Even after 10 years, it still is amazingly good and highly replayable.
M.A.X. -abbreviation for Mechanized Assault and Exploration- can be defined in technical terms as a tactical-level, turn-based colonization and conquest game. A typical game starts with you in command of a mining station, a power generator, a few builders and a small number of fighting units; to win, you must either completely wipe out your enemies or accumulate a number of points defined when the game starts. The similarities with other strategy titles, however, end there: every unit -from a puny scout to a missile cruiser- has a series of attributes that define its toughness, speed, rate of fire and several other values, which clearly and precisely outline the role it fulfills on the battlefield. For example, tanks do not pack a great punch but can withstand substantial amounts of damage, and thus are best used in the front lines to soak up enemy fire and protect the fragile long-range units that actually do the killing. Combat in M.A.X. actually feels a little like chess: the AI employs clever strategies such as drawing your fire with expendable units, and attacking when your forces have already fired their allotment of shots for that turn.
What gives this game a truly unique dimension is that any of these attributes can be enhanced either by researching new technologies or by purchasing upgrades with gold. This allows for an incredible variety of strategies--for example, you could try approaches as different as enhancing your fast units to make them fit some Blitzkrieg-like assault plan, or developing the ultimate defenses to create the 4th-millennium version of the Maginot line.
The graphical interface of the game is nothing special--a screen and a sidebar crammed with buttons. It has some very cool features, though: first and foremost, the ability to zoom in and out almost at will. While no self-respecting RTS would ship without such a feature nowadays, it was almost unheard of back in 1996--and, trust me, you are going to use it a lot. The models and graphics still are amazingly detailed, even if at the moment of this review the game is almost ten years old. The units lose none of their charm even after completely zoomed in, a feat rarely matched even by modern games.
The sound is excellent, too. Weapon fire, building and vehicle explosions, the mechanic humming of functioning installations
--all are superb and sound realistic. The female computer voice disappoints me a little, but now, no units require crew here, so it makes sense in the end. (While M.A.X. has many different tanks, airplanes and ships, there are only two distinctively humanoid units in the game--infantry and infiltrators.)
M.A.X. successfully introduces a limited form of the concept of supply lines: as every unit has a limited amount of ammo, you have to protect your trucks as if they were worth their weight on gold, or you will be in for a nasty surprise when, a few turns after the assault on the enemy stronghold starts, your units begin to run out of ammunition. It is a pity the developers did not expand on this idea and forced you to have to refuel your units, but hey, it is the 4th millennium--by then, I imagine even a fusion engine will be a relic from times past.
It is kind of difficult to find any flaws on this masterpiece; if I have to name one, I found the AI to be a bit weak, even on the ultimate difficulty setting. Even against an ultra AI that is going to probe your defenses continuously for weaknesses using every means at her disposal, going Maginot is a winning strategy if you pay attention to all the details. (Don't try this approach against a human player, or you will be squashed by a horde of tanks.)
All in all, this is one of the best, richest and most replayable strategy games I have ever played--I have to admit I am waiting anxiously for some developer to try again the utterly complete customization formula proposed by this game. Highly recommended for those who love old-fashioned turn-based games like Panzer General.