by Allegionary (OXCGN’s Teenage Gamer)
© 2009 Alex Hilton
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have a monster as a pet?
In The Maw you can do just that. Twisted Pixel has created this Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) game so that people can have a pet monster which you must guide through many different challenges, but is it worth the 800 Microsoft Points?
The Maw is a game that is all about a monster called The Maw meeting an alien called Frank. You play as Frank, who frees The Maw from its captors, the Bounty Hunters. Frank leads The Maw through a number of levels with an electronic leash.
The primary gameplay has you play as Frank controlling The Maw directing him to food so that the monster grows to the stage where you can advance.
As you go along The Maw eats many different colourful fluffy creatures that are bouncing around the levels, making him grow larger.
If you eat special creatures the Maw gains their special ability, like eating a beetle to get the Beetull power which is used to rampage through the walls and bounty hunter shields.
This helps you prevent yourself getting ‘captured’. However, this is a bit misleading because you never actually can get captured, but instead get blocked, adding to the challenge of getting through the level.
The many bounty hunters, which The Maw can also eat, spend their time supposedly trying to ‘recapture’ The Maw for their experiments by attacking you with lasers that push you backwards preventing your progression, sending aircraft, shooting turrets and using shields to block your path.
The Maw is an action game but it also has many puzzles and challenges that have to be figured out before proceeding. Some are challenging and take many minutes to solve but some are quick and will only take a minute. For example, the gamer might have to find a bomb hidden in ship wreckage to destroy a barrier and move forward.
The levels that you go through look the same but there are many different challenges in every level which makes each level seem different.
One downside is that if you get stuck at a certain point you can’t just save there and go back to it, you would have to start the whole level again.
The control scheme is very simple, you have only a couple of buttons you need to press so you will not have too much difficulty remembering the controls. There are no real tutorials to show you how to use the different buttons so you do have to work it out for yourself.
The Maw uses many different sound effects that suit the situation very well. The soundtrack has only got a few tunes but the music is not really noticeable in the game, so I didn’t find it annoying. The Maw does not really make the mood with the music but it does with the many cut scenes.
The cut scenes in The Maw split the levels and set the scene but are sometimes hard to understand as there are no words spoken at all. There are a few grunts and Frank sometimes says ‘Maw’ but there is no real voice work.
As you progress through the game you can unlock different Gamer Pictures and a theme for your profile, which some might be interested in.
The Maw offers many challenges to the person who plays it and many hours of fun. The levels are a bit repetitive but just as you think are going to quit and look for something different The Maw changes up and keeps you interested.
Is it worth the 800 Microsoft points?
It depends on the person. You do get Gamer Pictures and a theme and the puzzles are challenging but if you don’t like a challenge then The Maw is not a game for you.
Though it looks like a cartoony game for youngsters, they may find it frustrating, but I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.
© 2009 Alex Hilton
• Average press score accoring to TestFreaks: 8.2/10
“7.5/10 
Filed under: 3rd Party Games, Console gaming, Game Impressions, New Xbox 360 Games, XBLA News-Reviews, Xbox 360, Xbox 360 3rd Party Games, Xbox 360 Game Reviews, Xbox 360 News, XboxLive Marketplace Tagged: | beetull power, Frank, MAW review, The maw, the maw review, The MAW reviews, Twisted Pixel, XBLA, XBLA Review, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Arcade Review
