Max Shadow 2: Going Commando (2003) (PS2/XBOX/Gamecube/J2ME/PC/N-Gage)

Max Shadow 2: Going Commando (known as Max Shadow 2: Locked and Loaded in Australia and most PAL countries, or just simply Max Shadow 2) is a 2003 third-person-shooter video game developed by Gameloft Barcelona and published by Mojang Italia for the PlayStation 2, Microsoft XBOX, Nintendo GameCube, J2ME, Microsoft Windows & Nokia N-Gage. Max Shadow: Going Commando is the second game in the Max Shadow franchise, following Max Shadow and preceding Max Shadow: Up Your Arsenal.

The game follows Max Shadow and Cortez, joined by newcomer Natalie, as they attempt to unravel a conspiracy behind a mysterious "super medicine," orchestrated by the shadowy Big Pharma company Nowak Inc.

The gameplay of Going Commando is similar to that of the original Max Shadow. The player controlled protagonists are seen in a third-person perspective; the player uses various weapons and gadgets to defeat enemies and solve puzzles, while exploring cities, completing platforming sections and minigames, and progressing through the story. The game features many improvements over the original game, such as the aesthetics and introduces many new gameplay aspects, such as weapon upgrading.

Going Commando was released roughly a year after the original game and received critical acclaim, to the point of frequently being viewed as one of the best PlayStation 2 games ever made. Most critics felt that the game was superior to its predecessor and praised the game's graphics, gameplay, story, characterization and sound but criticized its unforgiving difficulty and minigames.

Plot
In 2003, Following their previous adventure, after saving the Secretary of State and defeating Miguel Chavez, Max Shadow and Cortez become celebrities, though their lives remain otherwise uneventful. After giving an interview for the television show Behind the Hero, the pair suddenly find themselves in a Warehouse in Stockholm, under the ownership of Nowak Inc, the world's biggest pharmaceutical company. They escape and find out that Nowak Inc has been developing "super medicine" that is actually a hallucinogenic in order to control the populace. After sending their evidence of the super medicine into the Agency, they issue termination orders for brothers Jeffery & Dave Nowak, the company founders

Them & The Agency start by demolishing Nowak Inc's pillars, Production, Transportation, Security & Influence. The group attacks Nowak Inc's Minneapolis HQ, where a woman named Natalie escapes with company files on the production of the super medicine. Fighting off floors of guard, they make it out of Minneapolis, but not before their car is T-Boned in the outskirts of Mankato. They are pinned down for 3 hours, until The Agency rescues them. They take down Balthazar, who is trying to get Cortez's location in his Vienna safehouse, DeMyron, the head of Nowak Inc's Transportation branch in Marrakesh, Johnson, the Commander of Security in Dhaka & R&B Artist JJ Cash while recording his album in Savannah, who is the head of Nowak Inc's influence branch.

Finally, they get a phone call from Jeffery Nowak, who claims that he has kidnapped Natalie, and isn't afraid to kill her, should Max come with Cortez. He comes into his Barbados house. After killing Jeffery, he is able to free Natalie, and fights Dave, in an car chase in St. Louis. Dave is defeated, solidifying Nowak Inc's fate.

In an mid-credits scene, it is shown on the news that Nowak Inc has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and is looking for a buyer. The buyer is none other than "Solid Snake Pharmaceutical". The owner, named "Jeremiah" makes a deal with the Agency, that in order to gain protection, they must do their work for them.