Tripwire Interactive’s open world action RPG Maneater might not have been the biggest or most high profile release of 2020, but it was definitely one of the most enjoyable games of last year- which isn’t surprising, given the fact that it lets you play as a shark and chomp away on humans (and other sharks) to your heart’s content. Since its launch, it’s also been brought over to next-gen systems, but a Switch version, which had actually been confirmed long, long before that, has been stuck in a limbo of sorts. Well, until now, at least.

Tripwire Interactive and publisher Deep Silver have confirmed that Maneater will finally be releasing for the Nintendo Switch on May 25, just a little over a couple of months from now. Details haven’t been confirmed on things such as resolution and frame rate, but those will probably arrive in the coming weeks.

Maneater is currently available for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Tripwire Interactive have also confirmed that they’re working on DLC for the game. In the meantime, be sure to check out our review of the base game through here.

Tripwire Interactive’s Maneater is a strange title – it’s either a game that released in 2020 or the best game of 2020 depending on who you ask. Memes aside though, the developer is keen on continuing to support it. In an official AMA on Reddit, art director Sean McBride confirmed that DLC for the SharkPG was in the works.

“DLC has been confirmed! The team has been working on it for a while now. Hoping to share more information very soon.” What the DLC could offer remains to be seen but Tripwire has been quite consistent with post-launch support for its titles. Killing Floor 2 continues to receives substantial new content updates since releasing in 2016.

Maneater is currently available for Xbox One, PS4, PC, Xbox Series X/S and PS5. It released for current-gen consoles back in November and offered support for 4K/60 FPS along with ray-tracing and other improvements. PlayStation Plus subscribers can currently claim the game for free on PS5. It’s also slated to release for Nintendo Switch later this year but no release window has been provided.

Well, here we are. The end of 2020 is upon us, and 2021 is about to be fresh and ready to go. It’s hard to say where the world goes from here considering everything that’s going on, but one thing to depend on is the slate of free games you can get from the various subscription services in gaming nowadays. We now know how PS Plus will start the new year, and it’s not too shabby.

Sony has created a nice and diverse slate of title to help kick off the new year. On PS4 (and also playable on PS5, of course) is the Bioware-styled RPG from Spiders, Greedfall, and then the final entry in the reboot trilogy of Lara Croft, Shadow of the Tomb Raider. You’ll also be able to get Maneater, the pseudo-open world title where you’re a shark terrorizing the open seas. That, however, will only be playable for PS5 owners, though all PS Plus users will be able to add it to their library.

All three titles will be available to redeem for PS Plus subscribers starting January 5th and will be live for an entire month until February 5th.

Tripwire Interactive that their open world action RPG, Maneater, which launched earlier this year, will be getting a dedicated next-gen release and launch alongside the upcoming consoles as a launch title. However, if you’re a PlayStation player, there’s some bad news for you. 

Though free upgrades from the game’s PS4 version to its PS5 version will be supported, Tripwire Interactive have confirmed in an FAQ that progression – including stats, save data, and Trophies – won’t carry over from PS4 to PS5. Cross-gen progression will still be supported across Xbox consoles- so why the difference? The developer explains that Maneater is the same application on both Xbox One and Xbox Series X / S, which is not the case on PS4 and PS5. 

Maneater joins a list of multiple other games that won’t support PS4 to PS5 save transfer. The same has also been confirmed for Yakuza: Like a Dragon and DiRT 5.

Maneater will release for Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S on November 10 and for PS5 on November 12.

Blindside Interactive and Tripwire Interactive released their open world action RPG (or ShaRkPG, as they like to call it) Maneater earlier this year, being generally met with solid reception from critics and audiences alike. Now they’ve announced that the game will be receiving an upgraded next-gen release, and that it will be available for Xbox Series X / S and PS5 at their respective launches on November 10 and November 12 respectively.

On PS5 and Xbox Series X / S, Maneater will feature 4K support (presumably that won’t be available on the Series S), ray-tracing support, new lighting effects, and improved performance at 60 frames per second. You can also expect all of these improvements to come to the game’s PC version some time in 2021 via a free update.

