There are way better places to get lost in. Trust me.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/39591/maze-wii-u-review
Looking back on TreeFall Studio’s previous title The Letter, it certainly was an experience. It had an interesting idea, but nothing about the product really worked for me. TreeFall Studios is still providing updates to the title to this very day and that is something I can at least applaud. While it didn't change my mind, I was willing to start anew with Maze. While this new game is slightly better, it is still not something I would likely recommend.
Maze does exactly what it says on the tin. You will be moving about in a first person perspective and through a variety of mazes. As you move from start to finish, you will be collecting coins and trying to traverse past obstacles that block your path. You will be making good use of your ability to jump, which can be activated by pressing either the B or ZR button. Mechanically speaking, it is all easy to understand and works as well as you would expect.
That doesn't mean that the game is really fun to play, however. Maze requires an unhealthy amount of precision from the player and I failed multiple times on a stage in the first world. I pointed my camera constantly downward in the hope that I would just get it right, because once you fail, it is a long road back up to the top. Considering that you have to get all the coins to progress and that there are moments where nothing is going on, mundane moments are quick to pop up. While I struggled, it also made me sort of dizzy. Now I have to say that my balance is somewhat off to begin with, but I did experience quite a lot of motion sickness while playing. I had to put down the game multiple times during my playthrough of Maze's 24 stages.
There is enough content there if you decide to go through with it and the mazes can potentially keep you busy for a while. It is clearly lengthier than The Letter and there are constant changes visually, which is a big step up. I did ask myself questions about the assets, as some of the pallets displayed could have used some major work. Next to the single player, there are arcade and multiplayer modes, but these won't keep you entertained for long. Both offer different rule sets that are intriguing, but they only offer three stages each and that is incredibly off putting.
As this is TreeFall Studios' second release, you can clearly see that they have improved with Maze in comparison to The Letter. The game is lengthier and the presentation is more appealing, but that doesn't really save it. While it is possible to get a handle on the controls, Maze's puzzles never become intriguing. Sometimes they require precision platforming and get frustrating, while in other moments nothing is really going on. Next to all that, Maze makes me dizzy while playing and that barely happens to me these days. The game has sound ideas, but doesn't know how to back it up with a desirable journey.
Topic: Maze (Wii U) Review (Read 750 times)
