", thinks Max.
    
[i] There are Painkillers in the redecorated bathroom. 

[d] Go to the hallway and head for the staircase.

[c] "Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!" yells the woman as she hastes
    into her room. "Take this!" yells one of the cleaners.

[e] Watch out for the grenade; wait with entering the staircase. 
    After the blow, a couple of guys will head your way. Enter Bullet 
    Time and run to the stairs with your ingram blazing. Keep running
    and shooting until you're on the next floor. Make sure you picked
    up the weapons of all the dead guys. 

[d] Go all the way up to the seventh floor, and get into the 
    elevator. Operate it by pressing the buttons. 

[c] "I wouldn't get through without the code. Behind the door were 
    the suites. The weren't an improvement on the regular 
    apartments", ponders Max. Max moves down with the elevator back 
    to the lower floors. "They're crazy! Help! They want to 
    clean me out!" says the beggar as the doors of the elevator open.

[e] Cleaners to your left. 

[c] "Thanks fellow, you saved me. They blocked the door from the 
    inside. These are terrible times. The tyranny of the cleaners",
    says the beggar. "Right... Any way out?" asks Max. "Up the roof,
    maybe... With the pigeons", answers the beggar. "You need the
    code to the seventh floor... Ed knows it... hehe... He is the 
    janitor", says the Beggar. "Oh yeah... These crazy cleaners have
    invaded this turf..."

[d] Follow the signs saying 'basement'. Go down the stairs and pickup 
[i] the two Painkillers in the med kit. Then go futher until you 
    reach the singing guy, who is the janitor.

[c] "Hey! Hey!" says the janitor as Max points his gun at him. "NYPD.
    I need the code to the seventh floor door", says Max. "Sure... 
    Wait... wait... I know it, I know it... Oh yeah... It's 667, 
    neighboor of the beast. Get it?" says the Janitor. "Yeah... I get
    it", answers Max. "Okay", says the janitor. "You stay here", says
    Max. "Okay"

[d] Head all the way back to the elevator. Heal if possible, and 
    reload your weapons.

[c] "It's not the same thing. I'm telling you. I understand what she 
    did but I don't condone it. The same thing, it's the same thing",
    says the cleaner. "It's not", says the other cleaner. "I get what
    she did and why she did it, but doesn't mean I think it's okay", 
    says the cleaner. "You get it, so you condone it ", replies the 
    other one. "I understand you're an idiot, I don't condone it",
    says the cleaner. 

[e] Watch out; the enemies are getting more powerful weapons now.
    One of them is walking around with an AK47, so dodge as much
    bullets as you possibly can. Waste the two guys.

[d] See the red can? Move upstairs there. take the ammo that's on
    the floor and head back into the elevator. Go back up, and 
    operate the keypad to get into the hallways to the suite. 

[e] Three guys will walk from the suite. I felt compelled to draw
    my dual desert eagles, so I did. Just aim for the heads and 
    these guys will drop like flies. Cleaners and thugs aren't 
    armored at all. Save your Kalashnikov for later.

[c] Address Unknown TVshow
    Narrator: Welcome back to our return to sender marathon. two days
    and two nights of the 90ties gold series Address Unknown. All the
    episodes in a row, a real descend to madness.

    John: I was lost in the streets of Noir York. The city had 
    swallowed Mirror and my girlfriend. I was part of some eleborate
    game, complex for it's own sake. Everytime I looked over my 
    shoulder, I saw a shadow disappearing behind the corner, and a 
    glimpse of binoculars behind a window. They were spying on me,
    Following my every move. When Mirror killed again, the map of the
    city changed. Like a shifting glacier, a new crack appeared with 
    every gunshot. I had abandoned all conventional methods of
    navigation. I was following the bloody signs he kept leaving me. 
    And he watching me do it. 
    
[i] There is sniper rifle ammo and desert eagle ammo to be found in the
    cupboards of the house. Go to the bathroom and pickup the four 
    Painkillers.

[e] When you open the door to the right of you when you are standing
    in the entrance of the suite, you will encounter a cleaner with 
    a 9MM. Shoot him with your equipped gun. 

[i] Move past the pizza into the room with the two chairs and the 
    open window. Open the cupboards for additional shotgun, desert
    eagle and sniper rifle ammo. Don't forget the Painkiller. 

[d] Go outside and move past the ledge. When you reach the end of the
    ledge, jump down to the ledge on the floor beneath you. Watch out
    for enemy fire; a guy with a shotgun will fire on you. Keep moving
    and get the ammo by jumping past the hole. Then drop into the hole
    to the lower floor. From this ledge, jump into the window into
    safety. 

[i] There are two Painkillers in this apartment. One in the bedroom and
    one in the livingroom. 

[c] "The explosion in my apartment had started a fire. The flames 
     couldn't burn away my past. They only made the shadows behind me
     leap higher", thinks Max.

#####################################################################
                   Part 1: The Darkness Inside                   
                 Chapter 5: A Sign of Her Passage                [2g]
#####################################################################

"I had to get down to the street", ponders Max. Time to get out of 
this building. Still up for it? Let's make some fun.

[d] Head for the staircase. There's nothing of particular interest to
    you to left and the right.