Additionally, it’s also been confirmed that if you have Maneater on PS4 or Xbox One, you will be able to upgrade to the game’s PS5 or Xbox Series X / S version (respectively) for free.

“The Tripwire team has been overwhelmed by the great reception Maneater received since it launched earlier this year, and we can’t wait for players to experience the thrill of playing as a deadly shark in all of her powerful glory on next-gen consoles,” said Tripwire Interactive CEO John Gibson. “With next-gen Maneater has never looked better with amazing ray traced water and smooth 4k 60 frames per second gameplay, but the adventures won’t stop there, as fans can expect even more exciting news about the future of Maneater soon.”

Maneater is currently available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. A Nintendo Switch version is also in the works, but has no set release date. You can read our review of the game through here.

GFK has released the data for boxed video game sale in the UK across the previous week (via Nintendo Life), and Nintendo’s Animal Crossing: New Horizons has remained in the top spot, where it was last week as well. And it’s not the only Nintendo Switch exclusive to perform well. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has seen a significant boost in sales, jumping from fifth place to the second spot, outselling Call of Duty: Modern Warfare in third place.

There are a couple of debutants in the top 10 this week. Open world “shaRkPG” Maneater chomps its way to a decent debut, taking the sixth spot. It is followed in seventh place by Saints Row: The Third Remastered. The rest of the top 10 is dominated by games we’ve come to expect featuring in this list every week, including the likes of perennial seller Grand Theft Auto 5, FIFA 20, Luigi’s Mansion 3, and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.

You can check out the full top 10 for the week ending May 23 below.

1. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
2. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
3. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
4. Grand Theft Auto 5
5. FIFA 20
6. Maneater
7. Saints Row: The Third Remastered
8. Minecraft
9. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
10. Luigi’s Mansion 3

Maneater starts off with your typical tutorial sequence. You play as an adult shark and learn some of the core moves in your fishy arsenal such as lunging, tail whipping, and more. But the tutorial suddenly takes an interesting turn at the end of it when you’re caught and subsequently killed by the game’s main antagonist Scaly Pete. You then find out that the shark you were controlling for the game’s tutorial was actually your (the protagonist) mother when Scaly Pete slices you out of her womb before you’re able to escape his clutches while taking his right arm with you in the process. You then begin your journey of survival, literal growth, and eventual revenge.

"It’s an idea that initially seems quite dumb, but in spite of its premise, Maneater surprisingly turned out to be a lot more than what I had expected, and in spite of a few shortcomings, is a pretty decent take on the brand of open-world action-adventure genre that GTA has created."

In spite of its seemingly tragic introduction, Maneater is actually pretty comedic, from its bright and colorful visuals to its absurd story and humorous characters. The game’s light tone is further emphasized by the game’s narrator, voiced by Chris Parnell of Archer and Rick and Morty fame, who regularly comments on your activities and spouts amusingly delivered shark “factoids” mixed in with a lot of pop-culture references. Parnell does an incredible job at making the game feel more engaging and makes the entire journey all the more enjoyable.

The game is divided into several areas that you are freely able to move between, allowing you to go back and complete quests or retrieve collectibles you may have missed. In fact, some of the game’s side quests actually require you to go back for them later on as the enemies you have to defeat to complete them are too strong for you at the time you’re given the quest. If you’re not too keen on swimming all the way back to previous areas, the game expectedly provides fast travel to each of the grottos you’ve unlocked. Grottos act as your base of operations where you’re able to not only equip the myriad of mutations you’ve unlocked but also upgrade them to improve their effectiveness.

To unlock mutations, the game tasks you with either killing specific powerful sea creatures called apex predators, killing named human hunters, or collecting all the landmarks in each of the game’s areas. Upgrading each mutation requires resources you obtain by either killing sea creatures and humans or through the boxes you find and open around the map. The game’s roster of mutations is pretty interesting, and it allows you to mix and match them depending on your playstyle. There’s the bone mutation set that basically turn you into a battering ram, the bioelectric set that lets you shock and stun enemies as you bite them, one mutation allows you to stay out of the water for longer periods of time, and one that lets you regain more health from eating things, to name a few.

