Some experiences are best approached with little to no knowledge of them. Having your expectations turned upside down by what unfolds can be very powerful, and is one of the more enjoyable feelings you can witness. That was certainly the case with a game pertaining to some sentient corn – while I had seen things here and there regarding it, the opening left me with a feeling of unease, which was soon turned to laughs.

Maize starts off with you regaining your consciousness as a few stalks of corn walk away from you. You start to walk through a corn maze (or maize, depending on how punny you want to be) and soon realize this is a walking simulator. You begin to question whether that corn was real or just your imagination. As you explore the environment, you’ll come across boxes that block your path. After collecting enough items and using them where you are supposed to, certain boxes will disappear and you’ll be notified a path has been opened. These serve as a nice way of keeping you contained in an area with the pieces you either need to find or use.

While you will likely have to backtrack through areas to pick everything up that’s relevant, the game does a nice job of outlining items that you can interact with, making sure that you don’t spend hours looking for that secret compartment in the wall. In addition to usable items, you’ll find a fair amount of collectibles with humorous narrative attached to each, assuming you read. And once you finish the first puzzle you are given (several things must be done prior – but it’s the first one you will see), the game does something most walking simulators avoid: NPCs are introduced.

The ears of corn are indeed sentient, and have quite the personalities. It’s also here that you are truly introduced to Bob and Ted, the scientists that are more or less behind all of this. Learning about them is completely optional, as they communicate via sticky notes to one another, but I’d recommend it as it’s a fun exchange between the two. Think Pinky & The Brain, with one having absolutely no idea what he’s doing while the other has to clean up the other’s mess.

As you progress in here, you’ll come across new characters, and a new reason to be doing what you’re doing. You’ll meet Vladdy, a stuffed bear that will follow and assist you in your travels, while also putting you down every chance he gets. You’ll be put into several precarious situations, and potentially die if you don’t do them correctly. Is your brain bigger than that of a teddy bear and corn? Hopefully. But as with most adventure titles, the puzzles can be a bit obtuse and cause strain.

The game plays well enough; with the items you can interact with being highlighted as previously mentioned. Chances are there will be a lot of trial and error when it comes to the items and what they are to be combined with, much like point-and-click adventures. Sadly, you won’t be given funny narrative if the items don’t go together, but you’ll get a decent dose from other portions of the game. Whether that is from the non-usable items you pick up, or the narrator’s silent exposition as things progress in the story, there’s a decent amount of absurdist humor here.

The game has plenty of faults though. Nothing that couldn’t be managed, but they are frustrating nonetheless. There are certain areas I’d get stuck in – and I mean physically stuck. It’d be one thing if I couldn’t move at all, but it’s another when the path you are supposed to take has an invisible wall that won’t go away unless you restart. What’s disheartening is I didn’t know I had to go that way, and backtracked several times to see if there was an alternate route. What’s more frustrating is that this wasn’t a one-time thing, as it happened in several areas. The nicest was a ventilation shaft, as that only meant a couple minutes of checking my options before turning it off.

Maize has its fair share of humor, and it certainly offers a fun experience for those that enjoy walking simulators, although I can’t say this is the best one that I’ve played. In fact, the humor in this is one of its standout reasons to play, and what sets it apart from so many others in the genre. While it doesn’t always hit, and the absurdist humor can be an acquired taste, I believe it takes well. If it weren’t for all the technical issues I ran into, which will likely be fixed with patches, it’s a fun entry in the blooming genre.

7 out of 10

Pros

• Humor
• Characters

Cons

• Technical Glitches
• Obtuse Puzzles

Maize was developed and published by Finish Line Games. It was released on PC December 1st, 2016 and launched September 12th, 2017 on X1 and PS4 for $19.99. The game was provided to us for review on Xbox One. If you’d like to see more of Maize, check out the official site.

 

Here at GBG we use a rating method that you are more than likely familiar with – a scale of 1 to 10. For clarification, we intend on using the entire scale: 1-4 is something you should probably avoid paying for; 5-7 is something that is worth playing, but probably not at full price; 8-10 is a great title that you can feel confident about buying. If you have any questions or comments about how we rate a game, please let us know.

Check out OpenCritic for a better idea of how our review stacks against others.