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The Maw is the first outing from developer Twisted Pixel. When the game debuted at the most recent Penny Arcade Expo, it won the coveted Audience Choice Award. Read on to find out more about this Xbox Live Arcade game.
In The Maw you play a little blue alien who has been captured by a mysterious bi-pedal race. You are held captive along with several other types of creatures, one of which is none other than The Maw.
From the moment you crash land in the game's opening sequence, you'll begin an adventure unlike any other. The gameplay can be compared to Katamari Damacy (or PC download The Wonderful End of the World.) Where in Katamari Damacy the katamari gets bigger by rolling over things to pick them up, the Maw simply gets bigger by eating things.
Your goal, as you begin exploring the area, is to find a way off the planet and away from the race that had captured you and all the other creatures. You soon realize that feeding the Maw may be a huge benefit in helping you escape. This is truly the beginning of a good game.
The Maw will grow after eating a certain number of creatures. Each time he grows, he can then eat a bigger type of creature. In some cases he can even gain special abilities from some of the creatures he eats.
The control scheme is simplistic, and the game gives you some visual clues as to what buttons/actions to use while you play. There are also tips provided throughout the game for how to pull off the trickier movements.
The Maw is fairly simple to pick up and play, but there are hints of difficulty throughout – this is most evident in the escalating level of problem-solving required. For example, in order to get item A, you must first grow and figure out how to destroy a power generator, then move forward a bit before finding out how to fly to the area that holds item A.
A solid first outing for Twisted Pixel, The Maw is a thoroughly enjoyable game that should last you about 8 to 10 hours.
If you have an Xbox 360 and gamertag, you can purchase The Maw through Xbox.com and it will download directly to your console. Click here for more information.
