Free Fire MAX vs Free Fire: All the Different Aspects Explained
Garena has finally launched the much-awaited Free Fire MAX and there is a lot that needs to be covered. Even since it was teased first, Free Fire MAX was always touted as an upgrade to the original game and that is exactly what it is. FF MAX is basically the original game but with a bit more textures and some minor upgrades. The interesting part is that these minor tweaks and added textures are probably going to cement the player base for a long time. Basically, the idea behind Free Fire MAX is that it will be the version for higher-end devices.
It makes a lot of sense on the face of it since every update of the original game brought more textures and size to it. Since many players of the game are playing it on devices with not a lot of processing power, every update brought a new struggle for these players. With Free Fire MAX the game developers can now divide the update and send only the necessary files to each game. So players who have devices that can handle textures can play on the MAX version of the game and the rest can play on the original version of the game.
What Remains the Same?
This is a burning question for many players who are thinking about jumping ship. Since there are two versions of the game, are both the same or not? Both Free Fire and Free Fire MAX are exactly the same game, but one has better textures and smoother gameplay. The ranking system, lobbies, matchmaking, gun skins, characters, clash squad, battle royale, pets, and everything else remains the same. Even your FF account remains the same for the login and if you switch, you won’t lose any of your in-game winnings. Players can play on any version of the game and still, they will be matched together in the game. This is the part that has separated Free Fire from other battle royale games.
Since a player can use any version of the game and still play with their teammates, it makes choosing Free Fire MAX more of a preference than an imposition. Some players might not prefer the new version of the game or have teammates that are using lower specced devices, they can choose which game version to install. This level of familiarity comes at a cost as well. A lot of players might get turned off by the level of similarity that exists between the two games. The expectations of players from Free Fire MAX were to get Bermuda MAX tier textures and animation across the board. That is not what the MAX version of the game has brought to the table. Free Fire MAX brings incremental changes with it to make the overall gaming experience a bit better. To explain it better, think of this new version as an overclocked processor. When you overclock a processor, you don’t just crank it up from 3 GHz to 6 GHz. Doing that will destroy your processor completely if you mess up your voltage and cooling. So you do changes in your setting incrementally and overclock your processor bit by bit so you get the most stable clock. That is exactly what Free Fire MAX is supposed to be to the original game.
You will still drop on the same map in the same spot with exactly the same buildings, but the grass will look better. Spotting enemies also become a tad bit easier since there are more textures being rendered. The gameplay is smoother and the animation is crisper. There are also subtle changes made to the sound profile, so some of the vehicles sound different.
What Has Changed?
There are some changes as mentioned above and most of them are texture and animations. However, there are some new elements that have been added to Free Fire MAX. The most exciting addition has to the Craftland mode and the Bermuda MAX map. Craft land mode will let players make their own custom maps and play on them. This new game mode has many implications and shows promise. Now coming to changes that you will be coming across the most when you will be playing on FF MAX. Those incremental changes affect your vehicles, bushes, gun skins, safe zone and more. Starting with the vehicles, now your cars in FF MAX will make skid marks on the roads and throw dust when you take it off track. There are subtle changes in the sounds of the cars as well.
The color of the safe zone has also changed and is blue in FF MAX. Another change you will notice will be when you holster your weapon on the backpack in the animation. Even eating mushrooms and using repair kits has a new animation where your character will be moving its hands. M1887 also has a new reload animation too and there are changes made to the sprinting style too. Many players use the Katana or Scythe when moving around the map and in FF MAX the running animation has been changed. Then there is the new Clock Tower and Factory of the Bermuda MAX map which has been revamped. In the Bermuda MAX map, the Clock Tower has gone through an intense facelift and looks more open and even the underground tunnel looks better. Factory too has gone through a facelift and now has a lot more places to climb.
Something that will be a change for many players is how much more lively the game looks in the MAX version. Your field of view looks more expansive in the MAX version and those little facelifts do pay off in sweaty games. Just one thing to remember is that if you are on FF MAX and think you are hidden from the enemy’s view inside the new bush, think again. With the differing textures in both versions, some of them might not be rendered in the original Free Fire. So if your enemy is playing on the original version, they will spot you since their version doesn’t render those textures, thereby exposing you.
