XBLA - The Maw - 800 Pts. - Second DLC Level Out Now for 100 pts.

[FriskyTanuki]

http://www.mawgame.com/

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.xbox360fanboy.com/media/2009/01/themaw29393.jpg (http://www.mawgame.com/)


http://www.gametrailers.com/player/39672.html

Info:
The Maw is a full featured 3D action/adventure game for Xbox LIVE Arcade! Returning from a routine mission, a Galactic Bounty Hunter ship crash lands on a strage planet, leaving the captured Frank (our hero) and a tiny glowing blob in a cage labeled "THE DEADLIEST ORGANISM IN THE UNIVERSE" (known as Maw) as the only survivors. Aware of the risks, but concerned about traveling around alone, Frank hooks the strange blob to a plasma leash from the wreckage. Making their way towards the communication tower in the distance, they must escape from the bounty hunters out to cage them, as well as the unknown dangers of the new planet they are on...

Twisted Pixel Games, working in conjunction with the Galactic Council, mistakenly let The Maw (http://www.whatisthemaw.com/) escape from his quarantine early Monday afternoon. Scientists predict the destruction of all life in the galaxy "probably by next Wednesday." Twisted Pixel's CEO Michael Wilford responds: "Real sorry about that. That's totally my bad." Twisted Pixel refused further questions, instead announcing the award-winning game's release date, price point, and website location. The Maw is the company's first original IP, a product of monumental effort by a passionate and loving team, and also their first venture into galacticide.

Release Date
The Maw is coming on January 21st to Xbox LIVE® Arcade. The game will be localized for a wide range of languages, including English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and Traditional Chinese. Pleas for help in any of these languages have all gone ignored by this one-eyed purple beast of the apocalypse, currently measuring the size of a basketball.

Price Point
The Maw will be available for 800 Microsoft Points ($10 USD). "We set out from the very beginning to create the most content-rich and impressive game that we could for ten bucks and 150 megabytes," said CCO and Director Josh Bear. "There are over 900 animations, 1000 sound effects, 25 music tracks, 200 visual effects, and 150 models, making this an incredible value for your $10… in the time that we have left." Bear then wept bitterly.

2GB == 150MB
The Maw will weigh in at a slender 150MB due to the superpowers of Granny 3D (http://www.radgametools.com/granny.html) and its stupefying 85:1 compression ratio for animation data. Without it, The Maw would require more than 2GB of space, a size more attributable to retail titles. "I don't think we could have done it without Granny," says CTO Frank Wilson. "The simplicity of integrating the technology into our engine, the artist-friendly tools, and the brilliance of their compression algorithms are unbeatable."

Unlockable Free Premium Theme
The Maw will offer the rare opportunity for players to win a free premium theme as an in-game unlockable. The only way to get the theme (and free gamerpics too) is to play The Maw and find them.

Website
www.WhatIsTheMaw.com (http://www.whatisthemaw.com/) has officially launched today, featuring additional information about the game, downloadable wallpapers, and more. The site was created by SBS Studios (http://www.sbsstudios.com/), a web design firm with a focus on the website needs of game development companies.Got an email just now about this game coming out next week for 800 points. I'm not so sure about the press release putting all of the value of the game in the graphics instead of the gameplay, but I'll give the demo a show next week.

[Brak]

That looks kind of neat.

[newantt]

Ah, yeah...Ill try the demo too...

[Bretters]

Video sold me, we'll see how it plays though.

[SpazX]

Wow, that actually looks pretty awesome. Will demo, of course.

[Decker]

I think it got a lousy review in the new OXM, but I better go home and check to make sure.

[mrcheapo11]

Oh fuck yes. Been looking forward to this since I saw gameplay videos back in the summer. It seems like to have the style of 3-D platformers from generations past, which of course is almost a good thing. More than likely buying this next week; I was getting worried about my MSPoints expiring from the DreamCar contest before this came out, so I'm happy :)

[deszaras]

That looks pretty sweet. I can't wait to try the demo.

[benjamouth]

Looks interesting, might give it a go for 800 points.

[Danimal]

Looks pretty good. I'm looking forward to trying the demo.