"In spite of its seemingly tragic introduction, Maneater is actually pretty comedic, from its bright and colorful visuals to its absurd story and humorous characters."

While you’ll easily be able to chomp on most of the game’s sea life, from catfish to seals and more, you’ll also have to battle with some of the more aggressive species in the game. And underwater combat in Maneater is actually surprisingly interesting as it requires you to do more than just blindly spam your bite attack. You’ll need to learn how to not only properly move in the water but also to time your attacks, so you don’t end up biting at nothing while leaving yourself open to attack. You’ll also need to learn how to dodge enemy attacks to avoid ending up as fish food yourself. Fortunately, the game allows you to fall back and chomp on nearby prey to regain some health before jumping back into the fray.

This makes the journey from being a small pup to a mega shark quite satisfying as you increase in size and creatures that were previously too large for you to fight become easy prey when you become ten times larger than you were. Engaging sea creatures smaller than you gives you the ability to hold them in your jaws and thrash them about for more damage. You also have the ability to tail whip sea creators to stun them, allowing you to really chomp down on them for a short period of time.

While hunting human civilians is quite easy apart from having to jump onto land and grab a few before you suffocate, killing humans does induce the game’s own Wanted mechanic. So after killing a certain number of humans, hunters begin to show up in droves until you hide and they eventually give up. But unlike GTA’s star system, the infamy level in Maneater is persistent so hunters will increasingly become more numerous and difficult to deal with as you kill more humans in the game. It is quite nice that even when you face the game’s more equipped human hunters, you’re still able to simply jump onto their boat, grab them by your jaws, and drag them into the water to become fish food, as it should be.

"It is quite nice that even when you face the game’s more equipped human hunters, you’re still able to simply jump onto their boat, grab them by your jaws, and drag them into the water to become fish food, as it should be."

It’s disappointing though that the game’s elements don’t really interact with each other. Aggressive sea creatures don’t attack each other or smaller non-aggressive ones, sharks don’t attack humans, and human hunters don’t attack other sharks, just to name a few. It would’ve been nice to have sea creatures and humans interact with each and their own as it would help make the game’s world feel more alive.

The game also does start to feel repetitive after a while as the variety of things to do doesn’t really increase as the game goes on. You’re either tasked with killing a certain number of humans or sea creatures, set to hunt a specific sea creature or apex predator, or finding all of a map’s collectibles. Luckily, the apex predator battles do provide a bit of a challenge, especially in the early stages of the game, and help break up some of the tediousness. Searching for collectibles also gives you something else to do than simply chomping on living things. It also allows you to appreciate each of the game’s different areas, which are all impressively designed and made quite unique from each other, with some featuring a number of discoverable areas including underwater tunnels and passageways.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 4.

SETUP

Meaneater sees players stepping into the shoes (fins?) of a young bull shark, who was injured and disfigured in an accident that also saw its mother getting killed by a man called Scaly Pete, a notorious shark hunter. Fuelled by a lust for revenge, the shark sets off on a quest to grow and evolve to the point where it can square off against Scaly Pete, and its antics catch the attention of a reality TV show called “Sharkhunters vs Maneaters”. Interestingly enough, Maneater’s story is presented through the lens of said TV show.

OPEN WORLD

One of the most interesting things about Maneater is that it’s going to be set in an open world environment, which means players are going to have the freedom to wreak havoc as a shark (more on that in a bit) as and when they want. The wold itself will be divided into a total of seven unique environments, each of which will have its own unique biome and will be freely explorable.

ENVIRONMENTS

So what can players expect out of each environment? Maneater is promising a fair amount of environmental diversity. From open oceans to swampy bayous to polluted waters of industrial areas to resort beaches, docks, golf courses and much more, players will be visiting a variety of unique locations in the game.

