Maneater

A shark RPG that aims at more than just novelty.

If it were easy to make games about being a shark, I’d be able to name more than just Jaws Unleashed – a 2006 game Tripwire played as it figured out how to build its shark-based RPG. With the caveat that there isn’t much competition, Maneater may be the best shark action yet.

Fish don’t talk, which makes storytelling difficult. To solve that, Maneater is framed as a reality show akin to Deadliest Catch, with actor Chris Parnell narrating your movements in the water, explaining your shark nature as you swim around devouring hapless beach-goers.

You have a human nemesis, a shark hunter who’s the star of this reality show, as well as underwater enemies, apex predators who’ve muscled into your gulf territory. It’s time to restore some natural balance. Gobbling up fish is fun, but I felt the greatest catharsis from terrorising the humans. I only wish they freaked out more when I lunged onto their boats, or even when my fin appeared on the surface – they accepted their fates a little too easily.

Other issues make a shark RPG tricky to design. How does a shark level up, for instance? In Maneater, you literally grow, beginning as a nimble pup and ending the game as a behemoth capable of tearing apart fishing boats. And if it wasn’t clear that Maneater isn’t really a nature documentary, you can also upgrade your body, forming a bony exoskeleton to bash ships with, bioelectric talents, or some stealthy, vampiric traits.

BITING POINT

The controls take some getting used to, and it’s optimised for a controller right now, though it will support keyboard and mouse. Essentially, Tripwire has to design a melee dogfighting game. You move through three-dimensional space – at least until you breach the surface and start snapping at humans – and attack with bites and tail whips.

A degree of automatic locking-on makes it manageable. Aim nearish a fish, hit the right trigger, and you’ll lunge into a bite. Tapping the right trigger chomps and swallows, and you can also wiggle the right stick to thrash your prey around and pacify it first. Better, though, is going full Looney Tunes and smacking your catch with your tail to fire it like a projectile.

The quality of the tougher fights with apex predators and the coastguard – who appear as part of an armada that responds to your GTA-like infamy level – will determine if all the chomping and evolving is worth it, and Tripwire is confident that it’s more than a novelty shark sim. But just exploring Maneater’s seven regions while Chris Parnell tosses out gags seems like a good time, too, especially if you enjoy marinescapes as much as I do. TYLER WILDE