[Chase]

It looks like a kid-friendly God of War-type game. Neat.

[MasterSprtn117]

Oh wow. Looks awesome for an arcade game!

[D4rkewolfe]

I do remember seeing this somewhere too. Oh yeah, I think it was one of the top indie games at PAX. Seemed very interesting that's for sure.

[sleepydumbdude]

Looks great, like the price also. Have to try the demo but most likely will purchase this.

[macjz212]

This game looks awesome! Plus it has in-game unlockable premium theme and gamer pics....more for the money baby.

[Ziv]

And here I was thinking they made an XBLA game out of the last level of Halo 1. I feel a little disappointed.

[paz9x]

i bit after playing the demo.
pretty solid game. the mechanics are solid, the art design is good. graphics are nice.
the sound is far above par for an xbla game.
not sure how long it is but after 30 minutes of play time it seems worth the 800 pts. seems like something id expect them to charge more for.

for those playing the demo, if you unlock the game after it ends you continue playing.
there are small additions to the mechanics as you play on so expect more depth in that regard.

[thrustbucket]

IGN (http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/946/946415p1.html)gave it an 8.

[Bretters]

I bit. I unlocked the full version from within the game and it just unpaused the game and let me continue, and also gave me the achievement I had earned in the trial. :D

[LegendK7ll3r]

This is only the second or third game to ever make me have to purchase it after the trial was over. The other two contenders, CC and A Kingdom for Keflings.

This isn't counting stuff I instantly bought without regard, such as Castlevania, BC:R, Duke Nukem 3D, ect.

Very fun game so far, very well done. Great graphics and gameplay so-far, and I look forward to finishing this game up.

[Sharp Katana]

Looks okay, going to play the demo first.

[Decker]

I went ahead and bought it as well. Nice demo and my daughter didn't want me to stop playing yet. What choice did I have? ;)

[Razzuel]

I bought it as well. I really like it.

Uh I tried articulating my thoughts on why I like it, but they just sounded horrible; more insightful thoughts later.

[gingerbob]

I freakin' loved the demo, so I bought the full game! It's like a flashback to Spyro on the old PSOne! Not sure how much play I'll get out of the full thing but I played it more last night than Fallout 3!

[Whispering_Mute]

Tried the demo yesterday and I must say I'm sold. If only I had the microsoft points to buy it.

[nnthomas]

I deleted the demo when I got on some platform and couldn't get Maw back down. Fail.

[UltimoRey]

I liked the demo, probably gonna buy, but wanna know the length of the game.

[Matt Young]

I liked the demo, probably gonna buy, but wanna know the length of the game.

8 levels. If the first level is any indication, 2-3 hours total if you try to find everything there may be to find.

I purchased the game after playing the demo. I'm on level 2 now. I rarely purchase arcade games that aren't remakes/ports or continuations of old franchises like Mega Man 9 was, but I like this one so far.

[fart_bubble]

8 levels. If the first level is any indication, 2-3 hours total if you try to find everything there may be to find.

I purchased the game after playing the demo. I'm on level 2 now. I rarely purchase arcade games that aren't remakes/ports or continuations of old franchises like Mega Man 9 was, but I like this one so far.

I would say more about 5-6 hours in the length department. Its taken me about 3 and a half hours to get through the first 5 levels but then again, I've also been tracking down everything to eat

[saunderscowie]

I downloaded/played the demo it seems pretty cool but not really a purchase for me. I'll check gamerankings and see whats its clocking on there.

[benjamouth]

Bought this last night, I'm enjoying it so far. It's very weel put together and well worth $10 IMO.

[UnderHero5]

I picked it up, and it was well made, but very easy (no way to lose, actually), and very short. I'd say it took me about 4 hours total to complete, and I found 100 on all but 2 levels.

My biggest problem with the game is that there was no challenge at all. I never once felt stumped, and it felt like I was basically just walking through the levels. There was no problem solving skills needed. No twitch skills needed. No skills needed at all, really. Not that I mind and easy game, but the Maw was just too easy.

Had I known it would be so short and easy, I wouldn't have bought it. It's not worth owning, since I'll never bother playing it again.

