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Max Payne 2
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Max Payne 2 · Story
Max Payne 2 Story: Every Chapter in Order and Both Endings
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Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne takes place two years after the first game. Back in the NYPD, Max investigates the Cleaners, a hit squad, and runs into Mona Sax, whom he thought dead. Their hunt leads to his ally Vladimir Lem, who is using the Cleaners to take over the Inner Circle and New York's underworld. Max kills Vlad at senator Woden's burning mansion, and Mona dies in his arms, unless the game is finished on its hardest difficulty. Below, every chapter in order and the full story.
Every Max Payne 2 Chapter in Order
The PC version has three parts, each opening with a prologue, and 21 chapters in total. Mona Sax is the playable character in a few of them.
| Part | Chapters |
|---|---|
Part 1: The Darkness Inside | Prologue 1. Elevator Doors 2. A Criminal Mastermind 3. The Depths of My Brain 4. No 'Us' in This 5. A Sign of Her Passage 6. A Linear Sequence of Scares 7. The Million Dollar Question |
Part 2: A Binary Choice | Prologue 1. The Things That I Want 2. In the Middle of Something 3. Blowing Up 4. Routing Her Synapses 5. Out of the Window 6. The Genius of the Hole |
Part 3: Waking Up from the American Dream | Prologue 1. Too Stubborn to Die 2. On a Crash Course 3. A Mob-War 4. Dearest of All My Friends 5. A Losing Game 6. There Are No Happy Endings 7. Love Hurts 8. That Old Familiar Feeling |
The Cleaners and Mona Sax
The story is told in flashback, starting in a hospital where Max recovers from a gunshot wound. A few nights earlier, investigating a shootout at a warehouse owned by Vlad Lem, Max meets the Cleaners and Mona Sax. After saving Vlad from Vinnie Gognitti's men, Max tracks Mona and learns the Cleaners are killing anyone who knows about the Inner Circle. Mona is arrested, escapes when the Cleaners attack the police station, and teams up with Max.
Winterson and the Hospital
At a construction site used by the Cleaners, Max's colleague Valerie Winterson holds Mona at gunpoint. Max shoots Winterson, who shoots him before she dies: that is how he ends up in hospital. He gets away from the killers waiting for him and goes to see senator Alfred Woden, who tells him that Vlad is the one running the Cleaners. Max also learns that Winterson was Vlad's mistress.
How Does Max Payne 2 End?
Vlad kills Vinnie and shoots Max, revealing that Mona works for Woden. Mona saves Max, and the two go to Woden's mansion to protect him. There, Mona is ordered to kill Max but cannot; Vlad shoots her and kills Woden. Max kills Vlad as the mansion burns, and Mona dies in his arms as the police arrive. On the hardest difficulty, an alternate ending lets Mona survive.
More Max Payne on GTAside
Every character and voice actor on our Max Payne 2 characters page. The rest of the series: Max Payne, Max Payne 3. Max himself, across all three games, on the Max Payne character page.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many chapters are in Max Payne 2?
21 chapters in three parts on PC, each part opening with a prologue.
Does Mona Sax die in Max Payne 2?
Yes, in Max's arms, unless you finish the game on the hardest difficulty, which unlocks an ending where she survives.
Who is the Cleaners' boss in Max Payne 2?
Vladimir Lem, Max's former ally.
When does Max Payne 2 take place?
Two years after the first Max Payne.
How does Max Payne 2 end?
Max kills Vlad in Woden's burning mansion, and Mona dies in his arms as the police arrive.
Why does Max shoot Winterson?
She holds Mona at gunpoint at the Cleaners' construction site. She was secretly working for Vlad.