Maneater: Truth Quest review for PC, PS5/4, Xbox Series X/One, Switch

Many people feel gaming outlets grade with a singular voice, but the truth however is a tad more complicated. I enjoyed Tripwire?s shaRkPG a lot more than my colleague and when the title?s first DLC was announced on April 1st, I was skeptical if it was real. Nonetheless, the notion that a shark would unravel a secret government conspiracy was an intriguing one. So when presented with the opportunity I sought to open my eyes, while Matthew probably had better things to do.

Maneater: Truth Quest is only accessible after the base game?s main story has been completed, meaning purchasers of this dlc already know what they?re in for and they actively want this. Chris Parnell?s disembodied character Trip Westhaven makes his return in the DLC, after the abrupt cancellation of the show Maneater as the host of the conspiratorial podcast ?Truth Quest?. Somehow still following the female bull shark which caused the loss of his previous job, Trip reveals that the waters near Port Clovis hides a government base known as ?Site P? and pardon the pun…something fishy is going on.

Truth Quest?s main addition is the inclusion of Plover Island, a sizable region which is around 3/4 of the original Port Clovis area. Plover Island however is visually underwhelming compared to Port Clovis given it?s whole theme is ?secret government facilities?. The area houses sights such as an ominous mountain stronghold (which will never be visited..cause you?re a shark), a large holding tank (which does play into the DLC?s story), and various land masses holding your usual assortment of known..but not known fictional machinery (HAARP weather manipulation devices, etc?). Given that the area is a government facility, the only aquatic vehicles are the non-pedestrian, ready to make shark fin soup out of you at the slightest sign of aggression.

Your investigation of the mystery of Site P will have you embarking on a new mission type, the time trial. Yes, you will spend a lot of your time going from point a to b, but making sure that you swim through specific rings otherwise the trail will get cold. While the game’s controls are good enough that these missions will not invoke memories of Superman 64, a lot of these time trials will include rings that are in the air, forcing you to breach to clear them. Unfortunately many a time trials were failed because of a poor jump. The playing field was also leveled on the evolutionary front as Plover Island?s predators exhibit the same mutation your shark is privy to, as you will see sharks, whales which acquired the bio-electric, bone and shadow properties that you enjoy. These properties don?t really make a drastic difference in how these newly evolved predators will fight as they will still just charge and bite when given a chance.

Your shark will acquire a mutation which is exclusive to it and that is the Atomic Blast. While not quite like Godzilla?s fiery breath, your shark?s atomic blast is akin to the multi-missile barrage seen in mecha anime, helpful for reaching targets out of your watery reach. This DLC definitely encourages its use as the amount of targets which can be destroyed only by projectiles increased when compared to the base game.

Your shark?s level cap also increases from 30 to 40, with the only significant milestone being level 35 (that level grants you an extra organ slot). Your options of organs also increase by 5 with the most useful being the Tail Catapult and Healing Factor. The former given this dlc?s emphasis on projectiles, and the latter given some encounters will have you fighting in areas with a less dense population of wild life for you to eat and recover health. These organs will be earned by taking down the area?s 5 bounty hunters, given the waters they reside in are tougher than many of the bounty hunters faced in the base game.

Port Clovis also gets some love in the DLC even though a majority of the action takes place in Plover Island. Time trials, new hunts, new revenge missions (those weird missions where you need to flop on land eating people) and most regions will offer a ?tin foil hat man? for you to find and devour for a reward of nutrients that can be used to evolve your shark.

Overall I had a fun ten or so hours uncovering the ?truth?, the DLC?s final encounter was an adequate challenge that had me at the edge of my seat. Although what slightly mars my experience was the several Unreal Engine crashes I experienced during gameplay and one of these crashes actually created a soft lock which I cannot recover because of my reliance on the game?s auto save system. So while my Truth Quest Progress will never reach 100%, I can only hope other players will not have completion slip from their grasp. At the price of $14.99, Maneater: Truth Quest is a good extension to the Maneater experience and for those inclined…it?s out there.

Deep Silver provided us with a Maneater: Troth Quest PC code for review purposes.