Screenshots & trailers
What players say
Why the number is what it is: aspect mentions counted across 300 sampled Steam reviews (258 positive / 42 negative), recent and most-helpful. Plain keyword counting, fully reproducible; nothing here is written by a machine.
What positive reviews talk about
- Story & writing11% mention it
- Bugs & crashes10% mention it
- Grind & repetition9% mention it
- Combat6% mention it
- Performance5% mention it
What negative reviews complain about
- Bugs & crashes55% mention it
- Performance21% mention it
- Grind & repetition14% mention it
- Story & writing10% mention it
- Visuals & art10% mention it
Satisfaction by hours played
Same score, different games: see how sentiment holds up the longer people play.
Under 5h
66%
41 reviews
5-15h
86%
146 reviews
15-40h
92%
106 reviews
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (OpenCritic) | – | 71 | 75 |
| Creator reviews (2 tracked) | – | 86 | 1 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 87% | 81 | 1000 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | – | 0 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 87% | 81 | 142 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 300 reviews sampled · 406 total reviews in window · weighted 214.1 up / 32.5 down · computed 2h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (157)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 65
“Maneater certainly gives players a different point-of-view on the action/RPG genre. Taking a shark from its violent beginnings to an inevitable battle for vengeance makes for a unique gaming journey. Unfortunately, its nice visuals and sly sense of humor aren't enough to break up the monotony of undersea survival.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Maneater isn't a game for everybody. Fans of Jaws and similar movies will enjoy an interesting and original adventure set in the ocean world and brutal, bloody fights with other predators and shark hunters. The game suffers from stereotypical quests and worse technical side.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“Great idea, mediocre execution. The combat system is too simple and quests are too repetitive, because of that even jumping out of the sea and eating people soon becomes boring.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“The game's campiness doesn't extend to the shark combat, which flounders as a result of it mostly hinging on button-mashing.”
read full review ↗ - 65
“Maneater is a shark RPG that took me to a beautiful underwater world where I could enjoy an action-packed and brutal shark brawl. The flipside of the game is the amount of minor bugs and a very weak story. Moreover, the price of the game definitely does not match the gameplay experience.”
read full review ↗ - 50
“Maneater may delight some with its appeal to the player's schadenfreude and the quirkiness of playing as a shark, but its simplicity and antiquated nature will leave many wishing for a game that was more evolved.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“Maneater is a great idea for a video game, a ridiculous shark revenge fantasy in an open world setting with plenty of humour injected through its unique narrative framing and the vocal talents of Chris Parnell. However, as much as terrorising beach goers and snatching hunters from the bows of their fishing boats is a pretty good time, and as much as we enjoyed watching our orphaned bull shark grow from helpless pup to apex predator, the whole thing is let down by poor combat and the very worst kind of busywork side quests. With a little more variety in missions and a few refinements made to combat, this could have been a killer action-RPG. As things stand, however, it's all a little toothless.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“The folks at Tripwire Interactive did make some visuals sacrifices to make Maneater run on the Nintendo Switch, but even so, it’s one of the finest examples of how you should handle a port. From accessibility to maintaining a good framerate. On top of that, it’s a fantastic open world game that doesn’t pad itself out and has a very clear design goal. Also, you get to be a shark! What more do you want?”
read full review ↗ - 75
“Maneater is a fantastic central concept around which an intermittently enjoyable game has been built. It might not be a classic, but it'll be hard to forget, and that's the kind of game that typically seems better as time goes by. Expect to see this absurd bit of bloody, barbaric business pop up on lists of cult favorites for years to come, and deservedly so.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Considering the largely uncharted waters (sorry) of the shark simulator genre, it is hard to fault Maneater for its flaws. On the other hand, open world design has been a staple of gaming for over a decade and it is a shame to see such repetitive quest design.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“Maneater is one of those rare titles that shows a lot of potential but ultimately just fails to deliver. The game is not "bad" per se, but it's not one I would be quick to recommend. As for the game as it stands right now, I would wait for a sale.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“If you’ve ever watched movies like the classic Jaws and found yourself vocally rooting for the shark, Maneater will likely be squarely in your wheelhouse...”
read full review ↗
Pure Nintendo
INDIANTVCZ
3DNews
Slant Magazine
Gaming Professors
Jump Dash Roll
Nintendo Life
Hu3br
Paste Magazine
Gamer Escape
Total Gaming Network
Nindie Spotlight…and 145 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- Maneater Truth Quest Hotfix 3 Is Now LiveDec 8, 2021
- Maneater: Truth Quest Update 1 Is Here To Make A SplashNov 17, 2021significant · resets scoring window
- Maneater: Truth Quest Hotfix 2 Is Now LiveOct 12, 2021
- Maneater: Truth Quest Hotfix Is Now LiveSep 23, 2021significant · resets scoring window
- Maneater Update Expected Next Week - Work In Progress ChanglogSep 16, 2021significant · resets scoring window
- Uncover the Mysteries of the Deep in Maneater: Truth Quest, Out NowAug 31, 2021significant · resets scoring window