Ever since Steven Spielberg conquered theaters back in 1975 with the hit movie Jaws, the gaming scene has been in need of a good shark game. While there have been a handful of titles over the years that have let you take control of nature's most dangerous aquatic predator, some even bearing the "Jaws" moniker, none have really delivered on the full potential of the premise the way Maneater does.
As you grow from vulnerable pup to unstoppable ocean terror you'll battle your way to the top of the underwater food chain by eating everything in your path to gain experience points and valuable nutrients that will allow you to level up and upgrade your various body parts and abilities respectively. The ultimate goal being to escape the backwater bayou you're tossed into, reach the open ocean, and take revenge on the shark hunter who killed your mother. The story itself plays out as a parody of reality shows like "Swamp People" and features an ever-present narrator played by Archer's Chris Parnell who regularly delivers amusing quips about whatever you're doing, making it clear that the game never takes itself too seriously.
Things get over-the-top in best of ways as you can breach the water's surface to hunt humans on land and even mutate beyond what nature intended as a result of chemical pollution. This leads to a surprising amount of customization options for your shark that include things like bone armor and electrically charged fins.
The core gameplay loop revolves around entering new areas and engaging in a little bit of population control of the local prey to draw out the region's apex predator for a boss battle before moving on. It's definitely a repetitive cycle, but it never got old for me as there's a constant sense of growth. Plus, exploring every beautiful environment for collectibles and side-objectives is a blast due to the amount of diversity in the scenery and Maneater having the best swimming mechanics of any game ever. Combat took a bit of getting used to due to the lack of a traditional lock-on system, but once I got the hang of darting around and realigning the camera to find my target I felt as powerful as one would hope to when inhabiting the body of massive bull shark.
As far as flaws go, there aren't many. I did encounter pretty regular frame rate issues when swimming near the surface, particularly whenever boats were around, and one time I accidentally caused a boss to glitch out and not be able to fight back by knocking him from a larger body of water into a smaller one. All relatively minor things though that didn't really hinder my enjoyment, so I don't have much to complain about.
In fact, Maneater is simply the shark power fantasy I've always wanted. Even after unlocking the relatively easy platinum trophy I still find myself wanting more of its cathartic thrills and the strangely serene feeling I got from just swimming around the map. This has led to what should of have been a stupid, B-movie level good time at most unironically being one of my favorite games of 2020, if not my personal GotY, and I highly recommend that everyone check it out for it's originality alone.
9.2/10
As you grow from vulnerable pup to unstoppable ocean terror you'll battle your way to the top of the underwater food chain by eating everything in your path to gain experience points and valuable nutrients that will allow you to level up and upgrade your various body parts and abilities respectively. The ultimate goal being to escape the backwater bayou you're tossed into, reach the open ocean, and take revenge on the shark hunter who killed your mother. The story itself plays out as a parody of reality shows like "Swamp People" and features an ever-present narrator played by Archer's Chris Parnell who regularly delivers amusing quips about whatever you're doing, making it clear that the game never takes itself too seriously.
Things get over-the-top in best of ways as you can breach the water's surface to hunt humans on land and even mutate beyond what nature intended as a result of chemical pollution. This leads to a surprising amount of customization options for your shark that include things like bone armor and electrically charged fins.
The core gameplay loop revolves around entering new areas and engaging in a little bit of population control of the local prey to draw out the region's apex predator for a boss battle before moving on. It's definitely a repetitive cycle, but it never got old for me as there's a constant sense of growth. Plus, exploring every beautiful environment for collectibles and side-objectives is a blast due to the amount of diversity in the scenery and Maneater having the best swimming mechanics of any game ever. Combat took a bit of getting used to due to the lack of a traditional lock-on system, but once I got the hang of darting around and realigning the camera to find my target I felt as powerful as one would hope to when inhabiting the body of massive bull shark.
As far as flaws go, there aren't many. I did encounter pretty regular frame rate issues when swimming near the surface, particularly whenever boats were around, and one time I accidentally caused a boss to glitch out and not be able to fight back by knocking him from a larger body of water into a smaller one. All relatively minor things though that didn't really hinder my enjoyment, so I don't have much to complain about.
In fact, Maneater is simply the shark power fantasy I've always wanted. Even after unlocking the relatively easy platinum trophy I still find myself wanting more of its cathartic thrills and the strangely serene feeling I got from just swimming around the map. This has led to what should of have been a stupid, B-movie level good time at most unironically being one of my favorite games of 2020, if not my personal GotY, and I highly recommend that everyone check it out for it's originality alone.
9.2/10