Maize (2016)

 PC
Metascore
65

Mixed or average reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 17
  3. Negative: 1 out of 17
  1. GameGrin
    Dec 19, 2016
    90
    A comedic and utterly bizarre adventure game backed with passion and love for the genre and the craft, with some important options missing letting down a near perfect game.
  2. Twinfinite
    Dec 1, 2016
    80
    Even though the game basically pulls you from one remarkable situation to the next, that is kind of the point, and I really enjoyed my time with Maize. It has that self-aware LucasArts ridiculousness that is wonderfully endearing, and seeing as we’re currently lacking in adventure games, Maize is a welcome breath of fresh air.
  3. CGMagazine
    Dec 1, 2016
    90
    It shows that we can still have a game with cross-generational appeal without simply pandering. I can’t think of many (if any) games that do that as well as Maize. Most importantly, though, it reminds us that “fun” and “rewarding” can still coexist, even in a game that I would share with my young nephew.

Awards & Rankings

15
#15 Most Shared PC Game of 2016

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 31 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 31
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 31
  3. Negative: 3 out of 31
  1. RustyJames
    Dec 15, 2016
    4
    Not more than 4/10. Mystifying and intriguing in the beginning and completely uninteresting after 40-50 minutes of gameplay.
    NOT FUNNY at    Not more than 4/10. Mystifying and intriguing in the beginning and completely uninteresting after 40-50 minutes of gameplay.
    NOT FUNNY at all! Extremely bad optimisation, very poor sounds, pathetic story. Devs, do you think, that permanent insults from teddy bear with russian accent and idiotic stickers will make this game funny?! Just running simulator with "move that object" puzzles. Not even close to good games, like Stanley Parable, Vanishing of Ethan Carter, Dear Esther.    … Full Review »
  2. PublicNuisance
    Mar 4, 2020
    7
    I don’t know what I expected out of Maize when I started it but I’m sure it wasn’t anywhere close to what I got. I mean that in a veryI don’t know what I expected out of Maize when I started it but I’m sure it wasn’t anywhere close to what I got. I mean that in a very positive way. It first hooked me with two words: “sentient corn”. The idea of sentient corn being involved in the game somehow made me very interested. You wake up in a field not knowing why you’re there and you see corn stalks run off when you awake. This begins your exploration of the farm. Along the way you also meet a cast of equally lovable crazy characters such as a Russian teddy bear with a robotic arm coming out of a backpack who can’t help but insult you at any given opportunity; a white corn stalk who is possibly crazy; a smart ruby corn stalk and more. If you pay close attention to notes left behind you can uncover the back story as to what this facility is and what went on here. I recommend doing so because it is equal parts hilarious; crazy and realistic for anyone who has dealt with incompetent middle management. The story and humor of the game really stand out. I was always amused and wanting to know what happens next. The puzzle parts of the game are a mixed bag. The puzzles are typically well thought out but many times I found myself not seeing items because what I needed was really tiny and while items are highlighted when needed I still didn’t see them. The map design isn’t great either. Some parts of Maize felt like a maze (i’ll see myself out). Seriously though some kind of map system would have been appreciated. Sadly the last part of the game really made me angry and frustrated. It involves a rhythm game you have to complete to continue and I despise rhythm games with all of my being.

    I played Maize on Linux using Valve’s Proton. It never crashed on me when it worked but was temperamental. When I first bought the game it worked on Proton 4.2-9 and I put it on my backlog and then went to play it on Proton 5.0-2 and the game crashed at launch. Luckily when Proton 5.0-3 was released it was back to working. The game has a toggle for Vsync; 4 settings for AA; and 4 graphics options to tinker with. There is no manual saving, just checkpoint saves. The main issue there is the game doesn’t tell you when it saves. I believe it is whenever you find a new object or complete a task but I’m not sure. The games graphics are overall a mixed bag but decent. The flowers are fantastic; as is the detail on characters faces; sun rays; lighting and artwork around levels. Other objects such as fences; pots; and cars are average to below average. There are some flickering textures once in a while as well. The game uses 10.58GB of disk space. The game uses the Unreal engine. It has a 60 FPS lock. Alt-Tab doesn’t work. The game has some performance issues. I played the game on Epic settings at 1080P and the game would often drop to the 40’s and 50’s, especially at the beginning of the game, and would stutter often to the point it would pause for a few seconds when it did. During game play my GPU usage was 42-100%; my VRAM usage was 3131-4368MB; my CPU usage was 9-20%; my RAM usage was 5.8-6.1GB and my frame rate was 29-60 FPS. I played version 1312 of Maize.

    If you can get past some of the shortcomings there is a fantastic game underneath. The humor and the story are worth it alone. It isn’t a punishing puzzle game, common sense will solve them easily. I finished Maize in 4 hours. I paid $5.49 CAD for the game and it is well worth that. I would pay as much as $15 for it overall and even more if they remove that damn rhythm game.

    My Score: 7.5/10

    My System:

    AMD Ryzen 5 2600X | 16GB DDR4-3000 CL15 | MSI RX 580 8GB Gaming X | Mesa 19.3.4 | Samsung 850 Evo 250GB | Manjaro 19.0.2 | Mate 1.24 | Kernel 5.5.7-1-MANJARO | Proton 5.0-3    … Full Review »
  3. Penix
    Sep 18, 2019
    10
    A funny adventure. The setting is promising, the humor got me laughing often enough and the visuals are gorgeous. The only problem is theA funny adventure. The setting is promising, the humor got me laughing often enough and the visuals are gorgeous. The only problem is the optimization. The wonderful graphics are not wonderful enough to justify the rather bad performance. But if your pc is good enough to run this game on good graphics (as the gameplay is "walking" for a good amount of time, so then great graphics are the one thing which keeps you away from being bored to death), I can really just recommend you this game.… Full Review »
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