Does anyone else remember Live from Daryl’s House?
To this day, I don’t think I ever ended up finishingManeater, but I’d still recommend it to anyone wanting a silly arcadey action diversion with RPG progression to keep you going. It’s been out for two years, and if you never got around to it, today’s your day to grabManeaterfor free from the Epic Games Store. The PC copy isup for grabsuntil June 16.
The game lets you conquer your oceanic fears — instead of a helpless human, you play the power-hungry shark who’s out for (well-justified!) revenge. Of course, you’ll start off as a weakling in the shallows before bulking up enough to face your fisherman rival as the apex predator. The game has a satirical story for those who need some rising stakes.
I would’ve been fine exclusively focusing on the “game”-ier elements: fighting other aquatic life, feeding, gaining mass, and evolving new abilities. I mean, I’m the sorta person who grew up on educational (?) stuff likeOdell Down Under. They had me at “shark game.”
Fun as it is to flop around on land as a massive shark, I didn’t necessarily care to chomp down on beach-goers, and I definitely liked the roaming hit-squad boats the least of anything inManeater. You may feel differently, though! This is asomewhat uneven gamewhen you rattle off nitpicks, but if you’re mostly after exploration, collectibles, and powering up your shark like I was, there’s fun to be had without too many unfun bits.
Next week’s free PC game,Supraland, will be claimable from June 16–23. I’ve been meaning to check it out! Inspired byZelda,Metroid, andPortal, it’s a first-person action-puzzle game that “assumes that you are intelligent and lets you play independently.”
