Maximum Action (stylised as "MAXIMUM Action") is a first-person shooter developed by George Mandell and published by Mandell under the name Balloon Moose Games. It started work in August 2016 and released in Early Access on Steam on September 19, 2018. In early 2019, John Szymanski joined the project as co-developer, and by June 2019, the team was officially partnered with New Blood Interactive under creative director David Szymanski. However, Mandell parted ways with New Blood in 2020, citing creative differences. The game is still in Early Access.
Maximum Action takes heavy inspiration from Hong Kong cinema, especially the works of John Woo, as well as games like Max Payne and Superhot. There is a heavy focus on player movement and control, allowing the player to interact with the levels via the standard shooting and punching, but also kicking, diving, and sliding. Kicks can knock weapons out of enemy hands, shatter glass windows and knock over props, while diving can be combined with a "bullet-time" mechanic (called "Action Time" in-game) to allow for precise shots in mid-air.
Note: this game features heavy Steam Workshop support; as Workshop content is unofficial, only the base game weapons will be included on this list.
The following weapons appear in the video game Maximum Action:
Every weapon can be dual-wielded in Maximum Action, and two separate weapons can be held at once. This results in a lot of nonsensical animations, where pump-action shotguns and underbarrel grenade launchers are operated on their own. However, weapons are correctly not mirrored when dual-wielded; this can also result in some awkward animations, such as chamberloading shotguns on the wrong side of the receiver, as the animations are mirrored. When picking up weapons, they default to right hand use.
The game has a "fire on release" option for all weapons that don't shoot full-auto, where the weapon will only fire once the fire button is released. The game will slow down time while the fire button is depressed, which compounds with the core Action Time mechanic, allowing players to stack the effects. When in "fire on release" mode, double-action revolvers are used in single-action, with the player manually cocking the hammer instead of just pulling the trigger like they would usually.
Suppressed versions of some weapons are available; these suppressors are unrealistically quiet, making a very Hollywood-esque "PEW" noise. Enemies are not alerted to the sounds of suppressed gunfire, unless you are close to them when firing.
Ammunition is generally sorted by weapon subtype, and not what the weapons use in real life, such as generic "Rifle" and "Shotgun" ammo, although some ammo type choices are somewhat questionable. There is no ammo cap in the game, making it possible to hold tens of thousands of rounds at once.
Moving the scroll wheel will make the player character flip their current held weapon(s); like dual-wielding, this can be done with any weapon, resulting in some fairly ridiculous animations.
Handguns
Pistols have an oddly higher amount of variation in terms of ammo types; they are "Pistol", "Pistol Heavy", and "Magnum" ammo. The only handgun that doesn't use either of these is "The Jury", which uses shotgun ammo.
Beretta 92FS Inox
The Beretta 92FS Inox appears as the "92FS", with a correct 15 round magazine. The in-game model's texture is based on the image below.
The Colt Single Action Army is called the "Single Action". Aiming causes the player character to fan-fire the revolver, and the rate of fire will increase accordingly. A reskinned version of the SAA with ivory grips is available in the level "Town".
A fourth-generation Glock 17 appears in game. It has a 17 round magazine and is known as the "G17". The weapon's in-game textures are based on the reference image below.
The Glock model returns as the "Letter Learner", a pistol that shoots neon white words of the player's choice by modifying their game files. By default, the words fired are a tutorial on how to edit the text that fires out of the gun. It holds 200 "words" in a magazine and unusable ironsights, due to the word "Words" placed on top of them.
The Kimber Custom TLE/RL II is present in game, known simply as "1911". A version with a suppressor and laser sight is available and called the "1911 S".
The Ruger GP100 is known as the "Magnum". When reloading, the correct amount of bullets can be seen fired from the revolver, however the casings appear to have been fired with the bullets, as the fired chambers are empty. This is obviously incorrect, but it does get around the common problem in videogames of not using the ejector rod to eject spent casings. Individual rounds are inserted for all reloads, except for empty reloads, where a speedloader is used instead.
The GP100 model, modified to resemble a Taurus 4510PLYFS, appears as "The Jury". Unlike the real 4510PLYFS, it is depicted with a 4 round cylinder. It fires shotgun shells (although the shells loaded are the same as the ones used on the other shotguns, which would make it 12 gauge) and follows the same empty/non-empty reloading procedures as the stock GP100.
The TT-33 appears in the game, with a correct 8 round magazine. It is presumably meant to be a Norinco Type 54, a Chinese copy of the Tokarev that was used in many Hong Kong movies. A suppressed variant known as the "TT33 S" is available.
The .475 version of the Wildey Hunter is known as the "475 Wildmag". It has a 5 inch barrel and an 8 round magazine, which is one more round than the real pistol.
SMGs for some reason do not share ammo with the pistols, despite them all using 9x19mm Parabellum, and instead use "SMG" ammo.
Calico M950A
The Calico M950A is known as the "CM950". The weapon has no front sight; instead, it seems to use a polygon line on the top of magazine as one. Of note is that the textures on the in-game weapon were directly based on the image below.
The MP5A3 (simply called "MP5") is depicted with a AKS-74-style stock stuck to the right side of the gun. It also has an unusable rail on top and on the left side of the gun. Due to the retro art style of the game, there is no aperture or notch in the rear sight; this would result in shots going high of the point of aim in real life.
