What version of Max do YOU have? You must have an equal or higher version to open a max file... You cannot open it with an older version unless you do a clunky workaround of having somebody EXPORT it as OBJ or 3DS, then you can IMPORT it into your version of Max...
However, the asset you're acquiring for free may have one of those alternate formats available already.
If I get your meaning ... 3DS will not open in MAX. They must be imported. Open Max, click file, import, select file, select objects to import.
If it's a max file, they aren't as Andy said, backwards compatable.///--)\\\