[doc_zaius]

I just finished it and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It is a puzzle game more than anything else and it's not really "Challenging" but I still think it's well worth the 10 bucks. The animation of the characters is FANTASTIC, much better than a lot of AAA games out there. It's very "kid friendly" in it's style and difficulty but it's charm is very appealing to adults as well. I loved calling out to my pet, Frank's plaintive "MAAAAAAWWW!" shouts were great. It's definitely a "warm and fuzzy" type of game without being cloying or saccharine. I hope to see a sequel because I really liked these characters.

I'm REALLY happy with this reward-the-player-with-a-premium-theme-for-finishing aspect, I hope to see more of that!

If you're looking for challenging, hardcore gaming then look elsewhere, but "The MAW" is definitely worth the 10 smackers in my book.

[mrcheapo11]

Bought this Wednesday, played 2 levels that day, then like 4 levels last night, and finished it today. I agree with others in that it wasn't challenging but it was kind of nice to just have an easy, fun game. I think this game is more of a technical achievement for quality on XBLA above anything else, as it looks really nice to be from such a small developer. I would say it took anywhere from 15-20 minutes to beat each of the 8 levels, with getting 100% on each (on some of them, I missed one thing, so I had to go searching for it.) The achievements are easy, which is never a bad thing, the only one I don't have is the "play during the Maw's six meal times," one. So yea, I might not play it much again, but I don't regret spending 800 MSP on it.

[Matt Young]

I wish we had a rep system, so I could give the doc good rep for using the word "saccharine" in a sentence.

[thrustbucket]

Well this game is from the same school of thought as Kingdom for Kelflings. There is no real challenge and no way to really fail. The fun is just in playing it and interacting with it until it's over.

[homeland]

Apparently you can unlock a theme in the game. Even if i didn't like the demo, id buy it. Just to give props for them doing it.

[FriskyTanuki]

Apparently you can unlock a theme in the game. Even if i didn't like the demo, id buy it. Just to give props for them doing it.
This would've been a nice reason for Jonathan Blow to patch his game to give away the premium theme he put up on XBLM instead of whining about it.

I've beaten four levels, I think, and I'm enjoying it so far. It has enough charm that I would like to see this become a series if the developers could come up with new transformations for Maw, though I like the fire-breathing levels a lot.

[doc_zaius]

I wish we had a rep system, so I could give the doc good rep for using the word "saccharine" in a sentence.


Your acknowledgment is all I need.

[io]

I saw this pop up the other day and had no idea what it was. The reviews on metacritic were pretty solid and the fact that it is a well-made kid-friendly game (that adults can also enjoy) seals it for me. I haven't bought anything on XBLA for a LONG time but I'll probably get this. It sounds like something my 6 year-old would enjoy. That's assuming I can tear him away from LBP to check it out. He also hates the 360 controller now after playing the PS3 ;). If not, well, then, it will just be for me.

Edit - Well, whaddaya know, he just came in right now to my office and said he wanted to play the demo of "that Maw game". I told him I'd just buy it - he's thrilled! First I gots to unload some cheapy points onto my account (still have some of those $5 cards from Target ;)).

[UltimoRey]

i like the free gamerpic for finishing the first level, nice touch

[saunderscowie]

Actually I might pick this up I just need some points. I got alot I want to buy though.

The Maw
UNO Rush - whenever it comes out
Outrun - whenever it comes out
Halo 3 - Mytic Map Pack

[pelf21]

alright, how do you stop those worms guys that jump into the ground and then turn into a ballon? I need to eat it and I dont know how....

[FriskyTanuki]

Pull out one of the bugs they're eating and drop him on the rock in the middle. One will come after it and slam into the ground, which Maw has to eat quickly.

Beat the game today and I like what they did for the last two levels to change things up and keep it from getting tedious. I think I just need to go back to the two or three levels that I didn't get 100% in and I should have almost every achievement.

[Richlough]

Check out the Quick Look video from GiantBomb .

http://www.giantbomb.com/quick-look-the-maw/17-179/

Looks good , I'm buying this when I get 800 points .

[Rocko]

I'll give the demo a try in a little. Looks fun.