[e] Some voices are heard from behind the door. You can either wait 
    for them to come to you, or you can bust in with Bullet Time. 
    Either way, watch out for the grenades one of them throws. This  
    might be a good time to practive with your sawed-off shotgun; this
    weapon will come in handy later. Shoot them and grab their weapons.

[i] Move upstairs for more Kalishnikov ammo, a few Painkillers and
    some desert eagle ammo. Just walk against the crates where the 
    items are on and let gravity do the rest. Then get back down to
    the lower floors. 

[c] "Mona had come through here, the dead cleaners a sign of her
    passage", thinks Max. "Open the door! Somebody!" yells a beggar
    on the other side of the door. "We're burning alive in here! 
    Somebody call the fire department! Help! Anybody! I'm stuck!"
    Max kicks the piece of wood to the side and the door opens to 
    smack the beggar right down on the floor. "Ugh...! Bless you! I
    owe you one!" says the beggar. "This is where the fun starts", says
    Max. "Yea... No sweat. I was a cop like you!" says the beggar.
    "Alright. Follow my lead", replies Max. "Yea... I was a cop... 
    cost me my marriage... Long hours... She was terrified something 
    would happen to me... Ah sure... I started hitting the bottle...    
    Anybody would have! My boss busted me for drinking, set the rat
    squad loose on me. And that was the end of that. I blame the
    system! Buncha hippocrytes... " continues the beggar.

[d] You can't get into your apartment, or what's left of it, since
    it's blocked by the gas. Just move back and take the stairs 
    further down. Open the door to find a girl.

[c] "Goddamn slimebags there are people trapped in here!" yells the
    girl. "Ah, the sons of bitches have blocked the door. Are you 
    coming to my rescue?" asks the girl. "Something like that. We need 
    to get out", replies Max. "You could probably get out through a
    window on the third floor, if you can kill the flames", says the
    girl. "A girl's got to protect herself".

[e] That's right. Just take your little team of... expert shooters...
[d] back into the hall and you will get into a firefight with some 
    cleaners. Try to keep your friends alive, you might want to use 
    them later when you need to get out and climb more ledges. Watch
    out as the cleaners use shotguns. Assist your friends and pick
    up the weapons once they are dead. Move into the room the cleaners
    were coming from. 

[i] Open the lockers before entering the utility room for some extra
    desert eagle ammo. 

[c] "The gas valve was in the utility room", ponders Max. "With the
    gas turned off, the flames on the third floor were no longer a
    problem", remarks Max.

[d] Move back upstairs and head for the stairs to the third floor. 
[i] Watch out as there are a bunch of new cleaners, it might be cool
[e] to try and snipe them down as they are on the other side of the
    hallway. Otherwise, just close in and spray them to death. Pick 
    up their guns and wait up for your friends. Get to the third floor
    and enter your own apartment. Watch out not the get hurt by the 
    flames, and pickup the desert eagle on the couch next to the open
    window. Climb through the window onto the ledge. Switch to your
    Kalashnikov while walking past the ledge. Let your friends open
    fire on the cleaners down on the ground, and assist them from the
    favourable position behind the wall that leads around the corner.
    Some aimed shots on them in Bullet Time will quickly take care of
    them, assuming you have the Kalashnikov. Don't waste too much 
    bullets as you will need this gun. If you don't have this gun 
    anymore or if you already used the ammo, use the desert eagle to
    carefully take them out. Continue past the ledges and watch out
    for enemy fire. Go to higher ground and ignore the shotgun fire
    for the moment. Once you're at the highest point, again, hide 
    behind the wall while firing on them from your Kalashnikov in 
    Bullet Time. Jump across to the other ledges and heal before 
    jumping on the tall thing used for the renovation. Watch out as
    you will drop down to the ground; the thing can't take your weight.
    Agily and elegantly let yourself drop until you are on the ground.
    Be careful! Cleaners will immediatly come in and open fire on you.
    Take them all out by focusing your Kalashnikov fire. Use Bullet 
    Time to outperform them and hide whenever you have to. You should
    have enough Painkillers to heal yourself during the battle. When
    you run out of AK ammo, switch to dual ingrams and finish the job.
    Good luck, this one is a toughie!
______________________________________________________________________

Bravura: They hit your home? It's like a frigging kindergarten out 
         there!

Bravura: What next? A kid with a bug fall of guns and a head full of
         videagames turns the house into a shooting gallery. Breaks my
         heart. 

Bravura: Innocent people got killed. You didn't do your job, Payne. 
         To serve and protect isn't just bullshit hype. 

Bravura: What the hell's doing on?

Max: *Thinking* With me, he meant. 

Max: *Thinking* I had my doubts, about the cleaners spying on me, 
     about Mona.

Max: According to Vladimir Lem, the mob captain Vincent Cognitti is 
     behind the hits. 

Max: Seems he has made a deal with an unknown third party, maybe the
     cleaners, I don't know. Something doesn't fit.

Max: If it's true, I've been added on Gognitti's list.

Max: *Thinking* I came close to lying to Bravura. I told myself I needed
     to find out the facts first, before others could screw up the 
     evidence, but that was an excuse.

Max: *Thinking* Mona had gotten under my skin. I couldn't close my
     eyes to any of it anymore. It was more important than the job.

