HomeLAN - How is combat and "Bullet Time" improved and/or changed in Max Payne 2?

Petri Järvilehto - We've had a couple of years to innovate and brainstorm on how to make Bullet Time cooler. We've taken time to tweak it, and have made it an even more integral part of the gameplay. This was an iterative process - which is developer-speak for trying loads of different things and seeing what works.

We've done things like separating the player and the enemies to different time-scales. This way we can have the enemies moving in extreme slow motion while the player still moves a bit faster with a faster rate of fire. It gives you a great feeling of power, and it looks great with the air filled with massive amounts of particle effects and empty shells, spinning slowly past the camera.

Visually we've also added some enhancements such as custom reload animations and cinematic shots. Equally the visual effects tied to Bullet Time have been taken to the next level.

It would be a crime not to mention physics when one talks about Bullet Time. The synergies are wonderful. The physics add so much to the gameplay, but when you combine that with the ability of being able to slow down time at will and keep shooting it just takes everything to the next level. There's a good reason why so many movies enhance their most impressive sequences with slow-mo and we're basically putting that same power to hands of the player.