Maze: The Broken Tower – Review

As huge fans of Maze: Subject 360, we could not wait to get our hands on this brand-new sequel. In The Broken Tower, you are sent in to begin the demolition of the Gehenna Tower – a futuristic building equipped with an artificial intelligence named S.A.R.A. After a series of disappearances related to the building, the city has ordered for it to be shut down. Now that you are trapped inside the building by S.A.R.A., can you survive the brutal compliance tests and figure out what actually happened behind the scenes or did S.A.R.A. really took on a mind of her own?

It is a well-known fact that Mad Head almost always delivers innovative storylines in their games, and the storyline in The Broken Tower is no exception. Following the massive success of the first game, The Broken Tower presents another intriguing psychological thriller plot. Although the story development might not be as fast as we had expected, the frequent action sequences in the game were definitely enough to keep us glued to the screen. It is also worth noting that The Broken Tower is one of the very first HOPAs that takes on the theme of artificial intelligence with such seriousness, another barrier broken by the unstoppable creatives at Mad Head!

Visually, Maze: The Broken Tower is nothing short of stunning. All the locations are professionally drawn and painted with such sophisticated style and a keen eye for detail. Both the animations and the cutscenes are also spectacular, so are the suspenseful soundtracks and the excellent voice-overs. As a psychological thriller, The Broken Tower holds nothing back and some scenes can be fairly disturbing. We do not recommend this game for children, but adults will certainly enjoy this masterpiece.

Further, Maze: The Broken Tower is an extremely entertaining game. While the gameplay is pretty standard and the hand-holding might even feel overwhelming to some, this game is undeniably imaginative. It is impossible to predict which route the adventure will take next or when and where a jump scare will pop out. We also enjoyed the use of the Night Vision Goggles and the Resident’s Compliance Bracelet. The bracelet is especially fascinating; basically the bracelet will track your compliance to S.A.R.A.’s instructions, and you will be severely punished if the meter turns red – a very neat way to integrate the feeling of urgency into the game.

Maze: The Broken Tower is arguably traditional when it comes to the hidden object scenes and the puzzles. The hidden object scenes are kept to minimal in this game, with only a scene or two per chapter and they are all very enjoyable. The puzzles are not necessarily unique, but they added some nice twists to the classics.

Despite all the good things we have said about Maze: The Broken Tower, the game runs a little short on its length. The main game took us 3.5 hours to complete and the bonus chapter took us just 40 minutes. The bonus section is not mind-blowing either; a strategy guide, wallpapers, concept art, soundtracks, replayable hidden objects, jigsaw puzzles, achievements, collectibles and morphing objects.