Maneater (XBox One)

Maneater, the studio famous for Red Orchestra & Killing Floor are trying their fins at a new genre, in what is possibly a world first, a new genre has been created, the ShaRkPG. Is this cause for celebration or do we need a bigger boat? Read on to find out!.

Maneater puts you in the fins of a Shark, you do Shark things like swim around, terrorize just about everything, hunt, fight and get hunted. Presented in the style of a reality T.V show that seemingly follows your every move, you’ll spend plenty of hours exploring the world of Port Clovis.

Maneater does tell quite an entertaining yet shallow story, it’s basically a little more grittier than something you would see on the channel BLAZE (UK residents). The characters are larger than life and the narrator does raise a chuckle every now and again. The story is basically a revenge story, I won’t go into specifics but you’ll see it coming from a mile away yet it still keeps you engaged enough to care.

Graphically Maneater looks fantastic, not only does it nail the underwater atmosphere brilliantly, it also manages to give itself a distinct look with the character models and the world above water. The Shark has a lot of detail especially when it grows up and changes due to evolution and for those of you that are gore enthusiasts there is plenty of the red stuff to keep you chomping at the bit. 

There were a few issues with performance while I was playing the title, occasional slowdown and one freeze causing me to quit struck me throughout but overall nothing to completely destroy the game, just irritating considering how smooth the game can be.

As mentioned the audio is great in Maneater, the presentation helped push the game out there with it done like a reality show. The voice acting was hammy enough for me to laugh with the game but not at it and the music while didn’t really jump out at me, didn’t really leave a negative impression with me so all in all it’s another win for the Shark.

Gameplay is the big part of Maneater and this should interest anyone who likes Sharks, wanted JAWS to win, loves the Mega Shark franchise or feels at one in the middle of a Sharknado. 

You’ll swim around the waters of Port Clovis, the ocean surrounding it, swimming pools, the bayou and anywhere you can slap your fin around, yes that’s right reader you are not confined to just the waters, in an almost SyFy made spectacle you can leap out of the water, thrash around & dive on safe feeling citizens furthering your Shark based carnage!

Yes Carnage is the name of the game here, no there isn’t indepth character dialogue trees or deep deep lore, no you are given the tools to be a one Shark natural disaster, think those destroy everything moments from Saints Row but more aquatic based.

As you hunt and complete quests (Mostly range from hunt to find X item) you’ll “Evolve”, this allows you to customize your Shark to how you want it, picking different abilities and looks for your tooth based weapon of mass destruction.

There are alot of things to collect within the world of Port Clovis and you’ll often find yourself gliding through the water to each of them, taking in the sights and proving you are the biggest and baddest in the water. There is just the right amount where it doesn’t feel too much like busy work but enough to keep you seeing everything the world has to offer. 

The combat is about what you would expect a Shark game to be, you dodge, you chomp and you can tail flick stuff around, there is a little more to it later on and despite the camera struggling to catch up at times and the opening hours being slightly brutal the combat is decent. 

As you cause issues there is a meter which fills up, once full bounty hunters appear and you will be jumping out of the water, grabbing people off of boats, destroying human equipment and being JAWS, few games offer the experience and fortunately Maneater when you’ve upgraded your Shark and got a handle for the controls is the best experience of its kind.

Maneater is a perfectly fine game, while having a rather unique premise which helps the gameplay loop is rather unoffensive, it’s a free roam game with light RPG elements and the main missions rarely deviate from the standard formula. Fortunately it’s a very unique title, it’s fun to play and doesn’t stick around too long, if the game looks even slightly appealing from either the trailers or from what I’ve said I would suggest picking the title up, it even has a rather appealing RRP at £34.99 which isn’t something to turn your nose up at. 

All in all, there is alot of good ol fashioned fun to be had in Maneater, if you let it that is. The brutal first few hours before you start properly evolving your shark and the general theme of the game might not be for everyone but if you give it a few hours you’ll be surprised just how fun it is to be one half of the Underwater Crime Busters of the Sea (Points to ANYONE who gets that reference), now here is hoping we get some kind of Sharknado DLC or a Kaiju styled game from the team next!.