Review - Maize

Chuckling to myself as I throw a muffin at the face of my enemy to defeat him once and for all. This is the thing I loved most about this game; the humor.

Maize is a first-person, puzzle adventure game about two scientists that misinterpret a message from the U.S Government and create sentient corn. Yeah, Oops. The game starts off with you waking up in a cornfield where you briefly see some figures running away from you. This is where you take control of an unknown character to explore the abandoned farm and farmhouse you very quickly discover, along the way collecting folio items such as letters, notes and ID cards that give you a little more insight into the wacky story that awaits. 

You start off with very simple puzzles, finding a key to the farmhouse door for example, but as you progress through the weird and wonderful story they gradually become more and more tricky, and a little ridiculous. However, when you finally crack a puzzle it still makes you go ‘Oh yeah!’ and if you didn’t feel silly enough, your partner in crime becomes a very grumpy Russian Bear (which you build yourself) that constantly refers to you as an idiot. Always refreshing.

The humor in this game is what really stands out, very similar to Monty Python humor it will make you giggle every time a character speaks. The voice acting is brilliant, I would never have imagined what talking corn would sound like but Luke Marty captures it perfectly; high-pitched and just downright silly. The sentient corn pretty much seems to end up wherever you are, perhaps they are just curious about you or maybe they are following their Queens orders? Who knows? You will. One thing I do know, these corny... well, corn, love to nap.

Now, I don’t want to say too much regarding the story of this game as it is fairly short and can easily be completed within a day. In fact, there is even an achievement for completing the game within 2 hours and in 1 sitting. But just know that it will be the most ridiculous game you have played yet. While lacking in graphics it makes up for it with its witty humor.

Overall: I had a lot of fun with Maize, I didn’t go 5 minutes without laughing to myself at what a certain character had said or done. No, it isn’t the longest game nor is it the prettiest but it doesn’t need to be and these things become irrelevant once you delve into the game properly. If you have silly humor and like grumpy teddy bears, then get downloading Maize right now and become the protector of the corn.

You can find Maize on the Xbox store for £15.99/$19.99 for none-gold members, or £11.99/$14.99 for those with Xbox Live Gold by clicking here.

Thanks yet again to Chelsea for writing up this review with the code provided to her. You can find her over on her website by clicking here.