| Antmeister |
03-29-2006 07:09 PM |
Well, here are two unofficial reviews from people who have purchased the game. One somewhat good and one very bad:
http://forums.operationsports.com/vB...d.php?t=162828
Quote:
Originally Posted by 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.
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http://www.blindsideblitz.com/forums...ad.php?t=14862
Quote:
Originally Posted by FirstTexan
I am not tied to Matrix Games or need to be 'cordial' and respect friendships with the developer.
That said...
First the bad part:
This game is absolutely atrocious. It looks really really ... really bad. The player animations are not even up to 1995 levels and that's over ten years ago. True they are 3-D contructs and not Wing-Commander/Doom moving 2-D plates, but that still doesn't make you feel any better. For anybody that has played Madden for the past 8 years, this game is going to be insulting.
Even on the Football side of things, Madden plays for more like 'real" football than MaxFB. This is when talking about ball flight, line play, coverage, execution of plays, and so forth. It's important to note because that is what you are going to thinking about when playing the game. Something along the lines of, 'Why should I bother with this instead of Madden?'
I got it and play it solely because it's the only game on the market ( in the world actually ), that allows you a degree of free play design. That in itself is not worth it for playing against yourself. Meaning playing solo with MaxFB is just about as stupid as trying to beat yourself at tic-tac-toe or something. I am hoping that with the small handful of guys that are in the MLF, the price of admission will be worth it.
*The game does allow you to pit your designs against another design in some competitive controlled environment.* ( that's the only selling point for me )
I can't say/review how this is going or will be in the end, because we didn't start yet. I can say that will be crux of the matter/what makes or breaks this game's value. If you win or lose based primarily on your football-like-play designs, then the game is a success.
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The game can have a heavy CFL element to it and really that's what the guy was trying to do in the first place; make a CFL football game. It allows for too much motion, too few downs, too many yards, too many men, etc. The game doesn't seem to model passing all that well to make the indoor football games that entertaining. Stuff like timed passes, catching on the run, threading coverage, etc.
Bottom line is that I wouldn't throw the 40$ down, if I was on a budget and still had other games to buy. To me the only people that would buy this game to play with themselves are die-hard CFLers.. that's just about the only reason I could see you getting any value out of the game in that manner.
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