Maneater

 PlayStation 4
User Score
7.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 159 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 102 out of 159
  2. Mixed: 34 out of 159
  3. Negative: 23 out of 159
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  1. Deviated88
    May 29, 2020
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Overall my experience with Maneater, albeit brief was enjoyable. Watching your shark grow from a pup to a mega shark is pretty cool, including all the other upgrades Bone , Shadow and Electric. But I cant suggest people get this game until they fix the issues I’ve experienced, and I’m sure other people have as well. Frame rate : the frame rate dropped multiple times on my PS4 pro and it baffled me a little bit with other games, like Horizon Zero Dawn or Red Dead has no frame drop issues. Variety : this game is repetitive, very repetitive. I would have enjoyed some variety in the quests but I guess there is only so much to do as a shark.

    Save files being erased : this was the big thing for me, caused me to actually uninstall it from my hard drive. They don’t have a save function, it only relies on auto save which I think isn’t the best decision.

    First go around, I got to leave 10 got to my grotto saw the auto save going. Turned off my console. I come back to level up my super cool shark, and my game started over from the beginning. I was a bit ticked off, shrugged it off and played again. I just reached level 30 with almost max upgrades. Fire up my console to eat some people and destroy boats. And wouldn’t you know it. The game started over at the beginning! AGAIN! How do you have this critical of a bug on a game you send out to customers? Baffles me, they need to fix it. So I’d suggest saving your money. But that’s just my experience.    … Expand
  2. Phoenix-Prince
    Aug 14, 2020
    1
    I would have giving it a 5 but the final boss fight made me very sour.
    The controls are crap, the camera is even worse, it barely plays at 30 FPS, the narrator can be obnoxious, lastly the load time became a real problem at the end because there's no skip cutscene and you have to sit for 2 to 3 minutes, then another two just to get back to the boss. And this is all after its latest patch,    I would have giving it a 5 but the final boss fight made me very sour.
    The controls are crap, the camera is even worse, it barely plays at 30 FPS, the narrator can be obnoxious, lastly the load time became a real problem at the end because there's no skip cutscene and you have to sit for 2 to 3 minutes, then another two just to get back to the boss. And this is all after its latest patch, if you have incredible patience by all means you might enjoy this but if you're anyone else best to avoid this mess.    … Expand
  3. Shmib
    May 26, 2020
    0
    Came back to play after a long week of work to play and all my progress was deleted. Not worth 40 bucks.
  4. MilkyB123
    May 24, 2020
    2
    It's a fun game but oh my god it needs fixing. Experienced so many frame rate issues while playing. I also encountered two game crashes and my save file got corrupted at about 80% completion. I lost all motivation to play it. And I know I'm not the only one as a few of my friends also the same, none of us can be bothered to start again. Do not buy this game until this situation is patched.
  5. BaaMzS
    May 26, 2020
    0
    I'm okay with repetitive games, buggy games, laggy games, that hinder overall experience but still, to a certain extent, playable and enjoyable. But unfinished product, riddled with gameplay-affecting performance issues, and worst of all, constant crash that lead to corrupted save data, forcing players, if they have to will, to start over over and over again. That's just unacceptable, man.
  6. Bubbagump
    May 26, 2020
    0
    There are many problems:
    I got to level 19, I had played a few hours, I turned off the PS4 and when I booted it back up my save game was corrupted/erased.
    The game had frame pacing issues. I have a PS4 pro and the fans spin faster than when i play something like God of War. Weird considering how bad the game can look. I would expect a ps3 to be capable of running it. The start of the    There are many problems:
    I got to level 19, I had played a few hours, I turned off the PS4 and when I booted it back up my save game was corrupted/erased.
    The game had frame pacing issues.
    I have a PS4 pro and the fans spin faster than when i play something like God of War. Weird considering how bad the game can look. I would expect a ps3 to be capable of running it.
    The start of the game is extremely boring and there isn't enough to do. There is a severe lack of variety concerning the fish, upgrades, enemies and environments to an extent.
    There are so many glitches, you will encounter many. One glitch sent me flying over a fence into a different area (was this the reason for the save corruption? Who knows).
    The shark itself controls horribly, combat is frustrating.
    The game is massively overpriced, currently £40.
    In the right hands this game could have been good but currently it's a train wreck.    … Expand
  7. Scarlxrd
    Nov 7, 2020
    0
    Spent hours grinding out the game, i was level 22. Took a brake and came back and i was back to level 11??? I can't get certain upgrades because they're locked behind collectibles but the game says i unlocked them.
  8. SplitMind
    Oct 26, 2020
    3
    I don't think I've ever experienced quite as much intense frustration and disappointment from a game. I played it for only a couple of hours but found myself getting so constantly annoyed and angry so I gave up to salvage my losses and trade the game in.

