Release: Jan 21 2009
Developer: Twisted Pixels
Publisher: Microsoft
Genre: Adventure, Platformer
Witty, fun and memorable, The Maw is the first XBLA game of the year worth owning
Recent XBLA releases have been somewhat lacking in their originality, quality and that all-important ‘wow!’ factor. Thankfully, The Maw – the first full game from indie developers Twisted Pixels – contains all three aforementioned qualities, and is the first Arcade title of 2009 worthy of both the price and hard disc space.
Hunger strikes!
The stars of the show are Frank (a yellow suited, blue skinned alien) and his companion Maw (a purple gelatinous blob sporting the ever-fashionable Cyclops look). While they may not sound like much on paper, the reality is that they exude personality and charisma by the truck load and you’ll find yourself instantly smitten with the both of them; a real triumph in character design considering neither of them speak a single word.
Forced together as a result of being captured by a mysterious alien race (for reasons unknown), you must work together to escape the enemy and ultimately exact your revenge. It’s a classic partnership of brains meet brawn, with Frank as brains and Maw as brawn. You only have direct control over Frank, but with the help of a futuristic iteration of a lasso you lead Maw around behind you and guide him towards his sole interest in the life, food. Maw is an eating machine that is never full, and never satisfied. While he starts off little more than half of Franks size he soon becomes an enormous wreaking ball of insatiable hunger, growing bigger and bigger the more he consumes.
The search for food is the driving force behind the gameplay, with each level requiring you build Maw up to a certain size before allowing you to progress. Most of the edible creatures are in plain site, but reaching them all requires you to complete some simple puzzles. These puzzles are usually centred around transforming Maw into one of five alternative states; fire-breathing Maw, electric Maw, floating Maw, laser gun Maw and battering ram Maw (these are not the ‘official titles’). Each of these ‘alter-egos’ are induced by eating various special creatures. It’s all fairly basic stuff, and more of a treasure hunt/exploring game than a platformer.
A fun kind of undead
Neither Maw nor Frank can die, no matter how many times they are hit by an enemy’s bullet. While this may dismay the hardcore adventure gaming crowd, it’s a feature that is in keeping with fun, clean and forgiving nature of the gameplay and allows you to just sit back and enjoy the ride.
Colourful, vibrant and – for an Arcade title – ambitious visuals invoke nostalgic memories of early 3D Mario titles and complement the gameplay perfectly. Without doubt this is one of the finest looking titles on any console’s downloadable service. Presentation is equally slick, with instructions consisting mainly of bold, simple visuals with minimal text.
Despite being generally a fantastic title, there are a few niggling issues that could be improved. The camera is very limited and doesn’t always allow you to see as much as you’d like, the ability to stand still and look around the environment through Frank’s eyes would help no end with navigation. Occasionally there can be an annoying level of precision needed in order for Maw to recognise that there’s an edible creature standing right in front of him, if he’s not positioned just right he won’t react to it. This can lead to some frustrating lulls in the pace of the game.
There’s also the fact that it’s a very short game (no more than 2 hours), which may be off-putting for some. However, for the low price and the level of fun it manages to cram in, this isn’t really too much of an issue; you get your moneys worth due to the quality anyway.
Witty, fun and memorable, The Maw is the first XBLA game of the year worth owning. While not perfect or groundbreaking, it delivers a short, sharp experience that manages to stay fresh from start to finish; thanks in no small part to the charm of its leading duo. A couple of small issues aside, The Maw is a great example of quality over quantity.
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