(Game Review) "Maneater"

This is a review of a game Maneater. Maneater is an action role-playing game developed by Tripwire Interactive. The game is available for the Xbox One, PS4, and Microsoft Windows. You play as a baby bull Shark who has to survive in a vast open-world as you seek revenge on the hunter who killed your mother.

What is the Game like to Play

Well, it's a bit like Ecco the dolphin meets jaws on steroids. The main gameplay loop sees you explore the underwater world in search of collectibles secret passages and resources. The map is vast and broken down into regions some of which are only accessible as you evolve into adulthood. Things are broken down into short quests where you have to kill a certain amount of fish humans or various other types of tasks.

But in the main, the game is all about resource gathering. As you use your sonar you id the living things around you with it with each having different resources within them. So, that means if you eat them you accumulate that resource the bigger the enemy the more resources you'll acquire, and once you've accumulated enough you can visit one of the many grottos to evolve your bull shark.

You can improve each category of your shark from the sonar biting ability and several other options. These include mutators that later in the game get crazy and make your shark look like a sci-fi character. The combat is pretty basic though but it's good fun nonetheless. However, the targeting system is pretty poor. You can buy and eat enemies use a tail attack or burst jump out of the water and gobble up those pesky hunters. But don't stay out of the water for too long or you'll suffocate and if you eat too many humans your wanted meter will rise and the deadly hunters will be on your tail.

Finally, the enemies are quite varied from the human hunters, other sharks, crocodiles, and even killer whales. Graphically, it's a very colorful and vibrant game world. The underwater environments are nicely created. The sea creatures look good and overall it has a very nice art style. Performance-wise there are some issues with the occasional drop in frame rate but nothing too noticeable or too frequent. The sound effects and music are solid throughout but it's the comedy wildlife narrator who steals the show on the audio front. He comes out with silly one-liners and it brings a lighter touch to the experience.

What's Good and What's Bad

What's Good: It's a relaxing fun and enjoyable adventure. The progression system is simple and easy to follow, evolving your shark into a futuristic killing machine is great fun, and it's some light relief when compared to more serious story-based games.
What's Bad: The leveling up grind does get a little bit repetitive and it's a pretty simple game in terms of gameplay.

What's the Verdict

Maneater is an enjoyable and fun open-world adventure that doesn't take itself seriously and it will make you smile throughout. It's a good remedy to all those straight-faced games that have come out this year and it's definitely worth a look. Yes! it does get repetitive and it is a bit of a grind to level up but it never is too much of a struggle and the end game is attainable. So, overall it's a solid game that's good fun and not too taxing on the mind. I enjoyed it but it's probably not a game that I would play through again.

Points 8.0
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