Max: *Thinking* She had tried to reach me, left her number. 

Max: Risky leaving your number at the police station.

Mona: Trace the call and you'll see I'm talking to you from Hong Kong.

Winterson: Winterson...

Mona: I'll give you my address. Make sure you're not followed.

Winterson: Max, what's going on?

Max: What do you mean?

Winterson: Don't do anything stupid. 

#####################################################################
                   Part 1: The Darkness Inside                   
               Chapter 6: A Linear Sequence of Scares            [2h]
#####################################################################

"Mona's place was a closed down funhouse based on a 90ties TVshow. 
The show's cancellation had been the kiss of death to it", ponders 
Max. Normally, funhouses are... fun, but not this time. Let's just
get it over with.

[d] There are no cleaners, thugs or mercenaries here. Just follow 
    the path and enjoy the setting. You will recognise quite some
    stuff from the Address Unknown TVshow, that is, if you took the
    time to watch it.

[c] "I felt like I was walking into a trap. I felt guilty. Like I was
    about the get caught", thinks Max. Max gets deeper into the 
    funhouse and hears a phone ringing. He answers it. "John! You 
    must run, he's after you, he wants to catch you! They're closing
    in! John, I love you, don't give up!" says a girly voice. "Stop
    him! There he is! Stop him! You can't escape! We're here to
    take you away! You have nowhere to run", say the hospital wardens.
    "There had been no lock on the front door. I had wondered why
    the place wasn't packed with hobo's and stray dogs. Little 
    wonder", ponders Max. "Your past is a wave sneaking up on you.
    You'll hear broken echoes of it everywhere. Like a bad replay.
    You get mad at everybody for remind you about it, even if it's
    all in your head", thinks Max. "When entertainment turns to a
    surreal reflection of your life, you're a lucky man if you're
    gonna laugh at the joke. Luck and I were nonspeaking terms. Or
    maybe the place was just too lame to be funny", ponders Max. 

[d] You might get last in the red place where you keep spinning 
    around. Just walk from the platform to stop spinning and you'll
    notice a way out.

[c] "A funhouse is a linear sequence of scares. Take it or leave it 
    is the only choice given", continues Max. "Makes you think about
    free will. Have our choices been made for us because of who we 
    are?" ponders Max. "I was behind the backdrops. Getting warm",
    thinks Max. 

[d] Go in the direction of the stairs. Or you could enter the room
    next to you to play with the various funhouse equipment. Take
    the stairs and try to open the door. It won't open. Go the other
    way and open the door te get outside. Jump onto the roof and
    enter through the open window. 

[c] "When I had first met Mona, her twin sister had been killed. They
     must've felt like madness, schizophrenia in reverse, your other  
     side suddenly falling silent. We had both lost our loved ones",  
     continues Max. "Mona's door was locked. I could've knocked but I   
     felt an urge to snoop around more. Keep acting paranoid, I
     pretended I had a choice in the matter", thinks Max.

[c] Lords and Ladies TVshow
    Narrator: Lords and Ladies brought to you in part by girltouch
              brandy.

    Jack: Going somewhere, little brother?

    Lord: My lord Jack, what on earth? Why are you lurking here in
          darkness? Are you... Are you spying on me? Hardly conduct
          fit for a lord!
    
    Jack: Not so, if the other one is not a lord to begin with. It
          is not I who's actions are at question here, Valentine.
          Where do you think you're going no this ungodly hour?

    Lord: Who put you up to this shameful errand? Mama?

    Jack: Leave our parents out of this. Papa is steamed from work, 
          who is well on his way on recovery from the consumption when
          the news of you carrying on with that wench, a pirate's                
          daughter no or less, brought about his relapse. 
          Borderdash! Soon your papa will be dead, because of you, and
          I will be head of the family! Continue seeing her at your
          own peril.

    Lord: Are you theathening me, my lord?
 
    Jack: I will cut you off, Valentine, that and worse.

    Lord: I bid you goodnight, brother.

    Jack: That and worse, brother! Haahahahaha! That and worse...

[c] "The weapons and explosives in her workroom left no questions 
    about her vocation", comments Max. 

[i] Pick up the Painkillers in the room with the fridge. Go to Mona's
    workplace and get the weapons. There is an MP5 between them, this
    weapon is a great improvement to your arsenal, make good use of 
    it. 

[d] Get into the bathroom. Mona is there... As you can hear.

[c] "I'll tell you one thing, Mona, you're no singer", says Mona to
    herself. She's having a shower. Max walks in with his weapon drawn.
    You've switched tactics... We need to talk", says Max. "Bring me 
    towel, will you?" replies Mona. "Now you're here, you can watch
    my back while I get dressed", continues Mona. "All she had told
    me was that someone wanted us dead. The was she was acting, I was
    the only one in danger here", ponders Max. 
______________________________________________________________________

Max: You have to give me a lot more than that.

Mona: The Inner Circle.

Max: What of it?

Mona: The secret society is after everyone who knows of their
      existence.

Max: Come off it. Prove it.

Mona: I have a contact inside. He's willing to talk.

Max: Alfred Woden?

Mona: No.

Mona: Anyways, I can take you to him.

#####################################################################
                   Chapter 1: The Darkness Inside                   
                 Part 7: The Million Dollar Question             [2i]
#####################################################################

Max: *Thinking* She wasn't telling me the whole truth. 

