M.A.X.: Mechanized Assault & Exploration

M.A.X.: Mechanized Assault & Exploration is a turn-based strategy game released for DOS in 1996. The objective of the game is to colonize various alien planets by building eco-spheres for your colonists to live in and defending them against enemies. In 2008 the game was released on Good Old Games in a bundle with the game's sequel.

The Concord, an alliance of aliens called the Star Lords, have drafted humankind to fight their wars of planetary control for them. When a dispute over a planet between two or more Star Lords arises, the conflict is settled by mechanized forces and the victor's colonists can live on that world. The player assumes the role of a M.A.X. Commander, a human brain in a robotic shell designed to command robotic fighting units to take control of a planet and its resources. There are eight human clans that the player can choose to command, each with a specific in-game advantage.

The game offers a large campaign, 24 single missions, and 4 planets with 6 locations each for custom battles:
Single-player Game:
- Training missions.
- Single missions.
- Custom game with up to 3 AI antagonists.
- Custom scenario.
- Campaign game.
Multi-player Game:
- Host network game.
- Join network game.
- Modem game.
- Serial game.
- Hot seat.
- Hot seat scenarios.

Source: Wikipedia, "Mechanized Assault & Exploration," available under the CC-BY-SA License.