[homeland]

Beat the game and I gotta say it was a great experience. Only thing I would like to see improved is the speed of the walking. The premium theme is really sharp too.

[doubledown]

I enjoyed the demo...might pick up the full version. How long does the game last (approximately)?

[Rocko]

Ended up buying the game. 100%ed the first three levels thus far and got the fire and electricity achievements. Looking forward to the premium theme.

[FriskyTanuki]

I enjoyed the demo...might pick up the full version. How long does the game last (approximately)?
2-3 hours. You're definitely not buying this because it's a long game with lots of replay value, just because it's a fun experience for a few hours and an easy 200 points.

[Razzuel]

I really enjoyed the game. FriskyTanuki is right about the game not being about replay value or challenge; the game is about the experience.

I applaud Twisted Pixel for creating two great characters without ever using dialog—except for those parts when you call for the Maw when he is too far away; "Maaaaaawwwww!" Their approach in defining these characters was to use interesting animations which revealed the emotions and feelings of the characters.

The part at the beginning after you pick up the leash bracelet, your character Frank looks up to the sky with a heroic pose. The Maw notices your pose and tries to copy it. That was one of the moments at the beginning that sealed the deal—so to speak—referring to my feelings of the game.

There was an exuberant amount of charm to the game that not a lot of other games have. Hopefully they don't just abandon this where it is; I would like to see them take it even further.

[pelf21]

Really a great game.....Its a steal for $10, great game, 2 free gamer pics and a premium theme....

[FriskyTanuki]

http://kotaku.com/5136210/three-new-levels-coming-to-the-maw-via-dlc

Looks like three new levels are being released soon for 100 points each, and a new achievement for each level, that are pretty much deleted scenes from the main game. I'm not really interested in spending more on what was already a short game.

[Rocko]

Anyone have pics of the premium theme?

[FriskyTanuki]

http://nxethemes.com/

They would be there, but they're not at the moment. I can take a few pics of it in a sec and post them here.

Here are the pics I managed to get:

http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/4938/mawtheme018qm0.th.jpg (http://img216.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mawtheme018qm0.jpg) http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/405/mawtheme020ti5.th.jpg (http://img407.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mawtheme020ti5.jpg) http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/4480/mawtheme021ej2.th.jpg (http://img404.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mawtheme021ej2.jpg) http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/2572/mawtheme023co4.th.jpg (http://img404.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mawtheme023co4.jpg)

[Rocko]

Awesome, thanks. And thanks for the site, too, didn't know about that.

I kind of want to grab the Banjo Kazooie (original) theme, but I already bought the Castle Crashers one and now I'll have this one, so I think I'll hold off. Can't wait to unlock it. :]

[djduke316]

This game rocks. Buy it NOW!

[LegendK7ll3r]

I'll gladly buy the DLC, especially at only 100 points a pop. I don't care if it's "deleted levels", and that they should have been in. I'm happy to support this developer, and happy to get some brand new levels in Maw.

[RudyPants]

This game does look fairly entertaining, but it might have the worst title of all time. When I first heard of it last week, I thought it had to do with a crappy Martin Lawrence movie.

[homeland]

Am I the only one that would like to know more of this games universe? I can understand why Maw was in captivity, but why was the guy you control arrested? Or was he just abducted? Its such a simple game, there's alot of ambiguity to it.

[UltimoRey]

Am I the only one that would like to know more of this games universe? I can understand why Maw was in captivity, but why was the guy you control arrested? Or was he just abducted? Its such a simple game, there's alot of ambiguity to it.
Just more room for sequel, prequels and spin-offs that way.

[FriskyTanuki]

Yeah, I found out the alien you control is called Frank and the guys that were holding Frank captive were bounty hunters from the official site and not the game. :lol: It would've been nice to have a little more story, but the game doesn't really require it.

[mynameis]

I enjoyed the game. I just have one more level to get 100% on then I need to figure out the meal time achievement. I never found myself wanting more story, not saying it would be a bad thing, just wouldn't really add much.

[benjamouth]

Finished the game last night, then finished off my 200 nerd points.

