- "They mentioned a name, 'Kaufman'."
- ―Max Payne to Jim Bravura.
Kaufman (unknown - 2003) is the feared leader of Vladimir Lem's Squeaky Cleaning Company hitmen and commandos. He is the tertiary antagonist of Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne.
In 2003, he gets some assassination jobs from Lem, including assassination of Annie Finn, spying on and killing Max Payne, and assassination of Corcoran and other members of the Inner Circle.
Kaufman and his men succeed in killing Finn, but they are attacked at Finn's warehouse by Max Payne. Kaufman manages to escape , driving away in a black van and attempting to run Max over.
Around a day later, Kaufman sends his men to assault Payne's apartment building, after spying on him for a few weeks. With the help of some neighbors, Max guns down the cleaners.
His third job is to assassinate Inner Circle member Senator Corcoran at the latter's skyscraper, a job in which he succeeded.
Following the arrival of Max and Mona Sax to the skyscraper in an attempt to save the now deceased senator, Kaufman decides to finish off the detective himself. Coming out of an elevator, Kaufman and his cleaners engage in a gunfight with Max, only to be killed afterwards.
Even with his death, the Squeaky Cleaning Company does not disband, and the Cleaners continue to work as hitmen, possibly getting direct orders from Lem himself.
Biography[]
Background[]
Kaufman's life prior to the events of the Cleaner case is unknown. Sometime, between 2001 and 2003, after Vladimir Lem founded the Squeaky Cleaning Company as a front for hitmen and hired guns, Kaufman joined him, eventually becoming the field leader of the Cleaners.
Many of the Cleaners developed a healthy respect for Kaufman and one of them even warned another that he is "a bad motherfucker" in order to persuade him to follow Kaufman's orders.
Leading the cleaners[]
- "Get in! Go! Go!"
- ―Kaufman as he escapes the warehouse.
By 2003, Kaufman is still the leader of the Cleaners, and sends them to to take care of Lem's enemies and targets.
a draft on Cleaner Case. Kaufman's name is written in the bottom.[1]
Kaufman orders attack on Lem's warehouse and the murder of Annie Finn. At the time his men assault the warehouse, Max Payne, an NYPD detective, arrives to scene and fights Kaufman's men, but fails to save Annie. Kaufman and his men later escape in a black van and attempting to run over the detective, who is saved by his partner. At that time, Max did not see Kaufman, only hearing his name.
Kaufman later orders his men to attack Max Payne's apartment building and tells them that he wants the detective dead. The Cleaners attack Max's building, but with the help of some neighbors, he manages to kill all of Kaufman's men and escape. After killing the last cleaner, Max sees the same black van drive away, presumably driven by Kaufman.
By the time of these events, Max already began a case based on the Cleaners' attacks, putting Kaufman as a main suspect, along with the Italian mobster Vincent Gognitti, believing the two to be working together. However, except Kaufman's name, Max had no clue about his identity.
Death[]
- "Find him. Take care of him."
- ―Kaufman to his men as they come out an elevator.
Kaufman and his men come out an elevator.
Under Lem's orders, Kaufman and his men launched an attack on the skyscraper where Corcoran, a member of the Inner Circle and an associate of Lem's rival Alfred Woden, was located, and killed him. Mona Sax and Max attempt to save Corcoran, only to find him dead in a pool of blood, behind his desk.
As Max fights the Cleaners, Kaufman decides to take care of business personally. After Max killed two Cleaners who took position next to an elevator, Kaufman and his men walk out, and Kaufman orders his men to finish off the detective. Moments later, a large shootout begins, resulting Kaufman's death by Max.
Even with his death, the Cleaners continue their job as hitmen, now getting direct orders from Lem himself.
Personality and traits[]
Kaufman.
Much of Kaufman's personality was unrevealed. It is known that, compared to other Cleaners who act a bit more comical, Kaufman seems to be more of a cold and serious person. He is both respected and feared among the Cleaners, and was called a "bad motherfucker" by one of them. They follow his orders with no hesitation.
It is mostly unknown about Kaufman's skills in the battlefield, however, he is very capable with his dual Ingrams, as seen during his first and only battle with Max Payne. He also can leap in order to escape gunfire. It also seems that he has some sort of leadership abilities, given the idea that he is the leader of the Cleaners, group of deadly hired guns.
Appearance[]
Kaufman is a tall man in his 30's with short brown hair and hazel eyes. He wears a turquoise trucker hat, a grey thick jacket on a turquoise shirt with purple collar. He wears a pair of blue jeans and black shoes.
