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The Maw

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Xbox LIVE® Arcade has long been a breeding ground for independent games filled with quirky originality and standout game design. With Twisted Pixel's The Maw coming to Xbox LIVE Arcade, the Xbox faithful are in for sci-fi action-adventure packed to the alien gills with charm and inventive game design.

Our Dynamic Duo
Our blue-skinned, innocent looking alien friend Frank has had himself a very bad day. He's been abducted by intergalactic bounty hunter scum, tossed aboard a strange and frightfully inhospitable ship, and made to room with all manner of dangerous looking critters.

While Frank despairs at his sudden abduction, he catches the glittering eye of an amorphous blob-like creature with giant saucer eyes and rows of razor-like teeth. In that curiously touching moment, Frank and The Maw share a connection, and it's a good thing too because just then the bounty hunter space ship crash lands on alien-parts-unknown, leaving Frank and his famished Maw companion to fend for themselves.

Maw's Appetite
When it comes to controlling Frank and The Maw and besting the challenges that surround them, The Maw deftly sidesteps the action-adventure genre staples in favor of a more original, edible approach to survival.

You see, our jiggly, usually purple friend The Maw will consume anything and everything available, growing in size, power, and appetite the more he eats. Better yet, if Maw gets his needle-like teeth around a tasty exotic morsel, like, say, a fire breathing Gastro, it can adopt its flame-spewing powers for its own purposes (such as burning down clumps of trees to find more eats).

It's this core mechanic that drives the bulk of the gameplay and its puzzles. For example, every level is littered with pink, puffy, and cuddly Yums, the kind of adorable little creatures that if they were stuffed animals you might win in a carnival game and give to your niece.

Of course, for The Maw, the Yums are delightful treats, and when consumed in vast quantities they allow The Maw to expand in size, power, and ability. This, in turn, will empower The Maw to tackle the larger, more dangerous critters lurking about as well as gain access to different areas in a level.

Solitary Frank
While the end goal in most areas is to keep The Maw fed, happy and powerful, you must occasionally venture out alone as Frank to do so. For example, while round in shape, our Maw friend is incapable, or, perhaps unwilling, to bounce high enough to leap to out-of-reach places. You'll need to proceed alone then as Frank to navigate your way to high-up platforms to round up more Yums and toss them to The Maw for immediate consumption.

Likewise, Maw doesn't fare well against futuristic weaponry, so when a laser turret makes its appearance known, you'll need to dodge its incoming fire, and lasso the turret with your electrified gauntlet to put it out of commission.

It's Frank's handy gauntlet that works as both a leash of sorts when guiding The Maw and a energy-based grapnel when facing off against enemies or making use of items, and developer Twisted Pixel makes continuous and refreshing use of this weapon.

In one area you'll need to make your way behind a series of laser-guarded gates by using the gauntlet as a grapnel to hook onto a flying creature overhead. However, since the larva-like winged critter you're attached to isn't going precisely where you want to be, you'll need to time a series of releases and grapples to other, crisscrossing creatures to reach your destination of choice.

Whatever puzzles you face, developer Twisted Pixel does a remarkable job putting fresh twists on familiar challenges, forcing you to think and act in unexpected ways.

Unlockable Profile Content
For a long time now, gamers have been anticipating rewards that extend beyond the barriers of a game for their in-game exploits. Developer Twisted Pixel has listened, offering gamers the opportunity to unlock Gamer Pictures and even a Premium Theme for The Maw not by purchasing them, but simply by playing the game.

Winner of the Audience Choice Award at Penny Arcade Expo 2008, The Maw is steeped in originality and polish and awaits your download on January 21, 2009. Feed The Maw! You'll be glad you did.

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