Maneater Is Jaws For The Video Game Generation – (Review) PC

“Sharks are responsible for only 3% of shark hunter deaths. Drugs, alcohol, and poor firearm handling account for the rest.”

This is just one of the fascinating farcical facts that you will learn while playing Maneater.

What exactly is Maneater? Well we’re glad you asked. It’s an action RPG (or ShARkPG as they are calling it) set against an underwater back drop that plays out like Grand Theft Auto. The difference is that you’re a shark and you’re the star of a reality show that pits you against the shark hunters. Oh yeah, and it’s narrated by Chris Parnell.

Maneater plays out like a reality TV show and you’re the star. Each level plays out like an episode of the show. Though in the end you may wind up being the Apex predator of the ocean, you won’t start out that way. You begin your journey as a pup, quite literally cut from your mother’s belly. After acquiring a taste for human blood you’ll explore various locations in search of Scaly Pete, a hunter hellbent on revenge that has spent his entire life purging the earth of sharks.

Maneater has been compared to open world games like Grand Theft Auto since Tripwire first announced the game and the comparisons are justified. In what may be the first open ocean game, Maneater gives you full control of how you spend your time under the sea. Missions give you a guide on what to do, but you can do them in any order and take your sweet time completing them if you just want to explore. If you choose exploration, you will be rewarded with treasure chests and hidden collectibles spread throughout each level. The chests, like your prey, are filled with various resources that you can use to upgrade your abilities. You’ll earn new abilities as you take out a slew of hunters that come after you the more that you attack humans.

As with most of the game, you can pick and choose when to accomplish these tasks. After killing enough humans to attract the attention of the hunters, you’ll need to kill as many hunters as you can until each boss finally takes it on themselves to come after you and finish what their lackies failed to do. Once they start shooting and throwing dynamite in your direction, you’ll want to make sure that you use your counter ability to dodge around their attacks. Taking too much damage will require you to briefly leave the fight and feed on some local fish. Once you regain your strength, jump back in the fight and take out those hunters!

After defeating each boss you’ll be rewarded with an upgradable body part that you can swap in and out at any time. By the time you are a fully electric elder shark you’ll be a hideous sight to behold. The bosses themselves are surprisingly easy to kill at times considering how much you have to go through to get to them, especially the last few.

Exploring the depths of the ocean isn’t all fun and games though. Most of the aquatic life that you encounter will be easy prey, but occasionally another predator will attack and you’ll have to put up a fight in order to eat your next meal. Making good use of your whipshot will cause your enemy to be stunned – allowing you to finish them off for good. If you come across any albino fish those will give you special resources, so make sure that you attack them anytime one swims your way.

The fact that they were able to get Chris Parnell to narrate the game is nothing short of brilliant. It feels like he took his role from Hot Rod and amped it up to eleven. Everything he says is hilarious and it makes even dying fun. You want to make sure you’re paying close attention to his narration because it does not disappoint. We’d recommend playing Maneater with headphones because the sound here is one of the game’s biggest strengths. A lot of detail went into every aspect of being the Apex Predator and headphones will really help you feel like you’re swimming in the ocean.

You can briefly leave water in order to attack humans on land, but pay attention to your meter because you’ll only have a limited amount of time before you begin to suffocate and then it’s game over. Finding your home base or Grotto in each level is the first thing you should in case you do accidentally bite the big one and must respawn. Navigation can be a bit tricky at times and it’s fairly annoying to finally find the right under water tunnel only to die and have to search for it all over again.

There’s a lot to love here and there is no doubt that you will have a lot of fun with this game. Some repetition, clunky controls, and navigation issues keep it from being a great game, but it’s a breath of fresh air to play a game with such an original concept.

Check out our Review Guide to see what we criteria we use to score games.

*Maneater was given to the reviewer by the publishing company but this fact did not alter the reviewer’s opinion*