Where Maneater is akin to a 10-hour SharkWeek documentary, its Truth Quest DLC seeks to be Ancient Aliens or Monster Quest. While such a comparison isn't exactly fashionable, I know, it's so entangled in the net of conspiracy and "What if?" culture that it is an inevitable comparison, especially for all those who love these series.
But where those shows are mostly docile explorations of the unknown and don't often venture into the dangerous depths of the plot, Truth Quest willingly swims mouth-first in Q's tangled web.
It's hard to argue that Maneater's irreverent, quirky base game is escapist fun and what we called "a shark good time" when we reviewed it last year, but that sense of the joy and good fun diminishes at the start of Truth Quest. At least on a narrative level, this DLC ultimately fails due to its unwavering reliance on the wackiest and seediest real-life plots for its subject matter.
Maneater: Truth Quest Review - I Want To Believe
I won't dive into the story details of Truth Quest - though you can certainly guess what it's about from the trailer above. This is partly because I was specifically asked not to. But more importantly, it's because it would spoil some of its best parts.
Despite my reservations overall, there are some legitimately laugh-worthy punchlines throughout Truth Quest - even if some derive their comedic value solely from their batshit nature. They are, of course, delivered by the narrator of Maneater Trip West Haven, who has become Alex Jones completely since we last heard from him.
The long and short of TQ's message-laden narrative is that Westhaven "saw" things while filming Maneater, and he's convinced a satanic cabal is behind it. Somehow, aliens are also involved.
But don't worry: Trip has done his research, and he'll tell you about the evil machinations going on in Port Clovis, shedding light on what's really causing its wildlife to mutate and terrorize the otherwise placid waters surrounding the Gulf of Mexico.
The problem is that while Trip's cheekiness is objectively funny in places, it starts to get incredibly thin as the story continues. Beginning as well-delivered jabs intended to sardonically ridicule the subject, the commentary eventually morphs into a thread of tiresome and stark reminders of current world events.
There's no endgame that ties its threads to thoughtful resolution, and while I'm not entirely sure that's Maneater's place or purpose, we end up with what feels like the best to a missed opportunity once the credits roll. But maybe that's what it all means when we see how things turned out: there's never an “end,” and what a terrible coda that is.
Luckily, Truth Quest's gameplay is as good as the base game and acts as its driving force and mega-mouth.
There are no major changes in the stream between Maneater and Truth Quest. You continue to snack on humans and beasts, gathering nutrients to help you swim to the top of Port Clovis' food chain. Bounty hunters still abound and other apex predators vie for dominance.
There are a few new objectives and collectibles to hunt down, such as your regular Time Trials and Trip's Viewtube followers, called Questers, who themselves spit out a suite of conspiracy theories that will have you laughing or rolling. eyes .
It's here that I'll admit that these ramblings are perhaps more memorable for their uneasy, self-conscious delivery versus the overconfident conviction of Trip's Facebook group. It doesn't help that, perhaps ironically, Chris Parnell plays the role of Trip a little too well, lending a sense of unnerving gravity to the part that ultimately blunts the sarcasm Truth Quest hunts so desperately.
Either way, feasting on evil satanist sailors and black ops-adjacent bounty hunters never ceases to delight even in its simplicity. The hunt for other predators remains adrenaline-filled. And traversing the beautifully rendered waters of Port Clovis, even in its darkest places, can be relaxing if that's what you're looking for.
Alongside the story, Truth Quest flounders a bit with its new objectives that let you hunt down towers on earth and destroy them.
Guarded by heavily armed sailors, you are tasked with taking down these towers by whipping bombs or bodies at them. Not only does all of this force you into a single organ mutation, but the tail-whipping objects are inaccurate at best in these land sections. Overall, they seem to have only one goal: to extend the playtime of the DLC.
Airborne enemies take a second, but very close, rear of the towers. Of course, shooting down a helicopter is cool. Watching your mega soar through the air, chomping at rudders and wings, crushing metal in spellbinding dervishes of death, is a sight to behold.
But then again, these encounters only seem to lengthen your time with Truth Quest, without adding any real difficulty or overall substance to the game. You could very well be without them and never notice their absence.
That aside, a new evolution introduces compelling ranged combat mechanics and leverages that tail whip in a successful strategy against the terrors of the deep, new and old. The evolution is so well-crafted alongside the new Truth Quest enemies that it'll probably have you swapping your bone set as quickly as possible (especially for those pesky choppers…).
However, perhaps one of Truth Quest's biggest draws is the new location. He's dripping in conspiratorial design, acting as the DLC's most prominent character, even eclipsing the new Apex looming itself. It's reminiscent of a Bond villain's hideout, or something Maxmillian calls home in Evil Genius.
This is exactly where I imagine such underhanded and sleazy dealings would take place, where roving bands of military black hats patrol the murky waters, permanently moored ships full of unsavory cargo float in the choppy waves and a secret fish laboratory bathed in green lords above the sea.
Maneater: Truth Quest DLC Review – The Result
Benefits
- Being a shark is always fun
- New evolution adds ranged combat options
- New decor drips with character
The inconvenients
- Jokes get stale by the end
- Tail whip mechanic is random
Maneater Truth Quest goes a little overboard with its attempts to parody today's real-world climate of conspiracy, taking an experience that provides respite from the terrifying daily life of the COVID-19 pandemic and creating something that reminds us of our divisional reality at every turn. It's funny, of course, but only for a long time.
It doesn't help, perhaps ironically, that Chris Parnell plays a deep Westhaven a little too well, lending a disconcerting sense of gravity to the role. The relentless delivery throughout the approximately 5-hour campaign culminates at the end, making even the wildest ancient astronaut theory or skunk monkey tale a welcome reprieve.
Luckily, being Jaws is still incredibly fun and oddly compelling.
[Note: Tripwire Interactive provided the copy of Maneater: Truth Quest used for this review.]
