Maneater Reviews

It's hard to deny that Maneater has colossal potential – though the lack of mission variety and some simplistic combat does lend it to feeling repetitious as time goes on. Putting these flaws aside, however, Maneater deserves kudos for an undeniably unique premise and laying a solid foundation for a franchise that developer Tripwire should almost certainly pursue.

The chief pleasures on offer are those of the power fantasy and of the newly burgeoning subgenre that we might call the zoological misadventure.

Maneater is a great idea for a video game, a ridiculous shark revenge fantasy in an open world setting with plenty of humour injected through its unique narrative framing and the vocal talents of Chris Parnell. However, as much as terrorising beach goers and snatching hunters from the bows of their fishing boats is a pretty good time, and as much as we enjoyed watching our orphaned bull shark grow from helpless pup to apex predator, the whole thing is let down by poor combat and the very worst kind of busywork side quests. With a little more variety in missions and a few refinements made to combat, this could have been a killer action-RPG. As things stand, however, it's all a little toothless.

As far as the gameplay and story are concerned, nothing has changed about Maneater on Nintendo Switch. Aside from patches and bug fixes, this is the same experience that released last year on other platforms. While it's initially a blast to swim through the various regions of the bayou and chomp through fish and tourists alike, the missions become repetitive in a hurry. Not only that, but the encounters with bigger enemies can be a test of patience thanks to combat where button mashing is usually the best way forward. For those who enjoy running around the world of older Grand Theft Auto games without actually engaging with the story, there's probably a lot of fun to be had with Maneater, but the full product never fully comes together as a complete experience.

Last year, the gaming waters turned bloody with the arrival of Maneater, the self-proclaimed shARk-PG that puts players into the role of a shark. It’s combination of engaging story, unique gameplay, and witty humour made it a beloved hit for many gamers. Even our COGconnected review gave it a solid score, noting only a handful of minor grievances. Now, a year later, Maneater makes its splash onto the Switch. Just imagine some unlucky vacationer, floating in the ocean on a pink flamingo raft, playing Maneater on his portable Switch, when suddenly a shark bursts from the sea and swallows the poor soul whole. Morbid? maybe, but imagine the headlines! And with that, we turn our attention back to the game at hand and ponder if this Switch port, essentially a year late, is worth diving into.

Repetitive tasks take a big bite out of the fun in Tripwire's grisly action-RPG.

As the shark becomes bigger and stronger with its mutations getting wackier by the hour, the scale of the battles also drastically increases, with the final area in the sea even offering missions where players will be facing several sharks at the same time, and of course the bombastic final confrontation against Scaly Pete and his army of hunters. This power trip manages to keep a good rhythm throughout the game as progress is quick, missions are short, the humor is constantly present and the relatively repetitive gameplay doesn’t bore as the end credits don’t roll after too many hours. Unlike many other open world games in fact, Maneater can easily be completed in about 10 hours, with a 100% completion that sits below 20 hours as well. Given the scope, the ambitions and the technical background of the title, it feels like just the right amount of content, and twice as much filler and identical missions would have definitely felt forced. It may not compete with 100+ hours colossi like Assassin’s Creed Origins or Persona 5 Royal, but Maneater plays by its strengths, offering a unique concept, a compelling game-play loop, a satisfying sense of evolution and a humour that is absolutely on-point.

Just when you thought it was safe to go in the water, Tripwire Interactive drops Maneater. Play as one of the Ocean's deadliest predators in this unique RPG that manages to deliver on its inherently entertaining premise, while also falling prey to repetitive busywork, padding out a short story. Here is our Maneater Review for PS4.

From Tripwire Interactive comes a new shark-based action RPG that is utterly ridiculous but surprisingly enjoyable at the same time.

Maneater is a pretty fun experience, especially if you’re a fan of shark movies like I am, even though it does have its problems. It felt like being placed in Jaws and being told to just go at it and I loved that. I even ended up getting the platinum trophy since I spent so much time exploring the ocean and digging into the collectibles I could find. However, it has its downsides, too.

Maneater is a solid first entry in a new open world RPG franchise. Repetitive missions and some fairly severe framerate issues hold the game back a bit, but overall Maneater is a good bit of summertime gaming fluff. You can't beat the feeling of chomping people at the beach, and Maneater provides just what gamers are looking for – fun carnage with just enough structure to keep players motivated.

Maneater's ability to make you feel like a nonsensically powerful prehistoric monster is matched only by its comedic chops, but it's marred by loose, frantic combat.

With more in the game than the concept might suggest, this is a fun to play title and exceeded my initial expectations of how the game would be. It’s a little short and I would have liked more of it, but this is definitely worth picking up.

