Late in the Game Review: Maneater
Here’s to swimmin’ with bow-legged women.
It was like music to my ears.
At the E3 2018 PC Gaming Show, Blindside Interactive revealed an open-world action RPG starring a shark. Immediately, everyone drew comparisons to 2006’s Jaws Unleashed, understandably so. When Tripwire Interactive released more footage, though, it became clear that Maneater wasn’t a rehash of the PS2- and Xbox-era linear title.
To deliver the first-ever shark action RPG, or shARkPG, the developer sprawled the game across seven environments; created a (mostly) immersive leveling system; gave the shark equippable boosters, abilities, and items; and made enemies increasingly difficult.
A Shark’s Tale
As a recently orphaned pup bull shark, you navigate the cruel Gulf Coast in search of your mother's killer, gruff shark hunter Scaly Pete. The narrative unravels through the events of a reality TV show that follows Pete Leblanc and his bumbling son, Kyle. So you’re not traveling without companionship, the series’ host, voiced by Rick and Morty actor Chris Parnell, fills the silence. Every so often, he'll pop in with interesting facts about the shark, the real-world environments, and the delicious wildlife.
Parnell’s presence adds personality and helps build a world without shoehorning in awkward cutscenes, though he repeats himself quite a few times during your travels. Scattered Landmark Locations also bring life to the murky depths by creating small bits of lore to locate and gobble up. Neither alter the game much, save for the unlocks that finding landmarks provide, but they keep the world from being too one-dimensional.
Keeping a Full Stomach
The waters are full of edible snacks and aggressive predators, so you don't necessarily need the distraction of world-building. You’ll be too busy evading alligators as you try to munch on crunchy turtles as a growing pup or going toe-to-toe with try-hard mako sharks. There’s always something at your fin trying to make a snack out of you, so it’s good that this pup isn’t a pushover. He comes equipped with several evade maneuvers, some sharp teeth, and a powerful tail. These are handy during your travels, especially when squaring off against the craftier and much stronger apex predators.
The combat in Maneater is surprisingly deep. You will go belly up if you try to gnaw your way through your foe haphazardly. When pressed for a fight, you must learn your aggressor’s attack patterns and strike when the time is right. It takes a little bit to get used to this underwater dance at first, but once you master it early in the game, you’re good to go. That is until a swarm of predators flank you.
Generally, these moments are exciting, but it's easy to get frustrated when the gameplay works against you. You can pinpoint the pitfalls pretty early on, particularly the dreaded camera. It is maybe Maneater’s biggest detractor, often getting in the way and putting you at a disadvantage. It's especially evident in earlier environments with low water levels, and your shark breaks the surface at inopportune moments. You’ll become disoriented, but on-screen prompts do their best to keep you focused. Sometimes, there’s too little room, and the cramped space makes fights against alligators the game’s first real annoyance. Yet each new environment improves upon Maneater’s core gameplay to rectify this, offering more and more space to explore and right yourself for battle.
Building a Better Killing Machine
The customization options also improve upon what could have been a stale experience. You can alter your shark to become a mutated terror of the deep—you know, like sharks in the real world. Tripwire makes you wait a bit before you can start customizing your jaws, head, body, fins, tail, and organs with Evolutions and Mutations, but once you do, you won’t want to go back to being a boring ‘ole shark.
You can beat Maneater without equipping anything if that’s your prerogative. I don’t recommend it, though, as the options are too much fun to pass up. Mix and match Evolutions to build a custom shark or stick to specific sets and benefit from the perks offered. I particularly enjoyed having bio-electric fins, which enhanced my shark’s evade maneuver and left enemies stunned in a burst of electricity. When paired with shadow teeth that siphoned health and resistant bone armor, I felt unstoppable. Mutagens alter the shark’s organs and can boost stats or unlock abilities like a very useful sonar.
Many of your Evolutions and Mutagens will unlock as you play the story. The best, however, are tied to side quests, collectibles, and your threat level. The more humans you eat, the more infamous you become. Draw enough attention, and hunting parties will come for you. You can run and hide or be the man-eating shark you were born to be and fight back. Survive for long enough, and a named hunter will seek you out. Not only will they make a nice snack, but they will unlock a new alteration for your infamous beast.
As fun as it is to break out new Evolutions, complete all side quests, and raise your infamy meter, Maneater does suffer from a remarked lack of mission creativity. As the game revolves around one gameplay element — eating — that’s pretty much all you’ll do to progress the story. Maybe you’ll eat ten catfish or devour 12 humans. Or you may backtrack three environments to scope out eight groupers. Apex predator battles change things a little and test your shark’s build, but they're not quite frequent enough, as there’s only one per region.
Since gorging on fish provides the nutrients needed to upgrade Evolutions and Mutagens, the game clearly wants you to strengthen your killing machine. Unfortunately, this is not quite enough to justify the stale missions. Tripwire likely knew it would be a problem, which would explain the game’s short length and fairly easy difficulty.
Safe to Go Back Into the Water
I dove into Maneater, expecting my childlike giddiness to be the only factor keeping me playing. To my surprise, a pretty solid RPG is waiting in the depths of the Gulf Coast. Though a bit shallow at times, like the murky swamps of the bayou, your patience is rewarded. Trudge through the early game content and you’ll find yourself immersed in a frantic good time well worth the 10 to 15 hours it takes to complete.