M.A.X.: Mechanized Assault and Exploration

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Name: M.A.X.: Mechanized Assault and Exploration Year: 1996 Publisher: Interplay Developer: Interplay Platform: PC Genre: Strategy Total rating: 83% - rated 20 times rate now: please log in to rate Submitter: Yaroslav Score: 10 points Added: Jun 18 2006 Warez status: Abandonware

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Author: Crimthann Date: Jun 26 2006 - 01:57 Score: 30 points

M.A.X. is a futuristic turn-based strategy game, played out on a non-visible grid. The in game graphics and sound-effects are enjoyable and well tuned to the straight down birds eye view. I recommend it to serious strategy fans or any RTS fan who is interested in something original (i.e. not a C&C clone) and who not only has the patience to play in turns but enjoys a deep capacity for base and unit development. It's also useful for people who want to play against eachother but only have 1 computer.

I remember discovering this game some time in my preteens. The basic storyline: "War, famine and pestilence have combined with ecological collapse, genetic manipulation and tectonic disaster to bring about the demise of the world we now know. The aftermath of this destruction has caused mankind to splinter into eight opposing clans and necessitated the construction of huge spaceships to search the galaxy for habitable planets. Once a planet has been deemed habitable, a mechanized commander, a brain in an android body, must be sent down to the planet to survey, colonize and defend the planet for the arrival of the clan." The campaign missions were well-defined and challenging; consequently, being young, I didn't get far into them, but far enough to know that they were very interesting and required a fair bit of tactical adaptation. A fair mix of puzzle-solving, combat, and frantic maneuvering, for those who enjoy that kind of thing. You basically choose a clan, with its inherent advantages to certain types of units and buildings, and then you fight the other clans for dominion of the field. I preferred the custom battle scenario vs. 1 or 2 opponents, giving me a chance to expand my base. I will give examples from this experience to illustrate some of the things that make M.A.X. distinct from other typical strategy games.

First you have a certain amount of credits with which you select your initial deployment of units. There are a variety of mobile armor, gun, artillery, missile and rocket units, plus anti-aircraft, APCs, bulldozers, and minelayers. Generally there are different turrets and sea vessels that accomplish the same things. Besides that, there are AWACs (flying radar, to maintain a FOV and see the enemy coming) ground-attack and air-attack planes, submarines, air and sea transports, infantry and infiltrators. Of course the strictly utilitarian: constructors for building large buildings, engineers for building small buildings, and surveyors to find the different resources. Another wonderful feature is the ability to build bridges and foundations on the water, so that one can mine resources offshore as well, or create a land-bridge for vast invasion forces.

One of the resources you can harvest is gold, which you can use to purchase upgrades for your vehicles and buildings (the upgrades are catalogued as 'tank mk1, tank mk2' and so on). Over time you can use this feature to mold your units so they will be capable of different tactics. For instance, I once played a multiplayer game against 2 of my brothers; I chose a clan that gave specific advantages to my air units, then mined gold and used it to modify my ground-attack plane until it was capable of invading hostile airspace, surviving AA turret fire and clearing out all anti-aircraft elements. This leaving the base bare to my advanced air force. The brother I attacked soon abandoned his base and fled for the far corner of the map. So, as you can see, this ability to modify units adds a great deal to the gameplay.

Another interesting feature lies with the infiltrator unit's ability to walk among the enemy unseen until it fires or fails an attempt to commandeer an enemy vehicle or sabotage an enemy structure. Now and then there are actually derelict alien craft left behind on the surface which, when found and controlled, make a powerful addition to your ground forces (they can also heal themselves).

The interface is highly-developed and gives you a wide range of useful information to display at your will, including things like showing the radius of an enemy turret's firing range, scanning range, etc. (it won't fire if it can't see you, that's what radar units/buildings are for). There are other features that are convenient as well, such as, when a factory finishes a unit, you determine which direction to deploy it in, which is important if your base is in the middle of fending off an attack. Another thing to consider when building your base is that everything must be connected with above-ground pipelines in order to pool the power and resources. These pipelines are vulnerable and it is important to keep them under guard.

Generally, the game looks and feels very good for its time, well crafted in my opinion. The scenery isn't incredible but it doesn't detract either. The units aren't just moving blocks, the sounds and visual effects when they carry out commands are flavorful.

The only negatives to this game are the obvious ones when it comes to a turn-based strategy: for some people, it's just not their cup of tea. If you're looking for a fast action twitch-builder style RTS, this isn't for you (although the campaign missions are pretty demanding). It's also important to consider that if you play an extended match against the computer or another person and you're trying to outgrow your opponent, creating a large base will become quite tedious. But, if these things aren't a problem for you, this classic is worth a download. It's a deep and comprehensive tactical simulator that offers many things that a real time strategy doesn't have time for.

	Type / Title	Downloads / Views	Action
	CD ISO	68	Download
	Cheats	149	Read

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By XeLJoYo - Jun 28 2006 - 10:43 Such an underestimated game. Love it.

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