Max: Let's go.

Mona: The Circle goes back to the centuries-old masonic cults,
      corruption and assassinations reaching all the way to 
      presidential level.

Max: Right. And here I was thinking conspiracy theories had gone 
     out of style.

Mona: We are here.

* Max notices the cars of the cleaners.

Max: So are they.

* Some bodies lie on the floor.

Max: I'm the only one handling a piece here.

Max: Which floor?

Mona: They are after him. The elevators work with the apartment keys
      and from the desk here.

Mona: They have jammed most of them to the floors they are on. The
      guards set off the alarm before they were killed.

Max: We need to do this fast.

Mona: Shouldn't we just wait for the cops?

* Hands Max a headset.

Mona: Here, so we can stay in touch
______________________________________________________________________

"You operate the elevator from here and I'll...", says Mona. "I'll go
up", interrupts Max. You're the man", says Mona. Max steps into the
elevator. "I got the floor panels in front of me. I can guide you
through", says Mona through the headset. "How come you're alive
anyway? I saw you take a bullet to the head", asks Max. "Maybe it's
still there. Keeps me focussed", replies Mona. "For this to work, I
was gonna have to trust her", thinks Max. "Let's get to work. 
Cleaners to the left, guarding Clarkron's door at the opposite end of 
the hall", says Mona. The elevator doors opened to reveal a nice and
royal looking block office.

[c] "...Walking across the room, slow, taking her time as if she was a
    super model on a catwalk", says one of the cleaners. "Until she is
    very close to me and she goes 'your place or mine'. And I'm 
    playing cool and I go 'yours, baby'", continues the cleaner. 
    "Ahahaha, yea right, I saw the same movie yesterday", replies the
    other cleaner. "You should listen. You might learn something",
    says the cleaner. "Riiiiiight", says the other one. "You're so
    full of yourself. Your place or mine, Jesus". "You're jealous",
    snarls the cleaner.

[e] Do as Mona says. Cleaners to the left, jump in on them and spray
    them to death. Grab their weapons, including a grenade. Don't
    use your strongest weapons; save those for later.

[c] "The door's locked!", says Max. "Try the door on the far right,
    next to the large painting. You can get to Clarkron's place 
    through the balcony", replies Mona. 

[d] Turn around and go to the left. You'll notice a painting with
    some odd pink tower on it. Go through the door there.

[c] "Well that's just it, what you don't see, is that we're working 
    here. This is a pro-setup, top of the line, nothing to joke about.       
    This isn't just a custom party. Just take Kaufman. Believe me,
    without going into details, Kaufman is a bad motherfucker. Of 
    course that's not his real name", says a tough talking cleaner.
    "Yea no, I see it. I meant nothing by it", replies another cleaner.
    "I see other things. You should mean something by it. Take a stand
    for once in your life", says the cleaner. "Come on, I get the
    point, okay", says the other one. "Hey, just saying. Just saying",
    responds the cleaner. "Yea, I get the point".

[e] Maybe they don't get that this kind of stuff is illegal. Bust
    in there and shoot them. Remember, don't use your best weapons 
    yet, I can probably not say this enough. You will have to go
    through some heavy fighting in this level. Pick up all weapons
    that are dropped.

[c] "They're cleaning other apartments as well", says Max. "Clarkron 
    said that other Inner Circle members live in the building", 
    replies Mona.
 

[d] Follow the bloody trail to the bathroom. There are 4 painkillers
[i] there. Take them and heal yourself if you're hurt. Remember to
    save often.

[c] "Found a body. A thin guy in a suit", says Max. "That's not
    Clarkron. He's a big man, fat", replies Mona. 


[d] Get on the balcony. You will see a way to get on the balcony to
    your left. Watch out not to fall; it's a long way down. Shoot
    through the glass to get into the other apartment. Or just go
    in by the door. Anyway, go through the door in front of you and
    go through the bathroom and the bedroom.

[c] "Nothing here", says Max. "Check upstairs", responds Mona.

[d] Go to the stairs. 

[c] "Search the place, strip it down. Papers, photo's everything needs
    to go. This place must be cleaner than it's ever been. Kaufman's
    orders. It needs to look like a black hole materialized in here 
    and sucked every print, every hair, every mote of dust away.
    Like someone went back in a timemachine and killed his parents
    before they met. Like this guy never exisited", says one of the
    cleaners. "Let's do it".

[c] "Almost done. Heh. The fat man wasn't ready to go", says a cleaner.
    "No?" asks the other one. "Nope. Tried to put up a fight. Like 
    killing an elephant. took a dozen bullets before he went down",
    replies the cleaner. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall",
    says the other one. "Right" says the cleaner. "Moving out soon",
    replies the other cleaner. "Yeah. I'll take care of downstairs",
    says the cleaner.

[e] They're coming for you. Or you could be inpolite and disrupt the
    conversation before they ever finish it. Careful... There are a 
    lot of guys here. "I'm going upstairs", Max will say. Take out
    your AK47 or MP5, you'll need the firepower. The first three guys
    will be rather close to you, take care of them first. The two in
    the back have less accurate weapons, a shotgun and an ingram, so
    they should be no problem once the three on the front go down.
    Take all weapons with you. 

