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. 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
  2. nnl5
    Aug 29, 2021
    10
    This game is real fun! One of the few video games I've played all the way through and got all the unlocks. Cool game design, really accurate shark visuals, and great storytelling. Don't understand the mediocre reviews... awesome game!!!
  3. Krazykronik
    Jul 27, 2021
    10
    I loved it game was so much fun best time waster I have played in years I would recommend it for sure especially since its 19.99
  4. Indi428
    Mar 6, 2021
    5
    Great commentary and can be fun for the first hour or two, but after that there isn't much calling you back the story is weak, the side activities are all the same.
  5. kisama68
    Feb 14, 2021
    8
    Lots of fun! Playing and exploring from the shark point of view! Controls are solid. Graphics are good.
    I wish the game is longer, a bit too short.
    Meanwhile never have any problem losing levels or game crashing on PS4.
  6. Luvs2sploog
    Feb 6, 2021
    7
    I got this game free as a PS Plus member and was thoroughly entertained whole I had it installed. The mechanics are good in my opinion, and the swimming seemed very natural as opposed to many other games where the swimming doesn't seem as thought out. During my playthrough, I didn't have to use any guides as the game is very self-explanatory and I was able to enjoy it more because of that.I got this game free as a PS Plus member and was thoroughly entertained whole I had it installed. The mechanics are good in my opinion, and the swimming seemed very natural as opposed to many other games where the swimming doesn't seem as thought out. During my playthrough, I didn't have to use any guides as the game is very self-explanatory and I was able to enjoy it more because of that. Once you reach level 30 though, your main goal is simply to advance the story, collect all the variations of the shark, and trophy hunt. Speaking of the trophy hunting, this was one of the easier Platinum trophies I had achieved as the majority of achievements are completed to advance the game anyway. The reasons I'm not giving this a higher rating are that once the game is completed and a Platinum trophy is easily achieved, there is very little replayability. You can of course go around as a shark eating all the humans, but it gets very repetitive after a short time and doesn't create the sense of desire to start again from scratch like classic games. The short nature of this game makes it feel like a visually and mechanically remaster of a PS2 era game, which isn't bad, but with the amount of potential this has and the current era of gaming we are in, it seems like it was pushed out. If DLC does get released, I will most definitely purchase, especially because I got this game for free.… Expand
  7. TheQuietGamer
    Jan 30, 2021
    9
    Ever since Steven Spielberg conquered theaters back in 1975 with the hit movie Jaws, the gaming scene has been in need of a good shark game. While there have been a handful of titles over the years that have let you take control of nature's most dangerous aquatic predator, some even bearing the "Jaws" moniker, none have really delivered on the full potential of the premise the way ManeaterEver since Steven Spielberg conquered theaters back in 1975 with the hit movie Jaws, the gaming scene has been in need of a good shark game. While there have been a handful of titles over the years that have let you take control of nature's most dangerous aquatic predator, some even bearing the "Jaws" moniker, none have really delivered on the full potential of the premise the way Maneater does.

    As you grow from vulnerable pup to unstoppable ocean terror you'll battle your way to the top of the underwater food chain by eating everything in your path to gain experience points and valuable nutrients that will allow you to level up and upgrade your various body parts and abilities respectively. The ultimate goal being to escape the backwater bayou you're tossed into, reach the open ocean, and take revenge on the shark hunter who killed your mother. The story itself plays out as a parody of reality shows like "Swamp People" and features an ever-present narrator played by Archer's Chris Parnell who regularly delivers amusing quips about whatever you're doing, making it clear that the game never takes itself too seriously.

    Things get over-the-top in best of ways as you can breach the water's surface to hunt humans on land and even mutate beyond what nature intended as a result of chemical pollution. This leads to a surprising amount of customization options for your shark that include things like bone armor and electrically charged fins.

    The core gameplay loop revolves around entering new areas and engaging in a little bit of population control of the local prey to draw out the region's apex predator for a boss battle before moving on. It's definitely a repetitive cycle, but it never got old for me as there's a constant sense of growth. Plus, exploring every beautiful environment for collectibles and side-objectives is a blast due to the amount of diversity in the scenery and Maneater having the best swimming mechanics of any game ever. Combat took a bit of getting used to due to the lack of a traditional lock-on system, but once I got the hang of darting around and realigning the camera to find my target I felt as powerful as one would hope to when inhabiting the body of massive bull shark.