    So where does Maneater go wrong? I want so say almost everywhere, but I'll focus on primarily the controls and the camera. The    I don't think I've ever experienced quite as much intense frustration and disappointment from a game. I played it for only a couple of hours but found myself getting so constantly annoyed and angry so I gave up to salvage my losses and trade the game in.

    So where does Maneater go wrong? I want so say almost everywhere, but I'll focus on primarily the controls and the camera.

    The camera is your worst enemy in this game. Why the hell didn't anybody realise a hard lock-on was necessary? There were so many times where I launched at an enemy and went straight past it because the arbitrary lock on didn't detect it. Eventually I learned little tweaks of the controls to manipulate things into balance a bit more, but this was effort to overcome a barrier that should not have been in the game. When you launch past a powerful enemy by accident, you leave yourself wide open to their attack.

    And so rarely do I encounter a game with such unfriendly controls. They are incredibly jerky and nowhere near fluid or smooth. The controls make combat and traversal a real pain. Who the hell decided that mashing R2 is a good way to consume prey? It's literally painful as I can feel repetitive strain injury building up. The shark literally can't do anything smoothly. A lot of the time I'm fighting against the game to get it working. Many of the movements seem to respond randomly, with button-bashing sometimes working best and methodical tapping working best at other times.

    The menu schemes are like something out of a free to pay game on a smartphone. I expected to find microtransactions due to the design but fortunately did not come across any, unless they are very subtle. A less cartoon-ish menu would be more inviting and less of an eyesore.

    I get the game isn't meant to be taken too seriously - that's why I bought it. However I would have expected development to be taken seriously, which it doesn't seem to have been. At the very least I was hoping for a swim in the seaside to gobble up tourists, and the game lets you do that right at the start before taking you away to dump you in a swamp that is a disgusting combination of colour palettes, vacuity and grinding. Yes, swamps are ugly, but you're trying to keep me engaged in the game and a pleasant or varied environment helps. Save the swamps for mid-game diversity.

    Overall, this was a maddening experience, worsened by the realisation that there would be huge amounts of repetition to eat fish to grow and power up. I cannot recommend this game without some substantial improvements being made to it, especially at the current prices.    … Expand
  9. rickdonnie
    Jun 26, 2020
    4
    So, I wanted to love this game, I was expecting it, after all, playing a shark can be so fun. But in the end, this 12 hours adventure became quickly boring. 8 zones basically, and each time, you do the same things again and again. Eat some humans, eat 10 fishes from that species, find collectibles, find the big hunter of the zone, and here you go, next one. The first hours were fun toSo, I wanted to love this game, I was expecting it, after all, playing a shark can be so fun. But in the end, this 12 hours adventure became quickly boring. 8 zones basically, and each time, you do the same things again and again. Eat some humans, eat 10 fishes from that species, find collectibles, find the big hunter of the zone, and here you go, next one. The first hours were fun to play. Easy gameplay, graphics are ok, but when you notice there is nothing more to do, to learn, it becomes boring. Shame.… Expand
  10. GretchenGrinch4
    May 15, 2022
    0
    a fun concept ruined in the final minutes by bad controls and an overly hard final boss fight . the bad controls aren't an issue until the end, but once you get there it is a glaring weakness. a classic example of a dev substituting difficulty for substance. It starts off fun, but gets repetitive fairly quickly. the commentary is hilarious and i liked finding the land marks, but thea fun concept ruined in the final minutes by bad controls and an overly hard final boss fight . the bad controls aren't an issue until the end, but once you get there it is a glaring weakness. a classic example of a dev substituting difficulty for substance. It starts off fun, but gets repetitive fairly quickly. the commentary is hilarious and i liked finding the land marks, but the last battle really ruined the game for me. still have yet to complete it. decided to drop my score down since tripwire doesnt believe in freespeech for their employees.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

52
#52 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2020

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
68

Mixed or average reviews - based on 34 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 34
  2. Mixed: 22 out of 34
  3. Negative: 2 out of 34
  1. DarkStation
    Jul 13, 2020
    90
    Unfortunately, Maneater does not have very much post-game content or replayability, but it’s a tremendously epic, over-the-top open-world action RPG where you dominate the ocean as an apex predator, gaining new and improved bio-adaptations as you rank up. Kindly do yourself a favor and play it!
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  2. Playstation Official Magazine UK
    Jun 26, 2020
    80
    A heck of a catch. There’s plenty below the surface: this shark RPG isn’t afraid to comment on cycles of violence and pollution, while also being a gleefully good time. [Issue#177, p.145]
  3. CD-Action
    Jun 25, 2020
    65
    The quests are painfully repetitive, you wouldn’t also call them creative exactly. But throughout the 15 hours of gameplay the ‘one more mission syndrome’ was more than apparent. [07/2020, p.44]
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