[c] "We're late. He's dead", says Max. "You need to get out of there. 
    We need to leave now. More cleaners in the lobby coming your
    way", says Mona. "I wasn't ready to go. Not without a single
    piece of evidence. In photo, a group of men were posing in front
    of a manor house. Clarkron was there. Senator Gate was there. So
    was Alfred Woden. So it was true. All bets were off. The Inner
    Circle was involved", ponders Max. 

[e] A group of cleaners will close in. One of them has an M4, one of
[d] the most lethal weapons in the game. Take him down first. Two 
    other guys will follow up, one wielding an ingram. Save the M4 for
    later. Move across the hallway, to the fire door. Two cleaners
    will spot you and come to you. Hide behind the wall and take out
    your dual 9MM. Shoot them down before they can close in on you. 
    Now move to them, take their weapons and enter the apartment they
    were guarding. There is nothing special here, go downstairs. Some
    cleaner will be playing a piano while a dead guy is lying on it.
    Shootdodge them from the stairs and keep firing until they drop.
    Some Rambo guy will jump through the window right after; quickly
    enter Bullet Time to reload your gun and shoot him. Always 
    thought it was special to drive without hands? Press the [use]
    button near the piano and watch Max play his own theme without
    his hands. Play it again to hear it how its supposed to be.
    
[c] "You should be able to make the jump to the balcony below", says
    Mona. "Everything okay up there?" yells one of the cleaners. 
    "Something's going wrong, I know it", continues the cleaner. "I 
    told, we're much better off than they were. They were on a stake
    our when it happened. Stake out wears you down, it numbs you. 
    Then, when you have get ready all of a sudden, you're not! We on
    the other hand got adrenaline on out side. We're ready. We can
    handle it. Whether it's a crazy jumper, or a cop, or whatever
    it is. We can handle it. Kaufman will take care of it", says the
    other cleaner.

[d] Jump down on the roof. There are two guys having a conversation
[e] here. You should have no problem taking care of them, just watch
    out not to get hurt or Shootdodge your way to the ground. Heal
    yourself and reload. Heal yourself to the fullest. Save your
    game. Take your best weapon, personally, I prefer to use the dual
    ingram in this situation. Go through the door and keep spraying
    ahead of you, in Bullet Time of course. Remain in Bullet Time 
    until all of them are dead. Now keep running to the front, and
    turn to the left right into the first turn to kill a guy with
    an ingram. Run into the bedroom to kill two guys carrying 
    shotguns. Go back and move into the kitchen to kill another guy.
    Leave Bullet Time. Nothing special in this apartment. Get to
    the front door.

[c] "Mona what next?" says Max. "More of them in the lobby ahead",           
    replies Mona. "No! No! No! What is this? Take my money!" screams
    the business man. He is shot in the back. "Ok , nice timing",
    says Mona. "What was he up to?" asks a cleaner. "Hey, wallstreet
    yuppies", replies another cleaner. "Haha, lotsa ups, no downs",
    says the cleaner. "Just what the doctor ordered".

[e] Move towards them and shoot them when they become visible, if
    they aren't visible already. I would shoot these three by entering
    Bullet Time and moving towards them while strafing.

[d] Get into the room the business guy came from and search the upper
[i] floor before going to down. There are 4 Painkillers in the 
    bathroom. Then go downstairs. 

[c] "Starting to sound like a broken record here. More cleaners to
    the right, in the lobby, behind the door", says Mona. "Thanks",
    replies Max.

    Address Unknown TVshow
    Narrator: Adress Unknown continues.

    John: Wherever I went, the payphones started to rain. Finally
          I collected enough courage to answer one. 

    Girl: John! You must run, he's after you, he wants to catch you!  
          They're closing in! John, I love you, don't give up!

    John: I wasn't gonna give up on her. I could hear her voice in
          my head wherever I went, guiding me. I traced my double
          to a classy uptown nightclub. The Pink Flamingo. It was
          happy hour. They were serving flamingo cocktails. Somehow
          the flamingo was tied to my double. Mirror's men had found
          me. I ran.

    Mirror's men: Stop him! There he is! Stop him! You can't escape!
                  We're here to take you away! You have nowhere to 
                  run!
    
    John: Mirror was an influencal figure in Noir York, his men
          chased me. They wore white uniforms. I ran.

[d] Get out of this apartment. There's a cleaner across the hall. Try
[e] and improve your sniping skills if you feel like it. Go through
    the door he was guarding once you're done. 

[c] "I'm out of ideas, Max", says Mona. "I'll check the apartment the
    cleaner was guarding", says Max. "Why would I waste my life on
    a window cleaner's lift when I can use the elevator?" says the
    cleaner outside. "I don't know. For the thrill of it. Like
    bungee-jumping. Extreme sports. You know!" answers the other one.
    "I don't get it. That's something for stupid kids with a 
    deathwish. I don't need to die to feel alive", replies the cleaner.
    "This is exactly a job without it's hazards, what we're doing!"
    says the other one. "Granted. But we get paid for doing this. The        
    money is the diffirence. A guy will put up with all kinds of crazy
    shit for money", replies the cleaner. 
    
[e] Waste them.