    As far as flaws go, there aren't many. I did encounter pretty regular frame rate issues when swimming near the surface, particularly whenever boats were around, and one time I accidentally caused a boss to glitch out and not be able to fight back by knocking him from a larger body of water into a smaller one. All relatively minor things though that didn't really hinder my enjoyment, so I don't have much to complain about.

    In fact, Maneater is simply the shark power fantasy I've always wanted. Even after unlocking the relatively easy platinum trophy I still find myself wanting more of its cathartic thrills and the strangely serene feeling I got from just swimming around the map. This has led to what should of have been a stupid, B-movie level good time at most unironically being one of my favorite games of 2020, if not my personal GotY, and I highly recommend that everyone check it out for it's originality alone.

    9.2/10    … Expand
  8. RetroRekin
    Jan 29, 2021
    7
    This has similarities with Jaws: Unleashed (ps2) but this includes obvious improvements and a better upgrade system. This was good fun but a little short. The major drawback is it's total lack of replay value. No DLC and no multiplayer really make it limited. The trophies are also easy and getting platinum is no problem. It's a good laugh, but only worth buying at reduced sale price.
  9. Itregularity
    Jan 5, 2021
    10
    Excellent game albeit repetitive. Tremendous amount of fun though story is fine for what it is
  10. 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.
  11. 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
  12. CyberneticState
    Sep 29, 2020
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Maneater is one of the most fun and funniest game that I've played this year. Who though that playing bull shark who causes havoc and rampage would be so much fun? Its one of those games that you can just sit back and play casually since the game is not hard (it's only hard if you try to go up against a predator that is many levels higher than you when you're still a low level shark since this game is an rpg). Great gameplay and good graphics. Great sound design and great soundtrack.

    Some of the flaws with this game is that due to to the fact that you play as a shark, you are very limited with what you can do . You can bite, thrash prey, do a tail swipe, dodge attacks, and that's about it. Due to this, the game can get repetitive after a while, but fortunately, it doesn't overstay its welcome as the game is anywhere between 15-25 hours long. The story is just ok, nothing really special, you play as a female bull shark who has to get revenge on a hunter named Scaly Pete who killed her mother and disfigured her when she was just a pup and you do eventually get revenge at the end, but at the cost of her life.
    Another thing that I found disappointing with the game is the AI behavior of predator animals. In other open world games like Far Cry, you see predators attacking other NPCs. In this game, predator only attack you when you get too close to them and that's about all they do. They don't try to attack and eat other prey animals, other predators, or humans. Due to this, don't be surprised if you find yourself getting double or even triple teamed on by predators of different species, which is just stupid.
    The game also has issues with performance as the frame rate can drop to the low 20s on both PS4 and PS4 Pro during intense fights with shark hunters. The game has also crashed on me like 3 times during the 23 hours I spent playing it and it crashed when I obtained the platinum trophy.
    The asking price of $40 is a little too high IMO for the amount of content in the game. I waited for a price drop and its a good thing I did, I got it for only $30.

    All in all, Maneater is a solid 8/10 and maybe its not game of the year material, but it still is a very fun game that I recommend if you're looking for something that a bit different.    … Expand
  13. 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
  14. SIPPIO
    Jul 29, 2020
    5
    CONTROLS ARE AWFUL..
    Esp the annoying animations that lock you into a move or thrust..
    Jumping outta the water wshoulda woulda coulda been soo much more echo the Dolphin like better.. or a quicker animation where you aren't locked into the lunge... ~~Also,,you can spam dodge and that was kinda lame... ~The positives ~Being a shark ~Eating everything ~Layout/ui This reminds me of    CONTROLS ARE AWFUL..
    Esp the annoying animations that lock you into a move or thrust..
    Jumping outta the water wshoulda woulda coulda been soo much more echo the Dolphin like better.. or a quicker animation where you aren't locked into the lunge...
    ~~Also,,you can spam dodge and that was kinda lame...
    ~The positives
    ~Being a shark
    ~Eating everything
    ~Layout/ui
    This reminds me of the recent 'Vampyre" game..
    It was hyped into being something uber awesome & fun but wasw a on rails bore fest not worth even bothering etc...
    I didn't buy Maneater i gamefly rented it but wanted to buy if it we're awesome via the "Keep option".

