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Parents' Guide to

Maneater

By Paul Semel, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 18+

This shark game is bloody good fun, but not for long.

Maneater Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

Community Reviews

age 12+

Based on 6 parent reviews

age 8+

some kids can play this game

i watch my son play this and he plays games like tom Clancy, Call of Duty and its a bit bloody but if your kids play that kind of game your kids can play man eater.
age 13+
Maneater is a Shark RPG that really should be rated T for Teen for Bloody violence including eating sea creatures and humans but it was like Jaws movie,a cutscene where a shark bites pete's hand and arm and blow off the boat to sacrifice himself to avoid getting bit by shark but the shark survives and mild language and crude humor.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (6 ):
Kids say (8 ):

While this "shARkPG" -- as the designers call it -- is both fun and funny, both wear a bit thin after a while. In Maneater, you're a baby bull shark who wants to get revenge on the human who killed your mommy. So you do what you can to get big and strong, which includes eating a ton of fish and other aquatic life, looking for lost license plates and other collectibles, and eating humans who are just innocently swimming along and not-so-innocently trying to kill you. All of which happens in the wide-open waters off New Orleans, while actor Chris Parnell (the guy who voices Jerry on Rick & Morty and Cyril on Archer), doles out interesting and often ridiculously untrue "facts" about sharks.

But while this is as much fun as it sounds, and Parnell's narration makes it just as funny, the good times don't last. For starters, the controls you use for the camera are wonky, even after you adjust them, which makes it hard sometimes to truly stalk your prey. This is especially problematic when you're young and you get into fights with alligators, who are annoyingly stronger than you. Switch players may find this to be a larger issue when they're using the Joycons, which aren't as precise as you need them to be when it comes to controlling your shark and the camera in the best way. (The Pro controller is almost required for solid gameplay) It also gets a bit redundant after a while (you can quickly become sick of eating catfish), while the lack of a map when you're swimming makes it hard to navigate the twisty waters. And no, having a glowing light in the sky doesn't help when the waterways are maze-like. None of which is to imply that Maneater isn't entertaining, because it is. But just like real fish, this doesn't stay fresh all that long.

Game Details

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