There's gear, but it's not based around loot. It's a simple upgrade system that unlocks as you collect things, complete missions and hunts, and progress in the story. It's straightforward and honestly quite refreshing. But it's also packed with technical issues, even when playing on the Xbox One X. Constant slowdown and frame-rate dips, audio tearing and the occasional full application crash break the game's momentum. I lost about an hour of progress two times during the game when it decided ...

A simplistic and repetitive, but appreciably cathartic shark-em-up that would be the perfect weekend blast if it wasn't so frustratingly undercooked

When the issues of a game are rolled and stomped by its greatness, then it’s something to invest on if you have some spare.

Developer Tripwire Interactive deserves props for simply running with an unusual premise as this and trying its best to make it work. Sadly, the execution is lacking and no matter how fun devouring hunting parties and unlocking new evolutions is in the beginning, its core gameplay loop becomes dull way before its relatively short campaign comes to a close. There’s some fun to be had in short bursts, but they’re spread out too far to leave a lasting impression. Maneater’s premise remains...

Let me be clear: Maneater is a game I wouldn’t normally be keen on. Saturation (for better or worse) of games that simulate you playing as x animal or x concept for comedic effect is well established. Be it the great (Untitled Goose Game) or not so great (Surgeon Simulator), it’s hard to ascertain which in this bizarre, almost spin-off, genre are worth visiting.

Maneater is a bloody good time filled with great comedic pieces and tons of marine and human life to tear through but is a bit too repetitive for its own good.

At $40, plenty will find Maneater provides the silly escapism that many are looking for right now. It has the humor and the charm, and it truly indulges the concept of a massive shark terrorizing the land and sea. But a disappointing mission structure, performance struggles on console, and a lack of variety keep the game from being a breakout hit.

Maneater is a pretty decent take on the open-world action-adventure RPG formula that GTA has popularized. While some of its elements feel quite lacking, many of what it has to offer is pretty well-done and entertaining. It’s definitely worth trying for fans of GTA-style games who are looking for something especially different.

I didn’t get the chance to check Maneater out at E3 2019. Instead, my colleague Jordan had the honors and he proceeded to spend the rest of 2019, as well as the first five months of 2020, saying that Maneater was basically the most “Leo game” he had seen in a long time. A game all about trashy humor, ultra gratuitous violence, and cathartic fun. It took almost an entire year for Tripwire to finally release Maneater to the masses, but it was certainly worth the wait.

Maneater is a fun aquatic adventure with more to keep players engaged than it initially seems, it kept me hooked throughout and has enough daft character to bait me back in for a future play-through. Beautiful to look at, well-paced but chaotic when it needs to be and I had a whale of a time.

Maneater squanders some of its potential, but it’s perfect for a rainy weekend when you’re craving something original. With some tweaks and patches, it’ll have an even brighter legacy; or at the very least, become a cult classic alongside more out-there projects in gaming history like Stubbs the Zombie.

You play as a shark and eat people. What's not to love?

Sharks fascinate people like few creatures on Earth, and yet, they haven’t inspired many (if any) great video games. Certainly none in which you actually play as the toothy eating machines. 2006’s Jaws Unleashed was passably entertaining, but beyond that, your options are slim. Thankfully, Tripwire Interactive’s Maneater has arrived to hopefully satisfy shark fans’ hunger.

While Maneater has its problems, it can also be fun once you get used to the combat. However, those on the fence should wait for a patch or two before investing.

Once you finish the story – which boils down to about five minutes worth of plot – you have the freedom to explore the whole island (loading screens do pop-up between areas). But the post-game activities – the ones that you engage with to 100% a game – are the same activities you’ve been grinding your way through to “complete” Maneater. Your average shark might not be interested in putting the world to rights, but it’s hard to connect with Maneater‘s world when you barely make a ripple.

So many games only let me play as a human. Sure, that’s fun, but it’s not really taking full advantage of games’ ability to let us be and do anything. Maneater gets it. In Maneater, I’m not a dull person—I’m a shark. A dangerous, agile, and cool shark, free to swim anywhere and eat whatever and whoever I like. Sadly, most of what this cool shark does is a bunch of repetitive missions.

Maneater sets out to deliver a specific experience and ends up nailing that, but not much else.

While its story missions and their variety can be improved upon, especially when it comes to the endgame, Maneater is an absolute blast. The open world is beautiful, captivating and inviting for players of all kinds, the combat is incredibly fun, and it has a nice and sharp bit of humor to it as well, reveling in just how much the people of Port Clovis are obvious jerks...which only makes it more enjoyable to rip them apart, of course. It might not be on par with the likes of Jaws, but what we have here is still one stellar b-movie to gleefully go nuts in. And sometimes, that's really all you need in order to help live out your monster movie fantasies.

