Description:
I was introduced to the idea of game deconstruction
through my summer internship at Pandemic Studios. Each Wednesday, a
group of people would show up to watch a colleague demo a game of their
choice and present questions meant to inspire discussion about design.
After attending many of these sessions, the organizers of the event
offered the opportunity for myself and the other interns to be
deconstruction presenters. I decided to re-visit
The Maw,
which I had played just after its release. I played through the game
and analyzed it much as I would if I were going to review it, but then
compiled my notes and turned them into questions for the deconstruction,
which you can view by clicking the PDF icon at the top of the page.
Finally, on decon night, I played the game and moderated the discussion
using my questions, while another colleague took notes.
Results:
Again, feel free to check out the original
document I used during the deconstruction to present my questions.
Following are the thoughts of the group regarding the game based on my
decon:
Pre-Associations
-
3D
Platformer
-
Indie
Game
-
Eating
-
Sense of
Scale
-
Cartoony,
Colorful
Discussion
Notes
-
It's very
polished, suprisingly high production values (especially in animation
for an indie game)
-
Very
little dialogue, you can read a lot into the characters by their
animation & body language(very expressive)
-
Players
have different expecations for "accepting" more abstract cartoony
characters vs. realistic ones, so sometimes it makes sense to go for a
stylized look
-
Your
alien companion, the MAW, is like a puppy. He's kind of a wuss when
confronted but cheerfully follows you around
-
Seems to
be designed for console vs. PC
-
You use
an energy leash as a core mechanic for interacting w. the MAW and the
world
-
The
leash can also be used to drag other objects
-
You can
also use it to grab, toss, and feed creatures to the Maw
-
Later
on, there's a grapple hook mechanic introduced for the leash which
allows you to attach to flying creatures
-
Basic
Mechanical Loop - the MAW will eat enemies and get bigger or get new
abilities, allowing the player to progress through the environment and
bypass puzzles/obstacles
-
Slightly reminiscent of Katamari Damacy in that regard
-
In one
level, the MAW gets pretty big and you can hop on top and go for a ride,
but it feels like "rail-shooter" filler and it's only used once. Many
of the mechanics are presented as "one-offs" in this way
-
Environments seem repetitive and achievements are tedious to achieve
-
You get
the feeling from the one-off mechanics & emphasis on animation, that
it's less of a game and more of a linear story experience for kids.
-
It's a
short game, 8 levels, about 4-8 hrs total
-
No
player death, very shallow difficulty progression the focus is on
progression and mild puzzle solving
-
The
level design doesn't seem ambitious enough to leverage or exploit the
mechanics fully
-
Even
the 3 availabe DLC levels are referred to as "Deleted Scenes" (like a
DVD)
-
This
had a bad reaction amongst consumers as they felt there were things
missing when they first bought it - not a good idea
-
The MAW
epitomizes "Games as Popcorn"
-
It's a
light snack, and easy to consume.
-
There's
also a lot of polish in the mechanics and the animation/characters are
appealing
-
The
game could really appeal to kids and adult parents w. not a lot of
free time, but not likely to most male "power fantasy" teenage gamers
due to the cartoony presentation
-
However, they don't wring enough gameplay or content from exploring
the mechanics more fully. In a more focused game, the mechanics might
have more potential to shine, but here they feel underutilized.
-
It's
cheap however ($10 on Steam or XBLA, $1 per DLC level), so if you
scale your expectations accordingly, you might enjoy it
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