Amongst all the big games at PAX were a sizable number of smaller, lesser-known titles, many of them headed to the Xbox Live Marketplace, the Wii Shop Channel or the Playstation Store. Not only were titles like Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness, Schizoid and Audiosurf on display, several other downloadable titles made their presence known at PAX:
The Maw (Release date not available)
One of the inaugural PAX 10, Twisted Pixel Studios’ The Maw is a charming story about a boy and his pet. His always hungry, threat to the entire universe pet. But most of all, The Maw is a wonderful platformer headed to Xbox Live Arcade that feels like a marriage of Katamari Damacy and classic platformers like the Mario series.
The story involves a little alien named Frank who is trying to get back home. Along the way, he encounters a little purple blob known only as Maw, a creature with an uncontrollable hunger, but a very puppy-like personality. It’s up to Frank, with Maw’s help, to find a way back home … even if Maw eats half the galaxy in the process.
Frank controls Maw by an electric “leash” of sorts that doubles as a grappling tool. He can also stun enemies and feed them to Maw himself if the player so chooses. The controls are pretty simple to learn and make the game very fun, especially when you’re feeding the ever-growing hunger of Maw.
Unfortunately, while Maw is always hungry, he is a bit of a chicken, especially when dealing with things larger than he is. In order to help solve that issue, Frank will have to help Maw grow by constantly eating enough creatures. Eating different kinds of creatures will allow Maw to absorb different traits: for example, eating an electrified creature gives Maw the ability to produce an electric field around him, something he can use to both take down barriers and enemies in the area.
On some occasions, Frank will have to go it alone for a bit to reach a certain area, which is where the platforming action really takes off. For example, in the demo level, Frank has to hitch a ride on some flying bugs so he can make it around to the other side of a barrier. Once there, he must deactivate the barrier’s generator by blowing it up, allowing him to go pick Maw up and progress in the level. On top of playing well, the game looks fantastic, complete with great animations that draw out each character’s personality (especially Maw) and vibrant environments. Whenever The Maw hits Xbox Live Marketplace, it is destined to be one of the best-looking and most complete all-around titles on the service, as well as one of the few platformers available. Easily one of the five best games I played at PAX.
Chronotron (Currently playable online at ScarybugGames.com)
Another one of the inaugural PAX 10, Chronotron is a puzzle/platformer title about a little robot which can travel back in time. This ability comes quite in handy, as the robot will have to interact with past versions of himself in order to complete each of the game’s 40 levels.
The 2-D game is not very graphics-intensive at all, going with a simple art design that gives Chronotron an old-school feel and highlights the puzzle and platforming aspects. You can create as many versions of the robot as you wish on each level, but the catch is that you must safely get all of the robots back into the time pod. Failure to do so causes a time paradox and forces you to restart the level, so there is a level of strategy and skill involved, especially on Chronotron’s later levels. The game is currently playable online, but there is no word on if a version of Chronotron will be headed to the major consoles.
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