    The game has promise but it coulda be so much more fun had the controls been tighter/crisp..
    Im going with a 3 because i made to 1 full session 6 hours long and couldnt takes no mores....    … Expand
  15. Sinister_Soup
    Jul 29, 2020
    8
    This game surprised me on how good it is, upgrade system is good, swimming around as a shark can be cool sometimes.
  16. GoodBloke
    Jul 28, 2020
    9
    Craps all over The Shambles that is TLOU2. Superior in every conceivable way.

    It is a lot of fun albeit a bit repetitive. It’s an ot game full of blood, guts and lunacy. A silly good time that doesn’t force any sanctimonious SJW crap down your throat.
  17. Dima_rus
    Jul 26, 2020
    9
    Good game, friends ....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  18. Jasoon76
    Jul 21, 2020
    7
    Game is easy to platinum and can be beaten in less then 15 hours. The game had some performance issues on the base ps4. Sometimes if you got going to fast the game would get super blurry and i would say a quarter of the time it would crash. I liked the shark week style story.
  19. JoelMart
    Jul 13, 2020
    8
    Simple but really fun game. I had a blast with it!
    It reminds me of a GTA but with sharks if it makes any sense xD
  20. Fl4kattack
    Jul 9, 2020
    8
    This game is genuinely great fun, a breath of fresh air compared to the last of us part 2 which really disappointed me. Maneater is a concept that shouldn't work but it just fits and provides hours of fun starting to restore my faith in the gaming industry.
  21. SomeoneWhoPlays
    Jul 2, 2020
    9
    Generally a really good game and a really fun gameplay.
    I would recommend it. I give it a 9/10
  22. Warpath75
    Jul 2, 2020
    10
    Storytelling so much better than some highly rated triple A game. Revenge story with quality
  23. Count_Willis
    Jul 1, 2020
    8
    The campaign was a bit silly, but exactly what you would've wanted from a game about playing as a giant shark. The $40 price tag plus a pre-existing love of sharks since i was very young made this an easy decision and delightful surprise. The game starts off with you setting up the revenge story as the antagonist kills our shark's mama, and marks the protagonist shark with a scar so he'llThe campaign was a bit silly, but exactly what you would've wanted from a game about playing as a giant shark. The $40 price tag plus a pre-existing love of sharks since i was very young made this an easy decision and delightful surprise. The game starts off with you setting up the revenge story as the antagonist kills our shark's mama, and marks the protagonist shark with a scar so he'll be able to identify the shark "When i see her again." The game then drops you into a bayou filled with catfish, turtles and groupers to feed on, as well as predatory muskellunge and very difficult to topple alligator. As your shark grows, you gain evolutions allowing you to do unnatural abilities for a shark, my favorite being a lightning evade where the shark literally turns into lightning and dodge incoming attacks.

    I felt this game delivered exactly what i wanted it to deliver when firing it up. Let me be a shark and do ridiculous shark things, whether thats infiltrating an orca enclosure at Water Park, or literally flopping up on land and attacking the humans who couldn't react quick enough. Chris Parnell was perfect for this, and the only thing wrong was that there wasn't enough of him. He definitely helped give this game a nature channel show vibe and the back and forth between Scaly Pete and the cameraman was very entertaining in the limited cutscenes. Another major plus was the Apex Predator fights, where your shark goes toe to toe with a variety of unique versions of the natural wildlife ( the orca had the Free Willy fin, which i found hilarious). These typically occurred when you cleared enough of the side quests in a given area to unlock the apex. I also really enjoyed the location hunting, which saw your shark biting street signs that immediately led to a very short scene of the location and a witty description from our narrator Chris Parnell. A fun example was "Longest First Date" which was a sunken rowboat with two skeletons that was not cleaned up due to jurisdiction issues between two areas police departments.

    As far as downsides go, I was unfortunately one of the folks who was affected by the corrupt save issues, finishing 2/3 game at 100% and then having your save corrupt was mind numbingly frustrating, but I felt as if I had enough game left to go to be able to jump back in. Credit to Tripwire, who were open to the issues and clearly outlined them as they fixed them. The campaign is not terrible long, and completing the entire game 100% only took me about 20 hours. (please note there are $60 games that don't have campaigns that long.)

    The camera was very wonky at times, and i wish the camera was easier to lock on opposing creatures and ships while in combat, but overall not game breaking. The missions did get a bit tedious, and honestly I'm not sure there are any sea turtles or seals left in the Caviar Key after all those population control missions.

