Senior Editor  Posts: 2810 Joined: 9 Jan 2007     | |
Wordsmith Extraordinaire  Posts: 11834 Joined: 13 Feb 2008     | Continual, continuous? |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 4000 Joined: 1 Nov 2007     | Hmm...Uhh...Hmm I still don't know what to think. Whatever way you look at it, it's still 800 micosoft points, no matter who repetive it is. |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 4033 Joined: 23 Apr 2008     | I recommend it. Hands Down. It reminded me of Pikmin for some reason. |
Senior Editor Posts: 2810 Joined: 9 Jan 2007 |
Yep, there is definitely a Pikmin vibe going on, which is a good thing. I definitely think folks should try it, but some people are absolutely going to be annoyed by certain aspects of the game. |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 4033 Joined: 23 Apr 2008 |
Why? Cuz itsh shooooo cuuuuuute? BAH. Or it's because it's a puzzle game? Seriously. It's gets me annoyed when people don't like a game just because there's no guns,blood,gore. |
On the Record  Posts: 6229 Joined: 7 Feb 2008     | Looks... interesting? It reminds me a lot of the original Jak and Daxter or the Rachet and Clank games in its core design. That's probably caused by the Sci-Fi elements. |
Senior Editor Posts: 2810 Joined: 9 Jan 2007 |
Uh, no. If you'd read the review, you'd know that the problem is that there's a lot of tedious repetition in between puzzle solving. I love cute games, and think that this one is particularly adorable. Which makes it all the more frustrating that it's so frequently bogged down with lather-rinse-repeat gameplay. |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 4033 Joined: 23 Apr 2008 |
I have read it. And I agree with it's repetition. But my friend is one of those who didn't like it because of it's cuteness and lack of blood and gore. When I was reading your review, |
Anonymous Source Posts: 2 Joined: 11 Dec 2007 | Actually, you don't have to smash snails. Get the Maws ability later in the level and he can shoot them or something first then you don't have to throw them. It never occurred to me to throw them, I just came back to them a bit later. While I felt the game was a bit short, I thought it was an incredibly fun and charming game. I'm glad I picked it up. I plan to go back through the levels and 100% the game. |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 1094 Joined: 11 Oct 2008     | You're always tasked with the cute and cuddly games :) Either way it was a fun review and made the little imp break out of it's cage in my head and tell me that I should get an Xbox, only to be imprisoned again... |
Press Junketeer  Posts: 462 Joined: 7 Jan 2009     | Her voice annoys me. |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 4797 Joined: 15 Jun 2008   |
Susans or the aliens? |
Press Junketeer Posts: 462 Joined: 7 Jan 2009 |
Susan's. I'm Australian though so it is probably just the accent. |
PROBATION  Posts: 3494 Joined: 20 Feb 2008    | I found there was 2 things that really bothered me. First was the shooting levels. It was a great game up til I hit that level and I thought to myself "what happened? They had an innovative game and just took the idea from 3/4 of the other games in the market. WHY?" Second was the lack of puzzles. They had the potential to have so much more depth to them yet they were made so basic. I loved the game, its charm won me over. 800 points for all you get is well worth it (the theme is awesome) just a shame there was no challenge. Even going for 100% doesn't require much skill. I suppose it is a nice break from getting constantly raped by a game. Fun for all ages I believe applies to this game. User was put on probation for: Bioshock 2 DLC was already on the retail disc, gamers find. (3 days) |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 2759 Joined: 3 Dec 2008   | I was actually pretty excited for this game. Looks like I'll probably pick it up at some point. |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 1033 Joined: 14 May 2008   | The Maw can multiple creatures at once, when he becomes big enough. If you lead him over to a bunch of cratures he'll lick them all up. It's not even that repetitive. Most of the time you have to solve other puzzles to reach the extra food, so it's not exactly a grind. The boredom comes from the fact that you move relatively slowly, and in the later levels it takes ages to get anywhere. That and how relatively short the game is are the main flaws, not the need to feed him. "You don't know how much to feed him until he tells you he's had enough." |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 2418 Joined: 23 Jan 2008   |
Probably. I wuvs it; so charming. On topic, I need to get X-box Live. This sounds it will make me giddy with glee. I don't mind grind, though repetitiveness can get to me. Don't think it would if I enjoy the design however. Thanks for showing us these golden nuggets, Susan. =) |
News Room Contributor  Posts: 4257 Joined: 21 Feb 2008     |
Is your rudeness confined solely to the internet, or don't you have any manners in the real world either? |
Senior Editor Posts: 2810 Joined: 9 Jan 2007 |
Except when you make it to the end of a level, only to find out that you have to backtrack and eat some more whatevers to make sure he's had enough, which happened to me. I had to, in essence, backtrack through half the level to go knock down trees and flush out Yums so that The Maw was full enough to allow me to proceed. I didn't need to eat them to solve any puzzles, just to be allowed to exit. And yes, he can slurp up several Yums at a time once he's big enough, but you still have to get him in the right vicinity. You can't simply lead him to the area, let him go, and have him run around eating things. He stays pretty much in place and won't go after food unless you give him a nudge. Also, wanted to point out that the just-announced DLC will add three more levels to the game |
Press Junketeer Posts: 462 Joined: 7 Jan 2009 |
My rudeness was a backlash to her putting me on probation for posting pointless threads. |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 1033 Joined: 14 May 2008 |
I had to do that too. It annoyed me because the movement speed feels so slow on the bigger levels, not because I had to spend time tracking down the Yums. It didn't even take me that long.
