Maneater (Multi)
By: Deep Silver
APOLOGIES to Hall and Oates fans, but the maneater of this latest open-world actioner is of the finned variety – and it's about time. Despite making a killing at the box office, the humble shark has until now failed to ignite the imagination of videogame developers.
Jaws was the first flick to break $100 million at the box office, and even a string of god-awful sequels can't take the sheen off cinema's first bona fide blockbuster (though I admit to a soft spot for the utter cheese of Jaws 3D, if you have sweetie wrapper 3D specs).
On the gaming front, though, we've never had a proper shark sim – until now. In Jaws, Spielberg famously showed very little of his primordial star. In Maneater, it's all shark, all the way. Starting off as a baby shark (do-do-do-do-do-do) orphaned by hunter Scaly Pete, you'll spend the game exploring various waters, growing and evolving to exact your revenge.
A briny spin on the open world formula, players are given free reign across seven distinct underwater zones, fattening up on wildlife while completing various missions. Most of the time you'll be required to hunt specific creatures, though as your notoriety grows, so will the number of bounty hunters on your tail.
Presented like some cheesy reality show, the deadpan narration, tongue firmly in cheek, is from SNL alum and Rick and Morty voice artist Chris Parnell. And this irreverent tone permeates Maneater. The Mafia base area is full of dead snitches wearing concrete boots while side quests include the wonderfully named Hungry, Hungry for Hobos, where you fill your guts with tramp.
The shark has several attacks, including charging, leaping from the water to chow on hunters and whipping enemies with its tail, while you can evolve its abilities, equipping the gilled giant with everything from taser teeth to amphibious organs, allowing your bio-electric monstrosity to flop across beaches and boardwalks. And when you tire of the missions proper, Davy Jones' locker is stuffed with license plates, street signs and various pop culture ephemera to snaffle, each granting fearsome upgrades.
While the technically scrappy Maneater won't turn many heads – this is a game in which the majority of your time is spent looking at a fish's backside – there's plenty of variety in the environments. And, while there's no John Williams two-note tuba here, the soundtrack and narration are spot-on.
With much repetition in the missions, Maneater's simplistic Dorsal Kombat gets a bit long in the tooth, though its fresh, finned take on the open world formula finally does justice to one of cinema's most iconic creatures. And though far from educational, the developers do have an overriding admiration for its star.
Well worth dipping your toe for something a bit different.