    Overall, this was a blast. Tripwire absolutely nailed the feeling of being an oceanic god.

    Positives:
    - Just an absolute blast, expect a silly fun campaign and you will not be disappointed
    - Chris Parnell's narration
    - Tons of customizable ways to play your shark with the evolutions
    - Apex Predator fights

    Negatives:
    - SO. MANY. ALLIGATORS.
    - Wonky Camera
    - Corrupt save issues
    - Tedious side missions

    8/10    … Expand
  24. Joeldeserverdbe
    Jul 1, 2020
    10
    This game fills with awesome carnage and fills out the desire to play as a frickin shark and has become my favorite game 10/10
  25. lan19
    Jun 30, 2020
    10
    Stunning game, excellent storytelling that builds upon the unforgiving ocean. Top notch gameplay for its genre. Another masterpiece by Tripwire Interactive.
  26. VyzeTV
    Jun 30, 2020
    10
    Better than The Last of Us Part 2.
    This is the true game of this generation.
  27. Zeydlitz
    Jun 30, 2020
    9
    This is best GTA-clon ever, much better than stupid GTA5. It's allow shark to kill all humans and bit a whale. Well, its not perfect, but close.
  28. TEMPLES_TAKE
    Jun 28, 2020
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Let’s not beat around the bush here: sandboxes are everywhere. I mean cover yourself in glue and sprint into an EB games while blindfolded and you'll come out with at least one sandbox ( bonus points if it doesn't have a Ubisoft logo.) But the concept of an underwater open world, an "open sea world" if you will, is an avenue that hasn't had its fair shake; especially one where you can play as a one shark Sharknado. so for that reason, I played Maneater and in short: it's good for as long as the spectacle of chowing down on humans like sentient chicken nuggets last, but spoiler it doesn't stay exciting for 15 hours.

    You play as a baby bull shark that starts off eating small fish and avoiding alligators, till you eat enough to grow into a teen shark, to a great white and then into a megamouth megalodon with electric powered fins and stone-like armour. How does that work I hear you ask? Good question... no freaking clue. Game progress is somewhat world of warcraftie because missions consist of you eating 10 of something and for you to grow and become more efficient at eating more groups of 10. The game comes more into its own with its Apex Predator missions when you take on the great bosses of the sea. That’s where the game comes into its own and presents some satisfying challenge where you need to time your dodge and bite down at the right moment. But then I killed off the final predator that was a Sperm whale... (There’s a dirty joke in there somewhere), and all that is left are the shark hunters and they were about as challenging as devouring a bag of chips after the blunt you where smoking kicked in.

    You eventually have a boss fight... well, boss fights with the shark hunter who killed your mother, who by the way, a shark hunter I felt more sorry for than anything; yes he's a stereotype if there ever was one but he comes off pretty human for this game as we rip him apart limb from limb. Which brings me to the theme: it’s portrayed as a shark attack comedy, hence Jerry Smith's voice actor on commentary, but is it a comedy if it doesn't make you laugh? Because he's material doesn't even reach entry-level Dad joke territory. All he does is keep reminding me how much I eat every god damn minute…. YES I GET IT JERRY, IM A SHARK, ALL I DO IS EAT, I'VE ONLY BEEN DOING IT FOR THE LAST 10 HOURS!!!!

    I still found myself going back to Maneater because it was good for a relaxing collect-a-thon... there wasn't much else to do after I eat every bit of challenge the game had. but even as a mindless collect-a-thon, I've played better games that combined challenge with the joy of discovery. the maps were well thought out and I loved the work the developers put into the atmosphere, but even tracking down licence plates and radioactive treasure becomes trivial really quickly; in saying that, it didn't stop me from 100%ing the game and getting the platinum trophy because it was dangling in front of me like a chocolate sundae on a fishing line so I guess we will call it even Maneater.    … Expand
  29. carlos1x1
    Jun 28, 2020
    10
    çsajlodkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkogbosadfngbaosljudngbsdoingbaodsfighpoaujbgfnpoiusajdfghb
  30. Ty1991
    Jun 28, 2020
    10
    Thia game is awesome! Its the only one ive ever gotten platinum trophy becuz i just kept playing and playing
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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!
    Read full review
  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]
See all critic reviews »