Tripwire Interactive outdid themselves with the magnificent gore-fest that is Maneater. I had so much fun wreaking havoc among the unsuspecting wildlife, beachgoers, and fisherman in this game. It kind of blew me away that managed to give a game about a shark a narrative involving a vengeance story arc AND make it somehow a coming-of-age story, but Maneater is certainly a game that should not be underestimated.
The design and art of Maneater is excellent with the environment and characters looking cartoonish enough to make the game’s sheer brutality a little more acceptable, while simultaneously feeling realistic and enjoyable in a way that did not look and feel like a mobile game. Not only is the game design itself beautiful and refined, but the movement and fighting mechanics are also incredibly well made for optimal fights. Part of what I enjoy so much about the fighting in Maneater is that it is far more complex than just rampaging around and eating everything in sight.
The main chunk of the campaign starts with the shark as a young pup out for revenge against Scaly Pete, the bayou fisherman who killed her mother. Your shark begins as a pup and must level up by completing missions and consuming nutrients via “nutrient caches” and other fish/animals that can be found around the map. As a result of this system that requires leveling up, your shark will frequently encounter enemies that are significantly higher levels than you are towards the beginning of your journey. This requires the player to take fights differently or to avoid engagements entirely in certain cases.
An example of this may be encountering a Level 8 alligator in the bayou as a level 2 pup, meaning that fights would be incredibly difficult to win and that the player is generally better off just avoiding the alligator until they grow large enough to take these types of fights. The shark actually has moves of sorts as well, being able to stun its prey with a tailwhip or gripping the prey in its jaws and thrashing in order to do maximum damage. When hunting prey that fights back, the player can also lock onto the more dangerous enemies and dodge attacks in order to win fights against more challenging opponents.
One component of the game that I really loved was the narrator (voiced by legend Chris Parnell for all you Rick and Morty fans reading this) who makes the entire game feel as if it is a nature documentary being viewed during Shark Week. For example, if the player dies, the narrator will have a funny quip about “sharks occasionally taking on prey too large for them” or “young sharks are not always the apex predators that humans believe them to be” before the respawn loading screen pops up. It is a subtle inclusion that goes a long way in adding to the enjoyment of this game as the shark is, obviously, a silent protagonist.
The map itself is actually massive in Maneater with plenty of unique and interesting areas to explore that are full of a rich and diverse assortment of wildlife and humans. Keep in mind though, killing too many humans in rapid succession will cause shark hunters to pursue you with harpoon guns that do a lot of damage and generally require you to flee from them as fighting the hunters can be quite a challenge (it is sort of like the star system in Grand Theft Auto). There are also a plethora of side missions such as fighting apex predators, eating license plates, terrorizing beachgoers in specific locations, and discovering various underwater landmarks such as sculptures made of trash or skeletons of two lost lovers (all hilariously narrated by Parnell as well).
The leveling up system in Maneater is really what motivates the player to continue through the missions and storyline in addition to the interesting narrative. Over the course of the game, the player can unlock new skills and abilities such as advanced sonar, in addition to leveling up their stats so that they can hunt larger prey and take on more daring fights. The skill tree was an excellent addition to this game that made it feel more dynamic and enjoyable as a whole.
Overall, Maneater is an incredibly fun game that skirts the line between sensationalism and realism in a fresh and interesting way that made me want to keep playing it more and more. The combat, narration, and game design were all excellent and really showed the amount of effort that Tripwire put into this game to make it as fun as possible for its player base. I must say that I did have a couple of issues with the game crashing, but otherwise I had no issues with Maneater and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for an awesome sandbox-style game full of blood, mayhem, and pollution.
Score: 8/10
Check Out the Maneater Trailer:
Maneater is available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC via the Epic Games Store, and later this year for Nintendo Switch.
For more information, please visit: www.maneatergame.com
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Xbox One Review
I've been playing video games since I got a Playstation 2 when I was about 5 or 6 years old. The original Star Wars: Battlefront series and the Spyro series initially ignited my interest in gaming, but it wasn't until I got older that I truly appreciated the subtle details that make video games such a unique form of entertainment. My favorite type of video game would have to be any lengthy and plot-driven open world game, with my favorite games of all time being Batman: Arkham City, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Assassin's Creed: Revelations, and Firewatch.
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