Maximum Football 2019 – Championship Edition Review

College Football is back! That’s the words you’ll hear in a discussion around Doug Flutie’s Maximum Football 2019. Unfortunately, you won’t find your favorite colleges, logos or stadiums, simply because to date it’s still a costly feature to even consider thanks to numerous lawsuits. You will however have the opportunity to embrace a new perspective on football in addition to EA Sports Madden NFL. That said, does Maximum Football allow players and fans to relive the road to glory of college football, or simply throw a pass incomplete?

Is College Football Back?

Understanding that Maximum Football 2019 wouldn’t match the overall quality and presentation of NCAA Football, we looked to still find some sort of light in our experience. From the main menu, you can choose from Play Now, Season Play, College Dynasty and The Spring League. Of all the menus addressed, Spring League stands out the most as the only option with color. Sadly, it’s only an option for training on the field, which is somewhat helpful to get over the many hurdles to come.

After a few games and a bit of frustration, it all came together, and Maximum Football 2019 became tolerable. Unlike Madden NFL, the game begins with the coin toss deciding who’ll take possession and start of which side of the field. There are no pre-game animations, nor anything to set the tone for what’s to take place on the field. There is an announcer, Jordan Mercier, which is there for decoration as you never truly hear a voice in this game other than sound effects.

Players Gone Wild

Gameplay in Maximum Football is quite stiff and never truly excites as we hoped, playing like a football game experienced in the late 90’s or early 2000’s with the graphics of early. As teams line up on the field for that first kickoff, you’ll notice there’s no meter and no way to detect how far the ball will go, even risking an onside kick. On offense, gameplay is extremely sluggish and borderline unplayable in comparison to other titles available. Don’t get me wrong, you can pull off some remarkable rushing yards and passing plays here and there, but it’s not worth the cost of admission.

The biggest concern with Maximum Football is the read and react system implemented. As I would throw a pass to an open receiver, they reacted to the ball heading their way, but never reached at all for the ball, resulting in a pass incomplete. And it happened far too often. I get this isn’t the NFL, but I’m sure to be considered on a college team, you at least have to know how to catch the football.

Poor mechanics also stick out with your QB as well, causing input lag when trying to throw the ball. Needing to call an audible based on the defense set out on the field? Good Luck. While you’re able to change your play on the fly, the players won’t follow suit to the new call. It ultimately becomes role that sucks the fun out of the entire session, becoming as bland as the nonexistent drumline cadence.

Defense is just as questionable. I enjoyed breaking through offense and snatching a QB sack, but most plays just lacked overall due to the limited tackle animations. This also leads to the horrific collision system. Every tackle in Maximum Football was like watching two crash dummies collide as players went flying across the field. There were even times where tackles had no specific animations where the defense never actually tackled the ball handler but managed to take them down as they glitched through each other.

What Else is There

As mentioned throughout, graphics are nowhere near current gen and barely last gen. Not just evident around player models, but there’s the pixelated fans, field and playbook. Yes, even the playbook at times looked like it was created in Minecraft. Loading anything in Maximum Football is atrocious. For the quality and presentation, you’d expect an almost instant load. Instead, it at times feel longer than Madden NFL 20. After dealing with this a few times, you almost want to simply back out. No other way to elaborate other than MF19 plays like an indie game only meant for PC.

While there’s not an options menu available you are allowed to make changes prior to kickoff. Decide whether to make the referee calls fair or strict, it’s your decision. You can also change quarter lengths, play clock time and choose base rules for the game (College, All Pro, and Canadian). Pressing L1/LB will allow you to adjust the weather from a sunny day to rain, or even an icy white field.

Verdict

After a few games, I found myself no longer interested in Maximum Football. No where some would recommend sticking with or waiting for NCAA Football to return, it made me appreciate the team behind Madden NFL. Yes, there’s only a 3-man team that worked on Maximum Football, but that may have also been the problem. Maximum Football 19 is an okay concept, a kickstarter beta maybe, but not a retail worthy experience in the least.