Tripwire Interactive has managed to capture what it feels like to be Jaws, right down to jumping out of the water, landing on a boat, and chomping away at the hunters on it. That in and of itself is a momentous achievement to accomplish. At 40 bucks ($39.99? Really?) for one of the most enjoyable games I’ve played in a long time means you have no excuse not to get this. I cannot applaud Tripwire Interactive enough for taking a risk with a new IP and a concept that we haven’t really gotten since Jaws Unleashed in 2006. If you were a fan of Jaws Unleashed or ever wanted to truly live out your apex predator shark fantasy, do yourself a favor and buy Maneater. While you're at it, tell your friends about Maneater. Spread the shark-loving goodness because this franchise has fins and I can't wait to see what's around the next coral reef. I can sum the game up in one word: Jawsome!

I am irrationally afraid of sharks. Yes, even from the landlocked state of Utah, I get chills just thinking about the rubbery gray death tubes that are all mouth and teeth and fin. Sure, we’ve got things like mountain lions and other majestic horrifying death-dealing creatures here, but there’s just something about the shark. Perhaps it’s the emotionless beady black eyes. Or that it virtually owns the depths of the water (a space that is, in and of itself, also quite terrifying). Maybe it’s the fact that it does what it does without hands or appendages. Again, all mouth. But with fear comes fascination.

Far Cry’s formula may be feeling a little shallow these days, but Maneater breathes new sealife into the open world collectathon concept by setting its action underwater – and putting you in control of a bloodthirsty shark. This moreish aquatic action RPG is a modern incarnation of PlayStation 2 cult classic Jaws Unleashed, and it’s a budget title with real bite.

If you're after a big dumb shark game, Maneater will scratch that itch. The quality of the gameplay and some of its RPG mechanics might make you wish there was some more depth and variety to it all though.

Maneater is a crazy concept come to life, Tripwire somehow managing to cobble together a silly ShaRkPG that is more than just a ten-minute novelty. There’s no denying it’s an exotic catch, but when it comes to quality open world action games, there’s plenty more fish in the sea.

Maneater is a lot like Bambi. Both see the protagonist’s mother killed by a hunter. Both carry a message about how humans are carelessly destroying the environment. Both feature the child of the murdered matriarch going on a bloodthirsty rampage. Admittedly, it’s been a while since I last watched Bambi.

There's no game that makes you feel like a shark quite as well as Maneater, but a shoddy open world structure and repetitive missions make it little more than a quick rush of adrenaline.

Maneater can be entertaining, but it's extremely short and repetitive, with practically no story missions or unique activities.

Seals dart playfully in the ocean waters as sunbathers crowd the beaches to relax in the golden sands. For the bull shark that lurks in the dark waters below, this idyllic scene is a lunch buffet. With an insatiable hunger driving its actions, the shark devours the seals and humans, turning the ocean and sands red. Nothing is safe from this killing machine in the sea or on land. The shark needs to feast to grow large enough to exact revenge on the human hunter that killed her mother.

Considering the largely uncharted waters (sorry) of the shark simulator genre, it is hard to fault Maneater for its flaws. On the other hand, open world design has been a staple of gaming for over a decade and it is a shame to see such repetitive quest design. Along with a few too many claustrophobic environments, I have a hard time giving Maneater a blanket recommendation. That being said, I had a lot of fun playing it, and I think there is a lot to like if you can deal with a few annoyances.

Manic marine mayhem, Maneater is a one-of-a-kind shaRkPG that can feel a little one-note at times, but it's never anything less than an unhinged, knowingly daft piece of entertainment. You get to be a shark and eat people, for crying out loud. It's fun and guaranteed to make you smile, (you son of a bitch).

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The only major bummer for me was how short the overall game was. I had every area (besides one I believe) at 90% competition and hit credits at just shy of 9 hours; if I bothered to get a total 100% completion it’d maybe take me another hour or so to do so. The game doesn’t have the usual premium asking price which is nice, but I would’ve loved to have been able to spend more time in this world.

Maneater's deep combat and deeper oceans provide just the type of blissful escapism we need right now.

It’s absolutely fun to play as mutant Jaws on steroids! Maneater chews the metaphorical scenery as often as it has you devouring humans and the diverse aquatic inhabitants of the Gulf of Mexico, and that’s some good dumb entertainment – for a while. But if you’re wondering whether its shallow combat and simplistic upgrades can sustain that excitement for the roughly 15 hours it takes to become a hulking megashark and reach the end of its uninspired satirical revenge story… it cannot.