The "MP5 S" is a version of the MP5A3 with a suppressor, the stock unfolded, along with a red laser emitting out from under the handguard.
The Uzi is referred to simply as the "SMG". Incorrectly, it is depicted as closed-bolt and the charging handle reciprocates when firing. The weapon's textures are mirrored on the left and right side, resulting in double-sided ejection ports.
A large, Mini Uzi sized Uzi Pro appears as the "Micro SMG". It has the top rail removed, and is depicted with a top-mounted charging handle like the other Uzi variants, and the real weapon's side-mounted handle is simply rendered as a flat texture. It has the stock from the regular Uzi somewhat awkwardly pasted onto the bottom of the gun. It is never used as a stock, but is instead used as a foregrip - before aiming down the sights, the gun is held with one hand, but afterwards, the left hand will use the buttstock as a grip. Despite this, the stock grip does nothing for the recoil control; it has the same recoil with or without the left hand on the grip. It also helps that it has a much lower rate of fire compared to the real Uzi Pro. The weird stock is not present in the 3rd person model.
The weapon holds 25 rounds despite being modelled with a 32-round magazine.
Due to the retro art style of the game, the rear sight aperture is filled in, and the front sight is angled above it. This would result in shots going high of the point of aim in real life, which doesn't happen in-game.
A suppressed version is also present, known as the "Micro SMG S".
For all shotguns except the AA-12 and the Model 1887, a shell is loaded into the chamber upon an empty reload. They all use "Shotgun" ammo.
AA-12
The AA-12 CQB appears in the game, with a shell holder containing six unusable shells. It has the 20 round drum and is incorrectly depicted as closed-bolt with a reciprocating charging handle.
A somewhat indistict double barreled shotgun appears as the "Super Shotgun". The left barrel will always fire first, and the player character will cover the right chamber with their hand when reloading with one barrel fired.
The same shotgun with the barrels sawn-off appears as the "Sawed Off". The stock may also be sawn-off, although it is most common for it to be retained; the stock is also purely a cosmetic change, as there is no difference between the stocked and stockless versions.
A black, sawed-off version of the Mossberg 500 appears as the "M500 Covert", fitted with a large suppressor. It might be a reference to the suppressed Remington 11-87 from No Country for Old Men.
A Remington 870-based Serbu Super Shorty appears as the "Shockwave" (presumably referencing the Mossberg 590 Shockwave, however the in-game weapon is clearly not a Shockwave nor is it a Mossberg-based Super Shorty). It has a shell holder containing 3 unusable shells on the right side and incorrectly holds 6 shells in the 2-round tube. Its in-game textures were based on the image below.
A sawed-off Winchester Model 1887 is referred to as the "1887". The lever is operated normally unless it is dual-wielded, where it is spin-cocked instead. The shotgun holds 7 shells, which is presumably meant to represent a fully loaded tube with one in the chamber and lifter.
The rifles, with one exception, use generic "Rifle" ammo; this ammo type is also used by the M60, Remington 700, and also for some reason the RPG.
AK-47
An AK-47 appears in game. It appears to be a Type 2, as it has a milled receiver and the distinctive stock mounting bracket. The rear sight appears very squished and misshapen, and the front sight is shorter than it should be; regardless, they still line up when aiming down them. The weapon's bolt is also misplaced too far back in-game. The model's textures are referenced from the below image.
A Henry 1860 appears as the "Repeater". It has an oddly boxy receiver. Like the Model 1887 above, it is flip-cocked when dual-wielded. The reload animation is very wrong, depicting the rifle with a loading gate. It holds 10 rounds of a cartridge that is much longer than actual .44 Henry, and for some reason shares ammo with the game's shotguns.
The Remington Model 700 USR appears in game, with a regular length barrel and a shorter top rail. The rifle is loaded with a 5 round magazine (though the magazine appears to be a 10-rounder), a large scope, and is known as the "M24A". It is the only weapon in the game with a functional scope. A suppressed variant is available and is called the "M24A_Suppressed".
The M60 appears in the game. It has what appears to be an M60E3 vertical foregrip in front of the M60's own. It feeds from a 100-round loose belt and is known as the "M60".
The AirTronic PSRL is referred to as the "RPG". It has no stock, no rear grip, and no sights; instead, a polygon line on the rocket is used to aim, somehow. It lacks the real weapon's hammer and the rocket appears to be missing its booster charge. It somehow uses the same "rifle" ammo that is used by the M16, AK-47, and M60.
The Cobray CM203 is only available mounted underneath the "M16A1 GL" version of the M16A1. Like the action movies from which the game was inspired, the CM203 stands in for an M203 and fires explosive rounds. An infinite amount of reserve grenades are carried with it.
The Mk 2 hand grenade appears in-game. It is based on a common toy grenade, as evidenced by the body's plasticy-sheen, screw holes, and much fatter shape. There is no animation for the pin being pulled nor the grenade being thrown - it simply appears in mid-air where you are looking. Grenades can be shot to detonate them prematurely, which also adds to the in-game score multiplier. Like the CM203, the player seems to carry an infinite amount of grenades at all times; this also means that it can be spammed to great speed and effect.
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