Great game, really enjoyed playing it and it was well worth my $10

[UltimoRey]

finished today, just need to 100% the second to last level

[ivanctorres]

This game is really enjoyable and very relaxing. A great change of pace from
call of duty multiplayer. I'm glad I purchased it and it Is well worth the 10 bucks

[ivanctorres]

Did anyone have trouble on the level where the max turns into a psuedo hot air balloon?
That level took me a good half an hour and I had to do lots of backtracking because I didn't know how to get him to eat to grow bigger.

Very fun game though.

[FriskyTanuki]

Looks like the first DLC level will be out on Wednesday:

For those wanting more from The Maw, Twisted Pixel Games has announced that a new level called "Brute Force" will be launching this Wednesday, February 18 on Xbox LIVE® Arcade for 100 Microsoft Points ($1.25 USD). Featuring new puzzles, characters, cinematics, and explosive action this level pits Frank and Maw against a new foe: the Brute Soldier, a member of the bounty hunters' elite strike force sent to stop Maw at any cost.

This is the first of three DLC levels that Twisted Pixel Games has been working on ever since The Maw development wrapped last year. "There's a period of time where we're not allowed to touch the game because it's going through certification, but there was more we wanted to do, so rather than calling it a day we threw ourselves into making all new levels," explains CEO Michael Wilford. "We've never done DLC before so it's a bit of an experiment for us, but there seems to be a lot of excitement for it so I don't think we can go wrong."

Each DLC level will expand The Maw storyline by fitting in between the original levels as "deleted scenes". "As with any production, there are always pieces left on the cutting room floor that you wished could have made it into the final cut," says CCO and Director Josh Bear. "We had a lot of half-finished story elements and gameplay mechanics, so we are picking the best ones, polishing them up and making new levels that are bigger in size and scope than the ones in the main game."Screens that show off that you'll be using fire Maw and what I'm guessing is the new Brute Soldier enemy:

[img-c=165]5153[/img-c]
[img-c=165]5152[/img-c]

[lordxixor101]

This is one of those almost purchased games. If I wasn't going to gamestop every weekend and picking up a last gen game that I missed, I'd probably have splurged (especially being the 800 price tag).

But, this is just an extension of the 1200 game. 800 points and then 3 download levels. My guess is 100, 100, then a bigger 200 point finisher, to top it off at 1200 points for the entire game (which probably should have been released all together).

[paz9x]

This is one of those almost purchased games. If I wasn't going to gamestop every weekend and picking up a last gen game that I missed, I'd probably have splurged (especially being the 800 price tag).

But, this is just an extension of the 1200 game. 800 points and then 3 download levels. My guess is 100, 100, then a bigger 200 point finisher, to top it off at 1200 points for the entire game (which probably should have been released all together).
the game is complete as it was released, anythign extra, is extra and we have the option to purchase it or not. as many have said this game is worth the 800 points, its not like it was gimped and requiring dlc.

[FriskyTanuki]

Each of the new levels are 100 points, so that's just 300 total if you want more of the Maw.

[fart_bubble]

sucks to see that this "DLC" is just unlocking a level already in the game file

[Razzuel]

sucks to see that this "DLC" is just unlocking a level already in the game file

I don't think you can just assume that it unlocks hidden content within the game based on its size of 604 KB.

[fart_bubble]

I don't think you can just assume that it unlocks hidden content within the game based on its size of 604 KB.

considering the actual game only has 9 levels and clocks in at 147 megs, I think its safe to assume that with this DLC only being 604KB, it just unlocks the content

[FriskyTanuki]

Or it's using assets from the main game, so it doesn't need to be that large.

[Razzuel]

considering the actual game only has 9 levels and clocks in at 147 megs, I think its safe to assume that with this DLC only being 604KB, it just unlocks the content

Yeah, but you cannot break it down in that manner. The game contains more than just "levels" so we don't know how each piece contributes to the size of the full game. You have to account for the sound, textures, polygonal models, animations, scripts, menus, and the code itself.

We don't know what constitutes a new level, so we cannot say whether or not it is large enough.

