Game Info
Game Name: Maneater
Developer(s): Tripwire Interactive/Blindside Interactive
Publisher(s): Tripwire Interactive/Deep Silver
Platform(s): PS4/Xbox One/PC/Switch
Genre(s): RPG/Action/Adventure/Open World
Release Date(s): May 22, 2020 (PC/PS4/Xbox One)/2020 (Switch)
ESRB Rating: M
Scaly Pete meets his nemesis…and you must avenge your mother!
Maneater vs. Sharkhunters is one the most popular reality-TV series on air. Following the adventures of Pierre “Scaly Pete” LeBlanc and his son Kyle, Pierre seeks to avenge his father who he believes was killed by the legendary megalodon shark. When he slaughters a mother shark, the baby shark inside of her gets his first taste of human blood when he takes Pete’s hand. Marked for death, the baby shark must evolve and grow to avenge his mother and stop Scaly Pete’s reign of terror on the open seas!
Maneater is an open-world action-adventure RPG game released on multiple platforms. Developed by Tripwire Interactive and Blindside Interactive, the game was published by Tripwire Interactive with Deep Silver handling the retail sales. The game was released to positive reviews with a Switch release following the release for PS4, PC, and Xbox One.
Sometimes it is hard being a little shark in a filthy bayou
Rarely do I sit and pound out a game, but Maneater is one of those rare exceptions. The unique “hook” of controlling a man-eating shark sounded fun and the game is the perfect release for the frustrations of the world. For review purposes, I played the game on the PS4.
The game as mentioned above has a clever set-up. Like many games, you have to develop and grow your shark by finding hidden locations, battling things like alligators, barracuda, and everything up to sperm whales. The game has the world divided into zones, but most of the zones are accessible early on. This did lead to a problem when I was playing in that I apparently skipped a bunch of stuff in the first and second zone and the game did not advance until you went back and played them. This made flying through the earlier stuff a lot easier than it was probably meant to be and I was already at level thirty when I was supposed to be finding new grottos (aka the shark’s home bases in each zone).
SpongeBob isn’t in right now…please stop by later
In addition to this slight problem, I did have a few errors which caused the game to shut down. This leads me to believe there are some patches being developed to fix these problems. The only other complaint in the presentation is that sometimes going between areas of the map leads to a load screen…even in the middle of a fight. It throws off the momentum of a fun game.
The sound and graphics are fun. The game features Chris Parnell as a Shark Week type narrator that gives sarcastic takes on environmentalism, reality-TV, and costal living. The game also goes deep in references with jokes from Demolition Man to SpongeBob SquarePants to It. The fun of exploring the game is one of the joys of the game (and nothing is more terrifying than looking up and seeing a giant killer whale bearing down on you).
Ok…I’d like to go home now
The controls are both great and sometimes frustrating. The game controls work a lot like a flight simulator (which I admit I’m not great at) and locating targets during a battle can be tricky. The game often comes down to just repeatedly hitting/biting an opponent and the strategy isn’t always there. Despite being water based, you shark spends a lot of time jumping in and around the land and getting the hang of his moments is sometimes challenging.
Maneater though flawed is a unique fun game. The problems that the game has are fixable (except the length) and shouldn’t dissuade anyone from trying it. The game has a lot potential, and I hope for a Maneater sequel someday…maybe the Maneater can go to Europe for an all you can eat buffet in the Mediterranean Sea or something. The game is for adults and the carnage might just have you staying out of the water…but if you play Maneater you’ll soon discover that even the beach isn’t safe from a killer shark.
