Maximum Football early impressions

[mark1726]

I got Maximum Football Friday afternoon and played with it some this weekend in between family time with my son and wife and typical weekend chores.

I have not played a full half of an actual game, spent most of my time in the play editor figuring things out.

To those that don't know much about it, Max FB is a customizable game that will let you play an Arean league game, a NFL style game, or a CFL game. Basically you have some settable rules and can use 8, 11, or 12 players as well as the appropriate different field sizes.

My initial impressions are good, some things are better than I thought others worse.

Good:
-Player models and graphics are done much better than I would ever have thought. The lighting is pretty good and the models, while only two types (lineman and non lineman) look like NFL Fever 2000 for the PC. Nothing compared to Madden, but better than FB Pro '98.

-The play editor is fairly vast. You can assign several different command points/logic to blockers, recievers, LB's etc... This is better than anything currently out there because your reciever and blocking patterns are not pre-fabbed, but up to you to make. They will follow what you say to a fault, so you have to be on your toes when making the plays.

-With some work the pass plays can look pretty with the QB getting some nice air on the ball like throwing a deep post pattern hitting the WR on the run. This is something I could never do in FB Pro (any version) and even have problems doing it in arcade mode in Madden.

-All art is editable. Stadiums can be made by a 3D editor, but the stadiums incuded with the game are not modifiable. Team logos for the field and jersey's are all editable.

Bad:
-In the play editor, the coverage schemes are basic and somewhat fustrating. You can assign only zone or man 2 man, but can not assign man 2 man on anything that is not a WR. This can cause some wide open guys if you design plays to exploit it.

-Few teams are included. Of course there is no liscense for the game, some CFL, NFL and Arena type teams are included, but only a handfull and none are like their real world counterparts.

-Stock plays are terrible. I have only played a half of a real game due to the plays being so bad and ugly to watch. The stock run plays are acceptable, but the pass ones are not well done. The stock defensive plays look more like somehting you would see in the Pro Bowl than anything else, very vanilla.

-Animations are ugly. They are not motioned capped, meaning the guy had to do them by hand. Because of this they can look silly at times and there are few of them. Some of them look pretty good like the QB ones, but the blocker interaction is not well done and will bother most people. Running animations are poorly done too.

-Only one camera angle. Same angle that Madden uses, raised and behind the QB, can see everyone but the two WRs.

In the end this is a game that competes with the FB Pro crowd. It is in no way meant to be on par with Madden. There is an arcade element, but it is very easy to break the AI by using the joystick, so it is esentially coach mode only. This not a game for the instant gratification crowd since the stock plays and teams are woefull. This is a game that you will have to put much effort into to get anything useable out of it.

For those that want to coach mode and make a play or two but not mess too much with editing, stay away for awhile until all the plays, teams, and art are done by others (as well as patches by Matrix games) to get the game into a workable simulation. For those looking to play arcade style look somewhere else.

For those looking to get rid of FB Pro and jump into the 21st century with football strategy and are willing to go through the early bumps and bruises until things get straightened out this is your game.

Some people are reporting crash bugs, weird season problems etc... I haven't seen any major bugs that keep me from being able to do anything. There are some AI behavior problems mainly with the defensive players that are quirky, but some house rules will have to be figured out when designing plays to keep them from being a problem.

You can read more about it in the MFB forums at www.matrixgames.com

[mvb34]

Cool, thanks for your impressions

[gtm]

Good gracious. I just went to the above link for max - football and went to the forums. About every post people are having problems. There is currently 3 pages of them.

[mark1726]

Quote: Originally Posted by mman19

Good gracious. I just went to the above link for max - football and went to the forums. About every post people are having problems. There is currently 3 pages of them.

You definately need to approach this game with a "buyer beware" (caveat emptor for you latin geeks out there) attitude since it is low budget made by one guy in his spare time. Also consider that when something new comes out some people will have problems with it on their machine and will post repeatedly until it is fixed making things sound worse than they are.

I will say I haven't had any problems as far as running it etc...seems to do everything I ask for. It is a completely open game so that comes with good and bad. Good because you can do whatever you want for the most part, bad because in doing stuff you can have crazy outcomes which people will blame on the game before looking at what they just asked the players to do.

This game isn't for the casual fan. It is going to require a lot of play design and roster adjustments etc... It is really just a toolset for you to make your own football universe. Until the game is hammered out through patches and play design from other users I suggest staying away if you don't want to put in the sweat.

[NIUDAWG]

does anyone truely like this game, are the options.....worth it? do u notice different playing styles with CFL, American Pro, and Arena?

[mark1726]

I like it, I have spent more time with this than any football game this past year. I am also different in that I like strategy more than arcade when it comes to football. I think most people around here will not like it because it is certainly not for the instant gratification crowd.

[NIUDAWG]

are there many bugs, is it difficult to play, and is it worth the 40 bucks?

[mark1726]

Quote: Originally Posted by NIUDAWG

are there many bugs, is it difficult to play, and is it worth the 40 bucks?

I can't answer the in game bugs because I have spent almost all my time making plays and practicing them. The play editor seemed messed up at first, but that was because I wasn't used to it and did some things wrong. It is not all that intuitive, but is easy to use. So far the only bug I have seen is that over time of editing a play then going into the practice mode and then going back the performance decreases to the point I have to reboot ( takes about 15+ times of doing that).

Can't comment on difficulty becuase I am still messing with plays. I can say the arcade mode is a joke, so don't buy it for that, way too easy. It is really just a coach mode game where difficulty doesn't really apply.

I don't like the price tag since it is more a toolkit to make a football universe than a ready product out the box like FBPro was. I am fine paying $40 for it since I will get more than that price back in time spent on it, but there aren't many good plays or teams that come with it. The price is only worth it if you are willing to make teams/playbooks etc.. otherwise you won't get your money's worth until other people have done these things for you. Also, $40 implies a big time game competing on the PC market with titles like Half-Life 2 and Civ IV. Those games are much more polished, this one is made by one guy. I would like to see him get all the money back for the amount of time he spent on this, but $40 is a bit high for the quality of the graphics and animations. I think $25 would be a more suitable price.