Xbox Live whets appetites with The Maw

David M Williams
Sunday, 25 January 2009 14:33

Your IT - Entertainment

As cute as his appetite is voracious, the Maw - available for download from the Xbox Live Arcade - is a hit with young and old alike.

Please allow me to break from more serious topics (ok, "dumbass netbook owners" may not fall into that category) but I have to express my enjoyment of this simple, yet bright and cheerful, Xbox game.

The Maw is available for download from the Xbox Live Arcade and costs 800 Microsoft Points, or about $USD 10.00. The game was produced by Twisted Pixels and is a tiny 150Mb so you can try out the demo without any concerns.

You control Frank, a fairly typical space faring alien who has crashed on a hostile planet and must find a means of escape.

Now, while Frank doesn't appear to be much of a fighter (at least until the final level!) and certainly didn't retrieve any weaponry from the debris of his craft, he's not left solely to his own devices.

No, your little guy has buddied up with the blob-esque titular character, the Maw. The Maw has a range of special abilities and it's how you harness these which are key to success.

The Maw is a delightful character. While not aggressive per se, he certainly is curious about his environment and has determined the best sensory input is taste, happily eating the smaller land-dwelling aliens around. (I’m assuming the Maw is male but I suspect only another Maw could know for sure!)

Eat enough and the Maw grows in size, placing it - and thus you - better able to take on ever-increasing challenges.

What's more, certain alien life forms will trigger a reaction in the Maw, causing him to absorbing certain traits which again help your cause and are the source of much comedy.

The Maw is a visually stunning game with a truly likable cast. The scenery is vivid and the characters are beautifully animated with a wonderful range of expression.

The only gripe I have is that you can easily complete the game in a single day – but it’s a truly entertaining journey for all members of the family. Twelve unlockable achievements provide some extra replay value.

For the price it’s brilliant value with genuinely enjoyable gameplay and I wholeheartedly recommend it.