Mechanized Assault & Exploration

M.A.X.
Developer(s)	Interplay Productions
Publisher(s)	Interplay Productions
Designer(s)	Ali Atabek
Platform(s)	DOS
Release date(s)	1996
Genre(s)	Turn-based strategy/Top-down
Mode(s)	Single player, Hotseat, LAN

M.A.X.: Mechanized Assault & Exploration is a turn-based strategy game released for DOS in 1996. The objective of the game is to colonize various alien planets by building eco-spheres for your colonists to live in and defending them against enemies. In 2008 the game was released on Good Old Games in a bundle with the game's sequel.

Gameplay

The Concord, an alliance of aliens called the Star Lords, have drafted humankind to fight their wars of planetary control for them. When a dispute over a planet between two or more Star Lords arises, the conflict is settled by mechanized forces and the victor's colonists can live on that world. The player assumes the role of a M.A.X. Commander, a human brain in a robotic shell designed to command robotic fighting units to take control of a planet and its resources. There are eight human clans that the player can choose to command, each with a specific in-game advantage.

The game includes a single-player campaign, 24 single-player missions, and four planets with six locations each for custom battles. Multiplayer games could be set up for network, modem, serial port or hot seat play.

Before each game, each player is given an amount of gold with which to purchase and customize some military units. When the game starts, each unit is placed in one grid square on the map, and all control and unit placement throughout the game is done on this grid system.

The game can be played in a turn-based mode (with or without time limit), or simultaneous mode (all the players take their turns at the same time), and features combat in air, land, and sea. Three resources are present on the maps - Raw Materials, which are needed to manufacture units, structures and ammunition, Fuel, which power generators need to function, and Gold, which is used to purchase upgrades. The player typically begins a game with a mining station (The game's primary structure, which extracts a certain amount of resources per turn), a power generator (provides only enough power for the mining station to operate), an engineer and a constructor unit. All of the game's units have specific requirements. Combat units must have their ammunition replenished and construction units must have their materials restocked or they will be unable to build structures. Almost all large structures require power. Power generators/stations can be constructed adjacent to structures or can be connected to them ultimately through simple connectors. Structures can repair/reload themselves if they are connected to any structure that is ultimately connected to a structure containing the supplies. Units can be restocked if they are near a complex and repaired, reloaded and upgraded if they are in a depot/barraks/hangar/dock.

References

1. M.A.X. user manual
2. MobyGames
3. Unit listings and scenario walkthroughs

External links

• Mechanized Assault and Exploration at MobyGames