SPOILER ALERT! Some things in this review may serve as spoilers. I suggest not reading further if you think you’ll play this game at any point.
Maize popped up on my radar sometime mid 2016. The game was later released on December 2nd of the same year. I recently picked it up in my Humble Bundle Monthly set for June and figured I’d give it a shot.
Maize is a first person adventure game based on the concept that two scientists misunderstand a memo sent by the US government and end up creating sentient corn due to said misinterpretation. When the first teaser popped up about this game I was under the impression that this game was going to be somewhat spooky, and much like the two scientists my interpretation was very wrong.
The game does indeed start you off giving off ominous vibes by first placing you inside a cornfield with somewhat eerie tunes. However, not a few seconds later I’m met with a desk in the middle of said cornfield and am treated to a bit of humor as I pick up my first item, an English muffin that stays with you for a majority of the game. My next stop was a rundown house that gave way to more of what I thought would be a spooky game. The game itself revolves around, like most adventure games, finding items and either using them outright on something or combining them with something else. The game does a nice job of hand holding for adventure game beginners as useful items are highlighted for you and where the item should be used is outlined as well. It basically makes you feel like your matching up blocks and shapes at times and somewhat detracts from the experience if you’re an adventure game purist.
After the first part of the game you eventually meet the sentient corn who are very simple minded and not all there. They’re quite a funny group with British accents, even though the game seems to take place in North America somewhere. Needless to say the humor is somewhat….CORNY (pun intended). There’s a bit of word play and a lot of silliness from some characters. Shortly thereafter you make (yes make) your companion who stays with you for almost the entire game. He goes by Vladdy and is basically a Teddy Ruxpin (a creepy animatronic bear circa 1986) and has a Russian accent. Since the protagonist is silent, Vladdy adds most of the character to the game and constantly tells you how stupid you are. The story is told through cutscenes including the aforementioned characters (as well as some others I won’t completely spoil here), collectibles you can pick up, and lastly pink and blue post-it notes left by the 2 scientists that create a dialogue between the two. The latter was actually my favorite part, but the gag wears off a bit towards the end.
The end game for Maize is somewhat drug out and tediously has you going back and forth at times to areas that are somewhat far away. This isn’t anything new for adventure games, but even when running it feels like a slow crawl the couple of times you are forced to backtrack. This could be even worse assuming you’ve somehow missed an item. The game also blocks your way via magical orange boxes that will disappear at different intervals when you’ve completed a puzzle or find a key item. It ends up working with the silly theme of the game but it’s what one might call…deus ex box-ina (sorry couldn’t help myself).
All in all Maize took me a little more than four hours to complete and this was with me running through not reading about all 75 or so collectibles you can pick up in the game to find out more about the story. If you really enjoy adventure games and can overlook a few small quirks (like backtracking) then I do suggest picking this one up if you get a good deal on it. Full price is hard to argue perhaps, but I still enjoyed my time with my new plant friends and my bear.
Developer: Finish Line Games
Price (Steam): $19.99
Release Date: 12/2/2016