[c] "Mona, I found a window cleaner's lift. I'm going down", says Max.
    "Max?" asks Mona. "Yeah?" says Max. "I don't know... I just wanted
    to say...", says Mona. She is interrupted by the gunfire. "Mona?
    Mona? Mona!" yells Max.

[d] Go outside. Watch out, as a guy will toss down grenades. Jump 
[e] your way from floor to floor and watch where you jump. You will
    see an open window. Enter Bullet Time and fire your shotgun into
    it to kill the guy with the dual 9MM pistols.

[c] "Something happened to Mona. Nothing worked out as planned. I had
    to find another way down to the lobby", ponders Max.

[d] Go into the apartment. Pick up the two Painkillers on the table.
[i] Get ready for battle and heal yourself. 

[e] You better know how to strafe. Open the door and move into the
    lobby. There are three cleaners to your left. enter Bullet Time
    and take your ingram. Keep firing, and keep strafing to kill them
    all. If you don't have your ingram anymore, or if your ammo has
    depleted, use your AK, M4 or M5. Keep strafing if you want to 
    live. Now, there are more guys here, so shoot them as well. Leave
    Bullet Time. At the other side of the hall are two more cleaners.
    Take your sniper rifle and snipe the first. Move to the opposite
    end and take care of the last guy. Get ready, now it gets tricky.

[c] "Find him. Take care of him", says Kaufman. 

[e] Try to spray as many as you can to death before they can leave
    the elevator. Kaufman has a dual ingram, so stay out of his 
    reach. Once his three cleaners are dead, focus on Kaufman. He
    is somewhat more armored than the regular enemies, but still
    isn't much of a challenge. Keep strafing to dodge his dual 
    ingrams, while blazing your own gun. When he goes down you're
    probably out of Bullet Time, so get behind something. Three more
    Cleaners will appear at the opposite end of the lobby. You will
    have to Shootdodge to kill them. Wait for them to close in on you
    and then jump. Try to kill all of them in your Shootdodge, or 
    else it might get messy. You will now hear a guy behind you,
    whistling. He's the last one, so finish him and hop into the
    elevator. Press the buttons to complete the level.

[c] "Why had she come to me in the for place. For help? For something
    she wasn't telling me...", ponders Max. "NYPD! Freeze!" says the
    cop. "Easy! Don't move", says another one. "Payne, what are you
    doing?" asks Winterson. "What are you doing?". "The million dollar
    question I didn't have the answer to", thinks Payne. 

#####################################################################
                   Part 2: A Binary Choice                       [2j]
                           Prologue
#####################################################################

Bravura: What were you thinking?

 ___________________________________________________________________
/                             Weaponry                              
\___________________________________________________________________/

[3a] - Melee

Usability                : *
Usability in Bullet Time : *
Usability in Shootdodge  : -
Assuming you will be using Bullet Time to fight your way through the 
game, you might not even use this 'weapon' at all. I remember I 
killed a total of 1 enemy with it during my first play through the 
game, because I didn't make full use of Bullet Time. I ran out of 
ammo while firing my pistol, and hammered the last standing enemy 
down. Whenever you get grenades or molotov cocktails, always switch
to those because they simply are much more usable.

[3b] - Molotov Cocktails

Usability                : ***
Usability in Bullet Time : ***
Usability in Shootdodge  : *
Now these are a nice addition to your personal array of weaponry. 
Whenever you know that certain enemies will appear on certain 
places (for example, when you know they will run through a door, 
or jump over a wall), just throw a molotov cocktail in their path
 and watch them burn to death, or become seriously injured. 
Usually, they are quite easy to kill whenever they survive the 
flames. Just make sure you are careful when throwing them; don't 
hurt yourself. Since these are very easy to come by once you are 
in the second chapter, don't be afriad to use them.

[3c] - Grenades

Usability                : ****
Usability in Bullet Time : ***
Usability in Shootdodge  : *
Even better than the molotov cocktails, grenades can keep you 
entertained for hours. Just throw them at places you know 
enemies hide behind and it will rain corpses. Like with the 
molotov cocktails, be careful not to hurt yourself. The splash
damage hurts, but its radius is not too big. Whenever there is
a grenade thrown between your feet, simply move over a bit to 
avoid being hurt. You will get plenty of these when you start 
encountering mercenaries.

[3d] - Dual Desert Eagles

Usability                : ****
Usability in Bullet Time : ****
Usability in Shootdodge  : **
They have a slower rate of fire than their 9MM pistol brothers,
but will make up for it with their damage bonus. Ideal when 
in Bullet Time, simply strafe around the opponents and keep 
them blazing. You will do a swift reload when you run out of 
bullets, making these guns lethal during battles with large 
numbers of thugs or cleaners. You might want to reconsider 
using them when fighting against mercenaries, though. And 
never use them in combination with a shootdodge; their rate of
fire will drop because of shootdodge slowdown, and since you 
have to get up first before resuming fire you will be a sitting
duck. 

[3e] - Desert Eagle

Usability                : **
Usability in Bullet Time : **
Usability in Shootdodge  : *
Simply won't do in comparison to the 9MM pistol. It has a slow 
rate of fire, and although it does considerably more damage, you
will not be able to shoot through your rounds as quickly; 
meaning you really can't afford to miss too much, which could be
hard. Just save your bullets for when you get the dual desert 
eagle which give you a lot more firepower.

