Recent reviews by Krowmane

I've been playing Arma 2 Dayz mod before it became a standalone game and changed gaming. I've been playing Arma 3 PUBG mode before it became a standalone game and changed gaming. I've been playing Tarkov since alpha before it changed gaming. When I tell you Arc Raiders is going to be the next big thing that changes gaming, better believe me and buy the game, because sure as hell I will be riding the early wave once again.

Story - 8/10
Gameplay - 8/10
Visuals - 9/10
Performance - 8/10
Sound - 8/10
Price - 7/10 / On sale 10/10
Steam Deck Set Up? - No need, works straight out of the box on Steam Deck

Rating - 8/10 Hidden Gem and a must play on Steam Deck


Introduction
Mad Max is a game that released in 2015. A year that saw many long awaited and fan-favourite titles release. This meant that Mad Max wasn't on the priority buy list for the average consumer, and it was neglected, even though it was a very good game. Copies didn't sell well and critics placed it as "average" at best. This game has been forgotten for quite some time, until the Steam Deck released and it found it's new home.

Story
Mad Max is a post apocalyptic, open-world, video game, based on the media franchise of Mad Max by George Miller. Here the story of Mad Max is not a movie adaptation. Although it has recurring characters, the story follows it's own plot line and it introduced more to the world of Mad Max. The main story line takes between 10 and 20 hours to complete, with additional side quests and story collectables bumping that up to above 40. The world also being crafted extremely well, has some stories to tell just by exploring it. The story is mysterious, dramatic, spectacular and brutal.

Gameplay
Mad Max offers a big open world with a lot of activities. The gameplay is smooth, it feels good and it works well. You can customise and upgrade both Max and his car throughout the story with in game currencies and points that you earn by playing the main story, side stories, beating enemies and diving into sand storms. Fighting feels amazing, it's slow and heavy, although not very challenging. You can use your fists, melee weapon and ranged weapons. The car can be upgraded however you like to match your taste and gameplay style, meaning you can build it like a slow moving tank, a fast moving glass-cannon or something in between, choice is up to you. The Vehicular combat is engaging and spectacular. The car also offers tools that you can use to better your success chance of survival in the dangerous world or solve puzzles and disable enemy strongholds. The enemy AI is good, it's not perfect but it's well crafted and believable. There are couple of landmarks in the world that you can use as a base and upgrade them by completing side missions. There is a resource system in place for both Max and his car, that you need to manage and watch out for. Gameplay could become repetitive to some, but for me it was withing the normal range. Controls are standard and work well on the Steam Deck. The game feels balanced and well polished.

Visuals
The graphics are amazing. Even though the world is desolate and feels empty, it offers quite the view at most times, especially on the Steam Deck, with colourful and unique zones. The main story line cutscenes are dramatic and visually pleasing. Models are high-quality and fights are spectacular. It's a beautiful game that brings the vibes of the movies to the portable gaming world.

Performance
The game performs surprisingly well on the Steam Deck. It works straight out of the box on high-settings with 60 fps, no additional set up. Sometimes it could fall to 50/45 fps, with very rare stutters into the 20s. You could set up your Steam Deck settings to mitigate those drops or extend your battery life, which under normal circumstances lasts for 2 hours of high-octane gameplay. The game crashed 2 times in the 60 hours of my game time for unknown reasons. I couldn't figure out what caused it or how can it be fixed, but it was relatively rare, so it wasn't a big deal. Bugs were extremely minor and rare, mostly consisting of clipping issues of ragdolls and weapons. Mad Max is optimised superbly and it's why I REALLY RECOMMEND IT on Steam Deck.

Sound
The quality of the sound effects in this game is very good. The sound of the cars, the explosions, the music, the voice acting, the storms, the weapons are just top-notch. It all works really well to portray and sell the vibe of the Mad Max universe. The Steam Deck speakers do a good job of translating that, although sometimes it gets very loud and overwhelming thus distorting the sound a little bit. I can't comment on headphones, because I played through the whole game on speakers.

Price
As of December 2024, the price of the game is 20€, with it going on sale for as low as 5€. I recommend buying the game as it is, but it's a MUST PICK ON SALE for the Steam Deck.

Achieving 100% Completion
Going for 100% completion in Mad Max is not hard, just a hassle. You have less than 50 Achievements, some of which you earn by just playing the main story line, most being in side-quests, side-events and collectables. There is one achievement which is unobtainable by normal means anymore, which requires online connection. The servers shut down in 2020 and the only possible way to earn the achievement is through downloading a save. This is the only achievements I did on my PC as it was easier for me to download the save, load it and get the achievement. It was my last achievement. For some it could become repetitive and boring, but there aren't any challenging ones to get stuck on.


Mad Max is a great game! I rate it high because it's checks the boxes for all the things I like to see in post-apocalyptic, open world games. It's unique and has it's charm. It's a well made product that stands the test of time and it plays great on the Steam Deck. It does NOT require any secondary launchers and other bullsh*t to launch, so it's easy to run and easy to get into.

If you are trying to build a well optimised and easy to run and play library for your Steam Deck, then Mad Max is a MUST HAVE. , especially on sale. I personally had a blast with this game and will be adding it to my tried and tested Steam Deck Golden Collection of games.