Underappreciated Classic.
The reason? The game had a brain. The consolers the game was marketed towards, however, did not.
Max Payne II is psuedo-film noir and self-conscious and brimming with so-bad-it's-good dialogue. The gameplay is solid and fun, if somewhat limited; the levels are usually small but visually and viscerally satisfying; the story is dark and corny but immensely entertaining; the sound, especially the classical-minimalist soundtrack, is wonderful.
It really has zero bugs or glitches. It runs incredibly cleanly, and it still looks great after the several years that have passed since it was released.
Despite its arguably limited scope, Max Payne 2 is an all-around AAA title.
Laura Croft? Alyx Vance? Pshaw. Give me Mona Sax and her two deagles any day of the week.
And I'll take the Funhouse over Crysis' GPU-crippling jungles any other day.
If, for some reason, you never played this one, do yourself a favor and drop ten bucks on it at Wal-Mart.
You and your brain won't be disappointed.