EXPLORATION

Maneater’s open world exploration will also be structured in interesting ways. Being an open world game, it will, of course, give you the freedom to mess about in its sandbox (waterbox?), but the developers have also suggested that there will be some metroidvania-esque gating elements. You might run into roadblocks blocking off optional areas in the world, and if you want, you’ll be able to seek out optional caves and areas in the game or take on activities to progress your shark to be able to get past those roadblocks.

COMBAT

Combat in Maneater promises to be interesting. According to the developers, players will have to pay attention to enemies’ attack patterns and choose their own attacks and movements accordingly. Combat will include several basic attacks, such as charging into foes, using the shark’s tail, or siloing out of the water, while players will also be able to use environmental elements to their benefit, such as using swordfish as makeshift spears.

WREAKING HAVOC

Of course, as a shark, you will also be able to make life miserable for humans, which is kind of the main draw of Maneater. This will range from activities like straight up eating humans and terrorizing them with your antics to being a pain by destroying yachts, docks, and jet skis, and so on.

NOTORIETY

Maneater also makes use of a wanted level system of sorts. While you will, of course, be able to wreak havoc along the coast, by doing so, you will also become more notorious, and as your notoriety increases, more bounty hunters and enemies like the Coast Guard will start becoming more aware of you.

Oh, and speaking of bounty hunters…

BOUNTY HUNTERS

After you’ve hit a certain level of notoriety, more high level bounty hunters will begin tracking you down- but two can play at that game, of course. If you wish, you can track down and kill these special bounty hunters yourself. There are ten main named bounty hunters in Maneater, and killing them will yield unique rewards, so seek them out if you want to grow into a veritable killing machine.

APEX PREDATORS

Humans won’t be the only threat in Maneater. Other than human enemies, players will also be able to fight against other aquatic wildlife, which will include giant squids, killer whales, other sharks, alligators, and more. Interestingly enough, each open world section will also have its own apex predator, which players will be able to take on in boss fights after consuming a certain number of other wildlife creatures in that specific region.

ATTRIBUTES

Maneater is, as we’ve mentioned, an action RPG- so what exactly are the RPG mechanics players will be engaging with? Well, there’s quite a few of those. For starters, the shark will have five attributes in total – ferocity, perception, endurance, vitality, and agility – with each attribute affects different aspects of gameplay, and players will be choosing which ones to invest in. Attributes, however, will also play into other upgrades that defines how the shark evolves, which brings us to our next point…

EVOLUTION

Upgrading shark the evolutions is going to be an important part of progression on Maneater, for which the shark will have to feed on other aquatic wildlife to get nutrients and rare mutagenics. Earning more nutrients allows the shark to unlock more upgrades, grown in size, and in turn, equip more upgrades. These upgrades can include things such as a tail whip attack, a bite attack that inflicts bleeding wounds, electromagnetic spikes, external bone plates, and more. Additionally, which attributes you have invested in will also determine which upgrades you can unlock, so it definitely seems like there will be a lot of decisions involved in how you want your shark to progress.

NO SURVIVAL MECHANICS

Though chomping on other wildlife and humans will of course be a central mechanic in Maneater, you haven’t have to worry about any survival mechanics that present hunger requirements or anything of the like. The developers have made it clear that there are no hunger mechanics at play, so while eating other wildlife to earn nutrients will be required at time for progression, you won’t have to do so to simply stay alive.

NO PERMADEATH

Something else that the developers have confirmed will not be featured in Maneater is a permadeath mechanic. During an interview with Wccftech, Tripwire Interactive CEO  John Gibson said that though that was something the developers toyed with early in development, they ultimately didn’t feel it suited the game’s structure. Given Maneater’s focus on an open world structure and longform progression mechanics, that makes a lot of sense.

XBOX ONE X AND PS4 PRO ENHANCEMENTS

Like most games that are released these days, Maneater will be leveraging the more powerful hardware of the PS4 Pro and the Xbox One X to deliver enhanced visuals. While the developers have not yet confirmed all the specifics of what these enhancements will be, one thing that has been confirmed is that it will run at a 4K resolution on both consoles.