I forgot to mention; almost all of the special abilities he gets help him eat a lot faster. I will admit that smashing the snails and hunting Yums is repetitive, but it's hardly time consuming. Most of the time it's worth it just to watch him grow bigger and bigger as well, rather than having the growth occur magically between levels if you didn't eat enough. After all, eating is the point of the entire game.
Wait, will I have to pay for extra content on an downloadable game? That's retarded (assuming you do have to pay). |
On the Record Posts: 6229 Joined: 7 Feb 2008 |
Why would you be so mean to Susan? I don't get it? Other than ZP, her reviews and Russ's are my favorite reviews on the site. |
Senior Editor Posts: 2810 Joined: 9 Jan 2007 |
He was ticked that I put him on probation - not a ban, mind, but probation - for posting a pointless thread, so he decided he'd try to hurt my feelings. Not the most mature of ways to handle it, really. And yes, you will have to pay for the new levels. $1.25 a piece, I believe. |
Copy Clerk  Posts: 93 Joined: 14 Sep 2008     | I loved this game, even did it first time through catching all the critters and eating them. Once the Maw gets big enough he can eat the snails whole too, so that was fun. Maybe it was a bit repetitive, but the game was so cool looking I never really noticed. Little things, like how the Maw reacts to the things that scare him, and the interaction between him and frank, just really made me enjoy this game. Plus the soundtrack was great, the cut-scenes worked well, and the gameplay was very enjoyable. The game was a bit on the short side, but I think because it was short the elements of it never annoyed me or got really old. Course, I still want me some more content for it! Plus, the developers are cool, got to talk with one of them at PAX (and even got a cool Maw t-shirt) and how much they enjoyed their own game really was a selling point for me. So, anywho, if you have an xbox you need to get this game! Unless, you know, yur a 15 year old boy who is afraid people will make fun of him for liking a cute game.. in which case stick to your bloody FPS stuff. Edit: Oh yeah, and take a look at the website. They have a bunch of background info on the critters, and why they are being imprisoned and so on. |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 1070 Joined: 3 Dec 2007    | I found the trial game very repetitive and tedious, and that was only 15 minutes. I can't imagine going through similar lapses of boring repetition for hours on end. I can definitely see people enjoying this, though - and the visuals and the great soundtrack almost make up for the gameplay. Almost. |
Infamous Scribbler  Posts: 507 Joined: 3 Dec 2008  | cyclical or consistent |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 4085 Joined: 10 Nov 2007   |
I've never had that problem with it, but then I was approaching the game as a collect-a-thon from the beginning, so it was natural for me to be big enough to complete the level long before I was actually near the end. That's also why I don't mind having to have the Maw on the leash to make him eat. It's a "Collect the things" game, if it collected them for you there'd be all but no game left. The Maw has about the same collect range as Sparx does in the Spyro games.
You also only have to do so once. The second time you encounter snails you have the shooty power, which can break them, and from then on the Maw is big enough to just eat them anyway. |
BANNED  Posts: 819 Joined: 22 Dec 2008    | looks good, going to tell my friends to check it out (i only have a ps3 and a wii) |
Infamous Scribbler  Posts: 630 Joined: 2 Feb 2008   |
Are you kidding? I'm Australian and I would marry a girl with Susan's voice! How about it, Susan? Wanna get hitched? ;) |
Copy Clerk  Posts: 63 Joined: 30 Apr 2008   | sounds like another game susan liked :D |
Review: The Maw
The Maw is cute, clever, and charming. If I could think of a word that meant "repetitious" and started with the letter c, I'd call it that, too.
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