Say what you will about how the Epic Games Store compares to Steam, but it’s hard to beat getting a new free game to play every week. Last week Epic Games gave us Wolfenstein: The New Order, but if you need a break from story-focused first person shooters, get ready for a breath of fresh air. The open-world survival game Maneater (opens in new tab) is available to download for free on the Epic Games Store this week. If you add it to your collection, you own it permanently, and can play it whenever you want. First things first: to get Maneater from the Epic Games Store, all you have to do is visit the Epic Games Store Free Games page (opens in new tab). Maneater will be the first game on offer, so you can’t miss it. You’ll need an Epic Games account to claim the title, and the Epic Games software client to play it, but both of these are free as well. The deal is active now, and will run until June 16 at 11:00 a.m. ET. After that, the company will have a different free game on offer.
Maneater: Is it worth your time?
So, what’s Maneater like? In this third-person RPG, you’ll explore an open world where you can collect loot, upgrade your abilities, and fight the occasional boss. All seems run-of-the-mill, but the catch here is that you’ll get to swim around the world as a ravenous shark. It might sound like it would be hard to go wrong with a concept like “Grand Theft Auto, but with sharks,” and Maneater is definitely an enjoyable experience — but it does get a little repetitive the longer you play it. In our Maneater hands-on, we praised the game for its visual design, imaginative theme, and excellent sense of humor. There’s also a decent combat system to get to grips with. But no matter how fun it is to eat a bunch of humans and big fish, the mission objectives the game provides don’t offer much variety and eventually left us feeling cold. Similar sentiments were expressed by reviewers and audiences on Metacritic (opens in new tab), where the game holds a score of 70/100. Maneater received plenty of praise for its originality and pure sense of mayhem, but some users were frustrated by the games’ lack of content. Consider, though, the fact that Maneater is available for free right now. If you’re looking for a fresh, exciting experience that won’t eat away hundreds of hours of your time, then this so-called sharkRPG is pretty much exactly the game that you’re looking for. And if not? There’s always another free game to look forward to next week on Epic Games.