[LegendK7ll3r]

Confirmed by Twisted Pixels themselves, this is NOT just an unlock code.

http://www.teamteabag.com/2009/02/18/first-deleted-scene-dlc-released-for-the-maw/

It re-uses everything already in the game, and just pretty much add's in the Brute Soldier. What they need to add more levels, is apparently just a few text files.

Anyway, I bought the DLC, it's a very good level, however, the DLC is slightly broken, due to Microsoft. If you unlock the achievement, it won't add to your GamerScore, and the game itself still shows only 200 / 200, instead of 215 / 215 (the only possible fix for people who already obtained it, such as myself, is to apparently recover your GamerTag once they get it fixed, and re-do the entire thing).

[Razzuel]

Confirmed by Twisted Pixels themselves, this is NOT just an unlock code.

http://www.teamteabag.com/2009/02/18/first-deleted-scene-dlc-released-for-the-maw/

It re-uses everything already in the game, and just pretty much add's in the Brute Soldier. What they need to add more levels, is apparently just a few text files.

Anyway, I bought the DLC, it's a very good level, however, the DLC is slightly broken, due to Microsoft. If you unlock the achievement, it won't add to your GamerScore, and the game itself still shows only 200 / 200, instead of 215 / 215 (the only possible fix for people who already obtained it, such as myself, is to apparently recover your GamerTag once they get it fixed, and re-do the entire thing).

Bah, yeah you are right the achievement stuff is messed up. I unlocked the achievement and it still says 200/200. That is lame.

However, the level itself was awesome—it took me 30 minutes to complete if anyone was wondering. It had the same charm and humor from the levels included in the standard game. I thought it was cool to use the rhino beetle form with a smaller version of the Maw because when you use him in the standard game, he is huge.

The new enemy was not as integral to the level as I was assuming it was going to be. Maybe they do something interesting if you get close to them? I stayed away from them because if you get within a certain distance they draw their gun, and at that moment I walked away, haha.

[Yanksfan]

Man, what I am doing wrong? On the level where you can turn Maw into a battering ram I am struggling to control him in that state. He seems to just go wherever he wants to. Towards the end, instead of ramming through a door he just went over a mountain instead and I could not get him back (as it was in one of those psuedo cut scene moments).

Any advice?

[FriskyTanuki]

If it was one of those segments in a small valley where he ends up jumping into spaceships, you're not supposed to have any control.

[Yanksfan]

If it was one of those segments in a small valley where he ends up jumping into spaceships, you're not supposed to have any control.

Nah, it is smash through a door (done a few of those segments already). He was supposed to smash through the door, but instead, missed it slightly as he was lined up too much to the left - and he just kept going. Up and over the mountains. My camera point of view stayed at the door he was supposed to smash through..I left it for 5 minutes, and it never changed, though the game wasn't locked up at all either.

[FriskyTanuki]

Sounds like a glitch. Try starting the level over again.

[Yanksfan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z8ayoAJyxg&feature=related

At about the 7:05 mark in this video is where it happened.

Oh, and I agree, its a glitch. I was just pissed because I had spent about 40 minutes getting that far due to Maw not always going where I wanted him to go when in ram mode. Without being able to save in level, I am not eagerly anticipating going back and eating every enemy again.

But I feel like outside the glitch for that area, this level is very frustrating as a whole. I was not having fun playing it due to not being able to control Maw properly.

[thrustbucket]

Anyone know if the dlc is fixed yet? I want to buy it.

[Callandor]

The second deleted scene, River Redirect, is now out. 100pts.

[Bretters]

Was the first deleted scene achievement bug fixed yet? I really want to play the extra levels.

[Razzuel]

Does anyone know if the second DLC level has the same achievement glitch that the first DLC level had?

I don't want to have to play this DLC level over again like I had to for the first one because it glitched out on me.

[ufskenney]

Was the first deleted scene achievement bug fixed yet? I really want to play the extra levels.

Yes the "glitch" is fixed. It was MS fault for not putting the achievement in the database until 3 days after release. You can recover your gamertag and get the achievement to show up if it glitched for you.

[pop311]

I just bought and finished the game and I have to say that it was just so much fun. I hope 'Splosion Man is this fun.