Maneater

Turning the usual “human hunts animal” expectation on its head, Maneater is much more than a simple shark simulator, and provides an fun open world RPG that you can really sink your teeth into.

Maneater was worth the wait on Nintendo Switch. It's not a perfect game, but it's a hell of a lot of fun. It's the murderous Ecco the Dolphin I didn't realize I always needed. If you're a stickler for graphics, you might prefer playing it on another console. But for playing a hungry shark on the run, there's nothing better. Here's hoping this isn't the last we see from Tripwire in this delightfully demented new IP.

Maneater is still one of a kind experience and if this is the only way to play it I think this is a really well done port that deserves the $40 price tag; just note that the Switch version doesn’t appear to be getting the DLC that other platforms will be getting later this year.

Maneater is a fresh, wild and fun proposal that puts us in the shoes of a shark to develop its life and revenge. The beauty of its seabed and an interesting proposal can attract many players who don't mind the little variety in its missions and its improvable controls.

This is a game that I could not put down when I originally played it on PlayStation, and I’ve enjoyed re-experiencing it on the Switch, despite the dip in visuals. If you have the means of playing Maneater on an Xbox or PlayStation, that would be my recommendation. If not, then the Switch is a competent port that will give you the same overall experience. Regardless, Maneater is friggin’ jawesome – don’t miss out.

Maneater on Nintendo Switch is still the same silly, irreverent offering it is on the other platforms, but it doesn't look quite as pretty and there's nothing to shout about here if you've already played it.

It may not tackle deep, meaningful themes, but Maneater is a great way to shut one’s brain off and chill on the couch for a couple of hours with a simple (but satisfying) power fantasy. This fantasy just so happens to involve a shark who can attack sunbathers by dropping in them from twenty feet in the air…

Maneater is a decent open-world Shark game. It's fun slicing through the water as a shark. The Switch version holds up, although it doesn't fix the repetitiveness of the game. If you want a game where you can just swim around an open world without thinking too much, Maneater will give you something to sink your teeth into and thrash the life out of it for ten hours or so. Also still got the song stuck in my head in case you were wondering, I hope it’s in yours too.

Maneater is a ridiculous, fun title that should be applauded for its ambition of making a viable action RPG starring a shark. The snarky narration provided by Chris Parnell helps cement the tongue-in-cheek nature while the gameplay reminds us why a shark is a good choice for a game that focuses on a violent force of nature. The repetitive nature, lack of variety and sometimes wonky camera hold Maneater back from being a true Apex RPG, but even with its limitations Maneater is a fun and unique game that should be experienced by action RPG fans who want something unconventional on Switch.

Maneater is the equivalent of a satisfying popcorn flick. It promises all the gameplay one would imagine when assuming the role of a killer mutant shark. Thrashing helpless victims and dominating other vicious predators still make for a ridiculously entertaining adventure. Even acknowledging the graphical inferiorities, the foundation of Maneater’s gameplay is enjoyable enough for it to still be a pretty solid experience. If you are concerned about testing the waters on this deep-sea Switch port, don’t worry, there’s a lot of massacring mayhem to be had.

Maneater, for all its flaws, is still unbelievably fun. Just having a game that lets you munch your way through the water as a rugged, vicious shark is wonderful. That being said, the monotonous gameplay can sometimes grate (although less so on a handheld console), and the visual downgrade is noticeable, though not egregious. All in all, it is still great fun, even if the issues of the original still persist.

Maneater certainly gives players a different point-of-view on the action/RPG genre. Taking a shark from its violent beginnings to an inevitable battle for vengeance makes for a unique gaming journey. Unfortunately, its nice visuals and sly sense of humor aren’t enough to break up the monotony of undersea survival.

It’s interesting and unique enough of a concept with some gameplay elements that keep it from being just a straightforward game or a straight-up simulator. It’s polished in some regards but rather empty in others—fun for a while, but ultimately, not the most captivating thing on the market.

There are memorable moments, but you'll have to wade through myriad problems and poor design decisions in order to chomp into the meat of Maneater. [Issue #55 – October 2021, p. 21]

With a vast game world, full of points of interest, varied missions and a fun, comical plot, Maneater's flaws mostly derive from its performance mishaps, namely a less stable framerate when there's plenty going on in the screen, and a feeling of repetitiveness in the mid-term. Nonetheless, this is a fun game to explore, which fits the Nintendo Switch perfectly.

Maneater is far from the fin-tastic open-world RPG we all want it to be, but when treated as the goofy shark simulator that it is there’s a lot of fun and laughs to be had. The ocean is your playground.

Maneater is a grisly, carnage-fuelled experience, though the Switch port exhibits some rough edges, many of which dampen the fun.

The reality TV-style presentation remains a highlight, but the actual gameplay bits get repetitive. A shame, as this Switch port is excellent from a technical standpoint.

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.

Maneater is a solid fit for the Nintendo Switch, but porting this ocean-faring adventure onto Nintendo's handheld/console hybrid after a year of availability does take away a lot of the luster.

While it's always impressive to play a fully-fledged open-world adventure on the go on Switch, Maneater is at its best played elsewhere. With a limited view underwater and reduced visual fidelity, the already repetitive game goes from just above mediocre to downright bad in spots, especially when the sacrifices to port it onto Switch affect the player's ability to navigate the world. Anyone who owns only a Switch and feels compelled to play through an RPG as a highly customizable shark will still find some fun here, but it's a lesser experience for a game that's already coasting on a great gimmick and not much else.

While Maneater isn’t the best RPG or action title I’ve ever played, it very well could be the best shark game I’ve ever encountered. Smooth controls, collectibles and exploration, and top-notch animations make ruling the water as a great white shark all the better, but a middling, campy story with monotonous gameplay and light RPG mechanics sink this otherwise visceral shark-action title.

Most of the time, though, Maneater feels like a game where they spent all their creativity coming up with the premise. Don’t get me wrong: it’s a wonderfully goofy premise, and the fact I keep giving this game so many chances shows how easy it is to love. The unfortunate truth, though, is that no matter how much fun the idea of being an unstoppable killer shark may be, the reality — at least in Maneater — leaves a lot to be desired.

It’s clear that the developers at TripWire put sincere effort into the presentation and mood of Maneater, and far be it from me to dictate how they make games, but I can’t help feeling like the gameplay should’ve been a higher priority. The failures of Maneater are most heartbreaking to me because it’s so clear that the developers were in love with this premise. The tone here is pitch-perfect, but the realities of being a shark are pretty miserable.