[3f] - Dual 9MM Pistol

Usability                : ****
Usability in Bullet Time : ****
Usability in Shootdodge  : ****
Now these are a couple of real firearms. Handy in almost every 
situation, you might want to make these your default weapons. 
Although a bit weak against mercenaries, like all handguns, it 
is still a deadly force. Whenever you use shootdodge, you might 
want to keep down on the ground and empty your clips at whatever
 is coming for you. Like with all handguns, aiming for the head 
is almost a requirement.

[3g] - 9MM Pistol

Usability                : ***
Usability in Bullet Time : **
Usability in Shootdodge  : *
Your first gun is generally a blessing when struggling with 
thugs, but worthless during fights with the armored mercenaries.
This gun will get the job done in the beginning. But as soon as
you get a stronger replacement, switch to it unless it is the 
desert eagle. You might want to use it in situations where there
are plenty of cleaners. Just aim for the heads and watch them go
down in numbers.

[3h] - Striker

Usability                : ***
Usability in Bullet Time : *****
Usability in Shootdodge  : *****
This thing rocks. It just outperforms the two other shotguns in 
every way and is one of the most usuable weapons in the game. 
Like with the Ingrams, just run into an enemy filled room with 
bullet time, and keep firing until everything is dead. You will
have to watch out with your reload though; once your bullet time
is up, quickly move out of the field and find a safe spot to 
reload. Be careful with it when you don't have plenty of bullet 
time; the reload time is a major disadvantage.

[3i] - Shotgun

Usability                : **
Usability in Bullet Time : ***
Usability in Shootdodge  : *
This isn't what you're looking for in a big struggle. In shooting
games like these it's about who can fire the most bullets in a 
certain amount of time. Although it fires several bullets at a 
time, it rate of fire just hurts too much. This weapon is used 
best when in bullet time. Strafe around the enemies and keep 
firing the shotgun. When you run out of bullets, you'll get an 
instant reload! But even with this seemingly nice bonus, it's 
still nothing special.

[3j] - Sawed-off Shotgun

Usability                : *
Usability in Bullet Time : *****
Usability in Shootdodge  : *
An extremely deadly force in Bullet Time. Just keep strafing 
around the enemies and keep hitting them with a lot of bullets.
Although it's nothing special on large distances, it gets the 
job done during the many 3 on 1 fights you will have during this
game. Bullet Time simply negates the reload penalty and gets 
the max out of this gun. Run for cover when you run out of 
Bullet Time though; you will have to switch to another gun as
this piece is too weak without Bullet Time. 

[3k] - MP5

Usability                : *****
Usability in Bullet Time : ****
Usability in Shootdodge  : ****
This thing is like the dual 9MM pistols with increased accuracy
and a scope. Ideal to walk around with in buildings with large
halls. Whenever you get hold of this weapon, switch to it, and
stick to it until you get improvement. When you need to snipe,
you might as well use this gun, but remember that your bullets 
will first have to travel the distance, while bullets fired from
 'real' sniper rifles immediatly hit the target pinpointed.

[3l] - Ingram

Usability                : **
Usability in Bullet Time : *****
Usability in Shootdodge  : *
Out of Bullet Time, it's accuracy and power bites. The rounds
are too small and empty too fast. However, I made my way through
hordes of cleaners and even mercenaries in Bullet Time. When 
you suspect there are a lot of enemies behind a door, just grab
this gun, check if you have enough spare ammo, activate bullet
time and walk right in. Keep moving towards your targets firing,
and don't stop shooting until you're sure nobody is left alive. 
This thing eats ammo though; so always keep your eyes on that.

[3m] - Dual Ingram

Usability                : ***
Usability in Bullet Time : *****
Usability in Shootdodge  : ****
This thing should be named AmmoEater2k4 because it simply punches
out as much bullets as it possibly can. However, this is more of
an advantage than a disadvantage. Whenever you have a lot of 
angry thugs on your tail, run around a corner, switch to these, 
and jump around in Shootdodge. Keep firing at them and when you
 hit the floor, fully empty it. If you aimed well enough, you'll
 see that most enemies are down and out. Watch the ammo!

[3n] - M4 Carbine

Usability                : ****
Usability in Bullet Time : *****
Usability in Shootdodge  : ****
Powerful, reliable and accurate. Just about everything you want 
your gun to be. Although it has a slightly lower rate of fire 
than most other weapons of it's kind, it has more power in 
exchange. Use this gun when you know there a lot of mercenaries
around since this is the ultimate mercenary killer. Just aim for
the large parts of the body and duck for cover when you need to 
reload. Almost anything will die when hit by a couple of M4 
bullets.

[3o] - AK47 Kalashnikov

Usability                : *****
Usability in Bullet Time : *****
Usability in Shootdodge  : ****
Over the last couple of years, this has probably become one of the
most known weapons on the net. The AK47 is by far my favorite 
weapon in Max Payne simply because it kills. High rate of fire, 
moderate damage, high accuracy and low reload time. Just have this 
gun close to you in seemingly desperate situations and it will save 
your day. 

