When you eat a human, they’ll disappear quickly and it doesn’t really feel properly brutal or cathartic, for a game called Maneater. The human NPC’s repeat frequently and scream last-gen in terms of their level of detail.
The early swampier levels feel muddy and uninspired, but once the game opens up and injects some colour and fun locations, it feels more inviting. Some of the bigger predators like sharks and orcas have bits of their bodies deteriorate as you bite them a gruesome but immersive effect. There isn’t a huge variety of underwater species, but they all animate well.
The coral areas are inviting and beautiful. Likewise, there is a gorgeous glowing effect when you dodge with a bioluminescent body. The shark looks great and animates well, and some of the evolutions look fantastic. However, it makes me wonder why they decided to bother including said material or setting the game in a location the writers only seem to have bile for. The game does give you the option to turn the narrator off, so you can avoid this aspect of Maneater. Perhaps that is the best way to enjoy the game. At the end, the narrator even says to not read into whether this game was about environmentalism - just enjoy watching the shark eating people. Then again, there are also jokes at the expense of libertarians and references to Michael Moore, so it was all sort of a muddle in terms of figuring out the game’s point of view. There seems to be a palpable anger towards not just oil companies and the rich - though that is in the game - but to vulnerable poor people as well and the American south at large. During another segment, the narrator explains the difference between a “hobo,” and his son, who is just a bum. There is a mission called “Hunting for Hobos,” where you have to go to an island and just kill the homeless. There are jokes making fun of alcoholics, “meth heads” and the homeless. The crosshairs are aimed multiple times at poor Americans. However, the writing is sub-par and at times surprisingly mean-spirited.
#MANEATER NARRATOR FULL#
There is a narrator that cracks jokes whenever you find hidden items - boxes full of powerups, license plates, and special location markers - or finish a mission, among other things. The cutscenes and gameplay are completely separate. I expected some of the gameplay to have you do things like perform stunts for the camera or encounter the camera crew or something silly, but there are no set pieces to be had in the game. The somewhat thin story is told from the lens of a cameraman shooting a reality show of the Cajun sharkhunters, but this doesn’t carry over to the gameplay. You start off in the swamps of the bayou, and later visit the canals of a luxury country club and golf course, a Caribbean hotel resort, and the depths of the Gulf Stream. The game is open-world, but has distinctly separated zones. The setting of Maneater is a crude collage of the American south and gulf stream resorts. Not your typical beach campfire drum circle.
0 kommentar(er)