Development

Led by Alex Quick, Maneater started out as an expansion to the game Depth, which saw players taking control of either sharks or divers as the two squared off against one another. The project never made it to the finish line, but Depth’s development team eventually splintered off, and with Blindside Interactive, evolved into a full-fledged game. Tripwire Interactive published and partially funded the game, while Deep Silver published its retail release.

Meaneater was first officially announced in June 2018, followed promptly by a reveal trailer at the PC Gaming Show at E3 2018. Though initially planned as a 2019 title, the game’s final release date was eventually announced as May 22, 2020 for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC. A Nintendo Switch version is also in development, but does not have a firm release date. It was confirmed that on PC, Maneater would release as a timed exclusive (for a one year period) for the Epic Games Store.

Maneater draws inspiration from various games, including Jaws Unleashed, with its action role playing game mechanics in particular taking inspiration from the likes of Deus Ex and Dishonored. The developers have said that game’s open world setting is inspired by games like Far Cry and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, while they’ve also mentioned that its combat bears similarities to titles such as Punch Out and Dark Souls, in that it requires players to learn the attack patterns of enemies and base their own attacks on that knowledge.

The developers have said that they want to maintain a tone for the game that establishes it doesn’t aim for realism, and want the game to have humour and wit, which is reflected in the lines recorded by Chris Parnell in the role of the narrator. Parnell has recorded both, scripted lines for specific cutscenes and narrative moments, and lines that are dynamically triggered by the player’s actions as the shark. To ensure that there isn’t too much repetition in the spoken dialogue, the developers have recorded multiple possible lines that can be spoken for various actions. For instance, there are over 90 different lines that the narrator can say in situations where the shark eats a human.

It was confirmed that Maneater carries over several things from Depth. Mechanics for movement and combat underwater were carried over from that game.

The developers have also confirmed that the game will feature enhancements on the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X.

Story

Players play as a young bull shark who was injured and disfigured in an accident that also saw its mother getting killed by notorious shark Hunter Scaly Pete. The shark embarks on a quest to grow and evolve in search of revenge against the hunter, and its exploits catch the attention of a reality TV show called “Sharkhunters vs Maneaters”. The game’s story is presented through the lens of the TV show, with the narrator of the show also being the game’s narrator (voiced by Chris Parnell).

Gameplay

Maneater takes place in an open world setting. The open world is divided into seven different sections, each with its own unique environment that is fully and freely explorable (though there are some optional areas that require players to have unlocked certain abilities to proceed). Environments include golf courses, resort beaches, the open ocean, industrial docks, bayous, and more. The open world also has a day and night cycle. Each open world section also requires players to get to a certain level of notoriety with humans and bounty hunters before being allowed to proceed to the next area.

Combat includes several basic attacks, such as charging into foes, using the shark’s tail, or siloing out of the water, while the environment can also be used in combat, such as using swordfish and spears. Players can engage in combat against various other wildlife, such as giant squids, killer whales, other sharks, alligators, and more, or against humans, including fishermen, the Coast Guard, or bounty hunters. Each open world section also has its own apex predator, which players can take on in boss fights after consuming a certain number of other wildlife creatures in that specific region.

The shark gains notoriety by wreaking havoc in the open world, which includes activities such as eating humans, destroying yachts, docks, and jet skis, and so on. As the shark’s notoriety increases, more bounty hunters become aware of it and start hunting it. Killing the ten main bounty hunters – which are named characters – leads to unique rewards.

Maneater places a large emphasis on progression. One of the most important progression mechanics requires players to put points into attributes, with there being five attributes in total- ferocity, perception, endurance, vitality, and agility. Each attribute affects different aspects of gameplay, and can also contribute to other upgrades players can make.

Players can also upgrade their shark through evolution, for which they have to feed on other aquatic wildlife to get nutrients and rare mutagenics. A limited number of upgrades can be equipped at a time, and earning more nutrients allows players to unlock more upgrades – such as a tail whip with area of effect damage or a bite attack that inflicts bleeding wounds – and grow in size. As the shark grows larger, it can unlock more advanced upgrades, such as electromagnetic spikes or external bone plates. Which attributes players have invested in also determines which upgrades can be unlocked.

Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game.