[3p] - Dragunov

Usability                : **
Usability in Bullet Time : **
Usability in Shootdodge  : *
You'll get hold of this weapon during the parts with Mona, and it 
is pretty... useless. Although 10 bullets in a round is nice for 
a sniper rifle, the MP5 is way more useful than the Dragunov. 
Although projectiles fired from sniper rifles immediatly hit 
their targets, the Dragunov is a bad gun to handle when you're 
suddenly ambushed from behind. It's better to stick to the MP5.

[3q] - Sniper Rifle 

Usability                : *
Usability in Bullet Time : *
Usability in Shootdodge  : *
Good weapon if you like to use shit. Only use this weapon if you 
really have to; otherwise just avoid it. It might appear powerful 
at first since it takes most enemies out in one shot, but once the 
enemies start coming in by the masses, you will need more than one 
shot to keep yourself alive.
 ___________________________________________________________________     
/                         Payne to the Max                          
\___________________________________________________________________/

Want to become a better Max Payne player? There's a lot of challenge
in the other difficulties, but you will need to be sharp in order to
be them. You will have to move fast in New York Minute and take as
few bullets as you can in Dead on Arrival. Want to break your record
with Dead Man Walking? Look here for some tips & tricks. 

[4a] - Don't want to end up in a grave? Learn how to strafe.

Strafing is probably one of the best methods to dodge bullets. If
remain at one position all of the time, you will go down. Even if 
you're in Bullet Time, you will need to keep moving. Always keep 
moving. If you can learn how to aim and strafe at the same time, you
can beat the whole game without a sweat. Find out what weapons fit
your style and learn how to move around with the them. For example,
I often use the sawed-off shotgun in combination with Bullet Time and
strafing to beat down hordes of enemies. 

[4b] - Learn how to aim to stay in the game.

You aren't going to hit anything if you can't aim with precision. Make
sure your mouse is in optimal condition and learn how to track a
target. Always remember that you won't do much damage when you hit 
the enemy's feet, and neither will you when you constantly keep aiming
for that armored body part. Always go for the head if you can. 
Mercenaries are not that tough if you can blow 'em through the head.
Heck, I even fire at their feet for fun to avoid the armored parts
of their bodies. It just does way more damage. Can't beat Kaufman? Go
for his head! It's amazing how fast enemies die when you can get that
one small shot in the head.

[4c] - Learn how to throw to steal the show.

Grenades and molotov cocktails aren't there for nothing. I can't
remember all the hours I had fun with a couple of good old 'nades. 
Just throw these in the places you know of enemies will appear. For
example, I often died in my first time through the game -- until I 
learned how to effectively use these weapons! AI stupidity is probably
the most fun thing about Max Payne. They will always run through the
blazing fires even if they see 'em from a few metres distance. When
enemies start surrounding you, enter Bullet Time and throw grenades to
every side and keep your guns blazing. Then, it will not only rain 
bullets, but also bodies.

[4d] - Walk while they talk.

This is the best thing about Max Payne. Often, enemies are talking
and remain stationary. You can get insanely close to enemies by 
walking to them as long as you don't fire your weapon. You can smack
with the doors, jump up and down until Max barely breathes, but they
still won't take the initiative. Use this to your advantage to sneak
by and shoot them when they least expect it. 

[4e] - No Payne, no gain.

Sometimes you just need to recieve some bullets before you can get
past a point; live with it. There are plenty of Painkillers around,
and you will always automatically heal some if you're badly hurt. Make
use of your best weapons to fight your way to new weapons. If it's 
really impossible to continue with your health as it is then load
a previous save game; Max Payne 2 always keeps 2 auto-saves files
intact. 

[4f] - It'll be fine, as long as you keep using Bullet Time.

Bullet Time is the heart of Max Payne games. Time slows down as 
adrenaline rushes through Max. While in Bullet Time, you will reload
at an extremely rapid rate, and you will become able to dodge 
bullets, since you can actually see them. Time will slow down and you
will be able of pinpointing and killing more enemies. Always make use
of Bullet Time... Always! 

#####################################################################
                  The Million Dollar Questions: FAQ                  
#####################################################################

Want to know how to get past a point without having to read all of
the guide? Just have some general questions? Look here first before
emailing me.

- In-Game Questions -                                           [41a]

Q: In Part 1, Chapter 2 I just keep dying. I can't get pas the 
   enemies because there simply are too many of them. 
A: Have you read the above tips? You should read them to learn how to
   get these kinds of parts. Have you got any Painkillers? Use them
   while in battle. Do you have grenades or molotov cocktails? They
   will kill enemies long before they can reach you. Did you already
   lose Mike the Cowboy? Restart the level and ensure his survival. 
   It'll make it all a bit easier.

Q: In Part 1, Chapter 4 I'm stuck in the hallway and I don't know how
   to continue. All the doors are locked and I have searched through
   all of the rooms.
A: You need to look for open windows through which you can get 
   outside. Once outside, you will have to jump from ledge to ledge 
   in order to get further in the level.

Q: How do I perform that cool spin you see in the intro movie?
A: Easy. Just enter Bullet Time and reload after you fired a couple
   of shots. Enjoy! Remember, while spinning, you will dodge bullets
   so it's best to move closer to the enemies while spinning, so
   you can get a clean shot at your target.