Maize (2016)

 PC
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

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  1. ExpertPL
    Dec 10, 2016
    7
    It's for sure not an ordinary adventure game. It's humor is very strange and kind of unique. Graphics and sounds are moderate to say the least, but it's not really a problem in this game, as it looks like the developers realized it nad made sure that despite poor graphic and sound quality, it won't be the thing that matters for players. The game is really short, finished it in 5 hours.It's for sure not an ordinary adventure game. It's humor is very strange and kind of unique. Graphics and sounds are moderate to say the least, but it's not really a problem in this game, as it looks like the developers realized it nad made sure that despite poor graphic and sound quality, it won't be the thing that matters for players. The game is really short, finished it in 5 hours. There are no puzzles in this game (You pick an item and the game tells you what you should use it for, then you look for silhouette of the item suggesting where to place it).

    The strongest advantages of this game are it's characters which behavior is exaggerated (Teddy Bear named Vladdy forever in my heart) and it's humor.    … Expand
  2. Mandulum
    May 21, 2017
    7
    Five Word Review: A fun game about corn.
    Favorite Thing: A decent, dry sense of humor and a rather unique story.
    Least Favorite Thing: I found the store's screenshots deceptive. No matter your settings it's not going to look as good.

    Date Completed: 2017-05-06
    Playtime: ~ 3h
    Enjoyment: 7/10
    Recommendation: Yeah, sure. If you're looking for a quick and enjoyable jaunt.
  3. 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 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. ThisI 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    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

15
#15 Most Shared PC Game of 2016

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
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. Games.cz
    Feb 14, 2017
    70
    Crazy comedy adventure about intellect-gifted corn. In terms of gameplay it´s not a miracle, but crazy humor and bizarrely intriguing story richly compensates it.
    Read full review
  2. CD-Action
    Feb 13, 2017
    65
    Maize is more memorable than your usual Dear Esther clone. I imagine the developers thinking: “We’re unable to make something outstanding with our budget, so let’s at least make something funny”. And they did. [02/2017, p.48]
  3. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Feb 6, 2017
    40
    Maize is a funny yet imperfect adventure. It doesn’t offer anything better than a story about corn that outsmarted man. An absurd humor won over the gameplay. [Issue #271]
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