Hírek

Maneater's reality show setup makes nature's greatest predator hilarious

P
Phil Hornshaw
2023. dec. 4.
For some games, presentation is everything. It's not just the art style or the gameplay that makes something fun, but a combination of elements that creates a one-of-a-kind experience. Maneater is like that—it's a game where you play as a shark, cruising the waters around a city's crowded beach, chomping on fish and humans alike. But everything about Maneater is elevated by its pitch-perfect presentation as a cable reality show about shark hunters, and how the monster shark gets its revenge on them.

The reality show framing means that no matter what you're doing, you've got an audience in the form of a documentary-style narrator who adds a little color and context to your rampage. Imagine having the voice of someone like David Attenborough constantly in your ear, providing fascinating tidbits about the marine world you're traversing; now imagine him calmly delivering those same facts and insights about the local shark-murdering residents as you snatch them off their boats and reduce them to chum.

The narrator—played by Rick and Morty actor Chris Parnell—is an inspired choice, constantly mixing what one assumes are actual shark facts with hilarious asides about the drunken denizens of the fictional Port Clovis, along with their idiotic exploits. Parnell's documentary tidbits include lines that detail a certain school of barracuda (which hang around "Trash Island, where they enjoy a steady diet of hypodermic needles and used pregnancy tests") or observe that shark hunting was prohibited in ancient Fiji ("but this is decidedly not ancient Fiji, there's way more liquor stores and payday lenders").
Maneater S Reality Show Setup Makes Nature S Greatest Predator Hilarious Beach
It's because of Parnell's narration and the inspired reality TV framing that I love Maneater. It's clear Tripwire Interactive studied TV shows in the genre—developers must have consumed a lot of episodes of shows like Swamp People and Deadliest Catch—and the result is a game that absolutely nails that specific vibe. Maneater is an excellent send-up of a kind of entertainment that purports to be informative but is actually more akin to junk food, and as someone who occasionally loses himself in a TV binge, I couldn't get enough of the gag.

The narration pairs beautifully with an open world in Port Clovis that is itself one big send-up of American life and culture. There's the patch of water where mobsters leave suspiciously shaped bags weighed down with cinder blocks. There's the Sea World knockoff where you can terrorize both the performing wildlife and the patrons who came to see them jump through hoops. And there are the landmarks that tell little stories, like the sunken fan boat with two skeletons aboard, one balancing a shotgun over his shoulder—which is unfortunately aimed right at the driver behind him.

Maneater might have worn out its welcome if it was just a game about snacking on hapless swimmers. But with a great presentation, it becomes much more than that: a funny, goofy experience that's a perfect infotainment parody.

Maneater is available on the Epic Games Store.