Tripwire’s Maneater - E3 2019 Impression

When we went to check out Maneater, it was in presentation form and we must say, the game looks crazy entertaining. The demo was something to see and we’d be more than happy to elaborate for you. At its core, Maneater is an open-world action RPG where you play as a shark. We were being shown the alpha build of the game and to be quite honest, they told us there could/may be some instances that the game will end or malfunction but we did not see that at all. The game played beautifully and we can’t wait to see the final product when it is ready.

While the game is an open-world RPG, you do have to follow a campaign in order to progress and finish the game so don’t get too sidetracked as it will just cost you time. The story-driven Maneater is shown/told through the TV lens of a reality show. This is because the shark, your character, doesn’t have a voice of his own, so the story is told through the narrator of a TV reality show who is also voiced by none other than, Chris Parnel! The narrator will be giving you facts throughout the game of why you are in a certain area to why you are being hunted if it so happens. The narrator will also be there to give you clues that are key to the story.

The type of shark you are playing as in the game is a Bull shark. Throughout the game, you need to look for some nutrients in order to survive so eating the wildlife nearby, including humans, is key to staying alive. These nutrients will help you to grow more than nature intended so make sure you eat and get big! The types of nutrients you can obtain are vitamins, proteins, and mutagen-x.

As you explore areas in the game, there may be some obstacles in your way. Well, there is nothing to fear as you can swim at high speeds in order to gain momentum and jump/leap high into the air to clear bridges or levies that may be in the way. This also allows you to leap from below and kill your prey in the most extravagant way possible. Not only are you athletic and nimble underwater, but you are also athletic and nimble above water! You can do a back flip for no reason, jump up onto boats and wiggle your way towards your prey for the kill, to even hoping onshore and again, wiggling your way towards the poor soul you’re about to eat...for nutrients, of course!

As you swim around areas, you may hear a ping sound that will indicate you are near a special item which you can obtain if you discover it. There are 10 “Landmarks”—the name of the discoverable areas—that you can find in the game, so find them all and get that trophy/achievement. There also other collectibles as well so make sure to find them because some of them have special perks. The setting for the game is a fictional world that closely resembles our own and you could say that some of the areas or cities that you will experience in the game may look familiar. There does seem to be some fast travel in the game unless we are mistaken for it to only be demo specific, but if that is the case, we are sorry…

The really cool thing about this game is that you, the Bull shark, are not the only predators in the waters so you have to look out for where you venture off to as you could run into these apex predators, especially if you are eating a lot of their food in their territory. The game features a full day and night cycle where the activities of the aquatic creatures and the land-based creatures change based on what time of day it is so some of these “nutrients” will not be available. This is why you should explore an area multiple times a day.

Apparently, being a shark and eating things in the ecosystem actually helps it so make sure to do your part and eat your share, alright! Small size boats are no match for you in the waters but there are some that are too big so you have to think about your approach if you want to attack humans who are on the. This goes back to us saying that you can wiggle your way onto a boat and commence your hunt but some of these folks can fight back. As a nice showcase for us, we were treated to a night hunt for German techno and found a boat party and then commenced to have fun by killing and preying on humans. The game is clearly a parody and is meant to be enjoyed to the fullest in the aspect of being a shark. Think Jaws and then imagine what it would be like to be Jaws!?

One of the main features of the game is that as you may be the hunter in the game, you can also be hunted as well. Bounty hunters come into play when you commit too many acts of killing and slaying in the waters and out of the waters, but have no fear. You are still able to hunt these bounty hunters and in doing so, you gain extra attributes in-game, thus, allowing you to gain more reputation and skills. If you are being hunted by a bounty hunter, you are able to slip away by either diving down into the deeps of the waters or to venture far away enough that you are not in their site.

You can be rewarded for each bounty hunter you kill but be warned that when you kill a bounty hunter, the difficulty level will increase each time you encounter another. So choose carefully when you want to encounter them or not, because they can also just suddenly appear and you have to face them and each one can have special weapons or devices to use against you. So here is the basic rundown, the more you kill the more they [bounty hunters] will come after you. Classic GTA concept that is something we all love and enjoy. The reality TV show that the game is based on is called Shark vs. Maneaters, and there is a bounty hunter named Scally Pete who has disfigured us as a baby shark and you want revenge. That is the basis of the game. You start out as a small shark that evolves into an adult shark and then eventually after eating a lot of nutrients, you evolve into a mega shark. There is a procedural system where everything you eat will eventually make you bigger and bigger until you hit your next life phase (an upgrade marker) and when that happens, you can open up an evolutionary chart that allows you to upgrade your body or skills.

These upgrades range from upgraded teeth, fins, speed, body armor, to mutated gills that allow you to breathe on land, etc. One of the concepts of the evolution upgrades you can have would be and bone body armor and teeth for the ultimate defense and offense. This will come in handy when you have to face the apex predators in each region that you will venture into. This is when you can also obtain special evolutions upon defeating these apex predators. So good luck! One of the biggest apex’s we saw was the huge Moby Dick looking creature.