TwistedPixel’s The Maw sees you control Frank, some sort of Pixar-esq creature that has been captured and locked up on a spaceship. After the ship crashes onto an unknown planet, Frank and his new friend / pet Maw around the new planet eating various cute and not-so-cute creatures to fatten Maw up escape their captors for once and for all.
The Maw – Review
January 21, 2008 
January 21, 2008
The Maw
Developer: Twisted Pixel Games
Platform: Xbox 360 (reviewed)
The gameplay in The Maw consists of the player (Frank) guiding his new purple friend Maw around with him on some sort of laser leash, and taking him to various sources of supplement. Whether they be fluffy balls with eyes, or fire-breathing reptiles, Maw will (at least try to) gobble them up. The challenge (or lack thereof) comes from Maw needing to possess the skills of certain creatures, obtained momentarily by eating creatures. As an example, if there are plants obscuring your path to advance, Maw will need to find some way to burn them down. The game does a very good job of telling you where to go and what to do, but it gets to the point where you are still being spoon fed this information even at the very end of the game.
The Maw’s main drawing point however, is it’s charm. And it’s brimming with it. Levels are filled with lush, colourful environments and bright, vibrant creatures inhabit the lands. The game is fully 3D and looks incredibly sharp considering it is a downloadable title. The artistic design is unique which helps set it apart from other downloadable platformers. The visual element of The Maw is bolstered by the equally impressive audio. The jaunty, upbeat tunes complement the cheery visual presentation with great accuracy and precision, as well as invoking a sense of joyfulness rarely found outside of the general field of narcotics and kittens.
The creature models just as interesting and pretty to look at as the environment that surrounds them. Cute little furballs will hop around the land minding their own business, and will shriek in terror as Frank guides Maw’s ever-growing jaws towards them. Maw himself / herself / itself is the most endearing part of the adventure though. A fat purple blob with a mouth / hole full of razor sharp teeth and one giant eye and a long purple tongue, Maw is as cowardly as he is hungry. The relationship between Frank and Maw is a peculiar one and is more of an owner-pet dynamic than an actual friendship. Nevertheless, Frank will guide Maw to certain creatures to eat and, depending on the creature, Maw can gain a special ability for a period of time which, more often than not, will allow Frank and Maw to progress to the next stage. Watching Maw grow and seeing his actions change is really fascinating and really engaging for a while, but you never really progress to any higher level of difficulty than you are presented with at the start.
And that’s really the big problem with The Maw. Clocking in at around 3 hours, maybe more if you decide to eat every creature in every level, the game doesn’t have a lot of longevity. It has very little replayability either which makes it almost a one-time play game. The younger audience may wish to return to it seeing how friendly it is to younger, perhaps less experienced, gamers but the older crowd will be hard pressed to find any real reason to return to it. (Ed note: Since the game was released, DLC packs have been announced but this content shall not be included in the review as it was not available at launch.)
The game’s price point of 800MSP ($10, £6.50) is probably a little steep when considering how much time will actually be put into playing the game, but it is not too high to completely disregard the game at all as the the general charm will undoubtedly capture the hearts of the player.
The Final Word
The Maw is certainly a great game in terms of it’s charm and it’s presentation, but falls short in both longevity and content. It is certainly worth a download in it’s own right, but do not expect to be playing this game again any time soon.
– MonsterVine Rating: 4 out of 5 – Good
By Andy Jackson
