Review: The Maw

A boy and his blob takes on a whole new meaning in this Indie-developed game for Xbox Live

What do you get when you cross aliens, a mysterious galactic force out collecting those aliens, and a bottomless pit in the shape of a blob? You get developer Twisted-Pixel’s hilarious new take on the platforming genre, “Maw”, which hit XBLA shelves on January 21st. The game was showcased on the floors of 2008’s Penny-Arcade Expo (PAX) and earned the Audience Choice award during the expo’s showcase of new independent games.

Equipped with only a leash gun, you play as the title’s protagonist Frank; an alien who befriends and controls the real star of the game, Maw, by “leading” him around the levels of the game in order to get him to grow and gain new abilities which allow you to solve the level’s puzzles and continue on through the game. Maw starts out as a tiny pink blob on your screen who is only able to eat the tiny puffball creatures that inhabit the first (and most of the subsequent) planets in the game. As he eats more his size increases and he is able to eat the larger and fiercer creatures that play an integral part of the game. Being able to eat these larger creatures becomes important because as your blobular friend eats certain animals he inherits the abilities that each of these creatures possesses; these abilities become necessary to solve the puzzles that Frank and Maw encounter as they progress through the game’s straightforward level designs.

Though the difficulty has been turned down, controlling Maw can become slightly annoying at times with no true way to get him to go where you would like (all he does is follow you and hopefully he’ll get the hint and do what you were planning for him to do), and the storyline itself is quite bland and mostly non-existent the experience itself is there and will push players forward to finish it. This game is a colorful and light-hearted take on the platformer genre that will have experienced players chuckling at the antics of Maw and newcomers to gaming receiving a good introduction on how a game should be played and especially the definition of what a quality game actually is.

As of January 21st, Maw was available on the Xbox 360’s Live Arcade System for 800 points ($10) and is well worth the price tag for anyone who thought that platforming was becoming a bit stale, for parents looking to get their children a light-hearted, kid-friendly game, or for achievement hunters (as most of the game’s 200-point achievements can be received through a weekend of casual playing or a day’s play-through).

Twisted Pixel has also recently announced that Maw will be getting three additional levels in the coming months for the small price of 100 MS points a piece. Each of these levels are supposedly going to flesh out a little bit more of the story and will play as “Deleted Scenes” from the game as well as coming equipped with an additional achievement for each. No specific dates have been given but Twisted Pixel did say that these would be three seperate releases from one another.

Bottom Line:

• Presentation: Colorful, well-done graphics that are truly amazing for an Xbox Live title and easy-to-like characters make this a winner in the presentation department. The game, while easy, can easily grab players of all kinds and allows for a truly enjoyable experience.
• Sound: The Soundtrack is a mix of funky music and hearing Frank yell for Maw as well as Maw running away from enemies is a truly humorous experience that almost always seems to get a laugh.
• Replay Value: Moderately Low, though achievement hunters may replay the game in order to get the full 200 points most people will be done with the game once it’s over. That may change though with the promise of extra levels and content looking promising. This could substantially raise the value if the levels are actually worth the price.
• Difficulty: Good for newcomers to platforming and younger gamers but can almost become boring to seasoned veterans. Older gamers will have to look towards the overall enjoyment and humor presented in the game as well as the art-style to hook them into this title.

For more information on this game, visit the website http://www.whatisthemaw.com