Equipment and Tactics[]
Kaufman wields dual Ingram machine pistols, giving him an extremely high rate of fire. His reflexes, aim, and skill level are also the highest of any enemy in the game (equal to that of a Commando Lieutenant), significantly higher than that of his Cleaner underlings. Unlike most disguised Cleaners, he also wears body armor underneath his cleaning company jumpsuit. His body armor reduces any attacks that hit it to about 40% of normal damage. Additionally, Kaufman does not take extra damage from headshots, though headshots do count as a normal hit rather than a hit on his body armor.
Along with Vlad, he has the highest durability of any individual enemy in the game. He has about 3 times the amount of health of most enemies, as well as body armor protecting his torso, giving him overall about four times the durability of most regular enemies, requiring about 12-16 9mm pistol rounds to kill. He can even survive a sniper rifle headshot. However, his durability is still not very high compared to most of the bosses from the first game, and he can still be killed with several hits from an assault rifle.
In combat, Kaufman is accompanied by 3 other Cleaners armed with Kalashnikovs and Ingrams who were riding with him in the elevator. An additional 3 other Cleaners with similar weaponry also flanks in from behind Max soon after the fight starts. Most of the Cleaners will charge Max's position, while two remain behind to protect Kaufman. Kaufman himself strafes around in the elevator lobby, spraying Max with bullets whenever he comes into view. He will often dodge-roll to evade gunfire if fired upon or aimed at.
Vehicle[]
- Black Cleaner Company van - a black van that used as the main transportation method of the Squeaky Cleaning Company. All the cleaners use this van as their main vehicle. Kaufman is seen driving it when he and his men escape from Lem's warehouse, and then again from Max Payne's apartment building.
Quotes[]
- "Shoot!"
- ―To his men.
- "Cover me!"
- ―To his men.
Gallery[]
Behind the scenes[]
- A cleaner wearing a similar uniform as Kaufman's appears as an uncommon variant of the regular cleaners in Act II and Act III. This cleaner has a slightly different face from Kaufman, and also does not wear a ballistic vest under his jacket. A cleaner with this model appears in the opening cutscene of Blowing Up. This cleaner, however, is not voiced by the same actor as Kaufman's.
- Kaufman's full/real name was never revealed, and as it more likely that Kaufman is not a first name, it is unknown whenever Kaufman is a surname, a nickname, or a codename.
Portrayal[]
Greg Sims voiced Kaufman and some background characters in Max Payne 2.
In the 2003 Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, Kaufman was voiced and motion-captured by actor Gregory Sims, best known for his roles in the film Real Steel and the TV series FilmFakers. Other than this works, Sims also voiced a few characters in other Rockstar Games projects, such as the "Innocentz" gang in the 2003 Manhunt, and Cam Jones in the 2002 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
Other than Kaufman, Sims also voiced other characters in the game Max Payne 2; John Mirra from Address Unknown, policemen and cleaners. In the credits, Sims was credited as Greg Sims.
Fight strategy[]
Kaufman's "boss fight" happens during the level "The Million Dollar Question".
Being the leader of the Cleaners, Kaufman is a few levels stronger than his subsequents. After killing two cleaners next an elevator, near the end of the level, Kaufman and a few cleaners come out the elevator, along with a few more Cleaners who arrived from other location in the building.
It is recommend to take out Kaufman's men first, as they often serve as a decoy for Kaufman's attacks, as well serve as a "human shield" for Kaufman. These Cleaners have no unique traits and have the same health and weapons (mostly Kalashnikov, 9mm Pistol and Ingrams) as regular cleaners.
Kaufman himself has more health and an improved AI than his men. He also wields dual Ingrams, making him a dangerous enemy in close range, along with his "Shootdodge leaps". However, Kaufman's health is still not very high and a large amount of bullets from assault rifles will finish him off. When fighting against, it is recommend to keep distance, as he and his men can easily kill the player in short-range.
Video[]
Appearances[]
- Max Payne 2
- Elevator Doors (Mentioned,Voice Only)
- No 'Us' in This (Mentioned)
- The Million Dollar Question
- Prologue (A Binary Choice) (Name on the Board)
| Max Payne • Mona Sax • Jim Bravura • Vincent Gognitti • Kaufman • Vladimir Lem • Mike • Valerie Winterson • Alfred Woden
Andrews • Broussard • Clay • Corcoran • Ed • Feller • Annie Finn • Mary • Miller • Mitchum • Petersburg • Violet Sebastian Gate • Max Heat • Magdalena • Laura Norder • Kyra Silver • Sammy Waters |