We've come to expect a certain caliber of game from Sony State of Play: high production value, high artistic value. The trailers ran the gamut from Wolverine to a major expansion for Ghost of Yotei to an extended look at Final Fantasy 7 Resonance. All of these games look serious and expensive and artistic. They're the types of games for us Serious Gamers (™) who play Serious Games (™). Even the surprise appearance of Double Fine's Keeper is a showcase of a beautiful and artistically ambitious game. That may be why seeing Maneater 2, an action-RPG where you play as an angry and vengeful shark, felt so refreshing.
The first Maneater was a silly concept that managed to squeeze out more depth than I expected. As a baby shark, you see your mother brutally killed by a reality-TV shark hunter named Scaly Pete, so you devote your whole shark life to growing bigger and stronger. It's an old-school revenge fantasy with a twist--that twist being that the entire game takes place underwater, because you're a shark.
So the game loop was simplistic but enjoyable: Chomp down on increasingly dangerous and larger predators to gain valuable proteins and fats and grow bigger, as well as occasionally find mutagenics that help you gain special super-shark abilities. By the end of the game, you're a hulking monstrosity of a mega-shark, with abilities like bone armor plating or bioelectric shocks. And the whole thing is presented with a lighthearted touch, thanks in part to a performance by the great Chris Parnell as the narrator of an exploitive shark reality show. No one does an authoritative comedy voice like Dr. Spaceman.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GLGzZHzzQEManeater 2 appears to understand what made the first one such a cult classic. According to the announcement from Tripwire, this one will take place at a five-star luxury resort called Neptune's Kingdom, giving you plenty of opportunities to chow down on hapless tourists. When the trailer shows your shark opening wide for an unlucky man exiting a waterslide, I cackled. That's exactly the dark humor I come to this series for. The shark is even seen wallrunning across a billboard. At this point I wouldn't be surprised to see him do a kickflip.
As you explore Neptune's Kingdom, you'll have to chomp your way through the underwater ecosystem before moving up to full-size human meals, and of course, we got a teaser for wild genetic modifications that will make your shark into an even more effective alpha predator. The announcement even teases an escape element, as once you're done wreaking havoc on the resort, you'll still need to get out somehow. And Chris Parnell reprises his role as the reality TV host, offering running commentary on your bloody misadventures.
I'm certainly not expecting high art from Maneater 2, but that contrast is what made it stand out in a State of Play crowded with the biggest budgets and meanest scowls. I want to play Wolverine and I love Ghost of Yotei and I'm excited about Final Fantasy 7 Resonance. But Maneater 2 offers a very different experience, and I can't wait to terrorize the humans again.