Shark Attack Deathmatch

Survive for ten minutes in shark-infested waters

Release: November 9, 2012 (Xbox 360)

By Ian Coppock

When I review an indie game, I usually begin the article with a barely relevant rant about how indie developers are our lords and saviors, and we should just start groveling before them as they take over the gaming world. Every once in a while, though, I stumble across an indie game that isn't so much a miracle of innovation as a piece of pure, dumb fun that truly is your money's worth (and with how expensive games are these days, how many of us can look each other in the eye and say that ALL of our games were worth $60 apiece)? I found both a hell of a bargain and a hell of an experience with Shark Attack Deathmatch. It's a suspenseful and well-designed game that only cost me $1.

The Story

As some of you may have inferred from the B-movie-esque title and general premise, Shark Attack Deathmatch has no narrative. You are a nameless scuba diver who, for whatever reason, has decided to jump face-first into a sharky patch of ocean, armed only with a slow harpoon gun and a knife. The goal of the game is to survive for 10 minutes without getting killed by one of the aforementioned great white sharks, and to rack up as many kills as possible before time runs out. 

This ocean is pretty and blue, it must therefore be safe, lied my brain.

"Wait a minute Ian!" I can telepathically hear some of you cry out. "This sounds an awful lot like Call of Duty, a game series you're well-known for disliking! Surely a premise in which you kill as many enemies as possible in 10 minutes isn't terribly unlike deathmatch mode in CoD multiplayer!"

No, in theory I suppose it isn't, but Call of Duty lacks the element of terror and suspense that comes with being alone in a murky ocean against lots of bloodthirsty killer sharks. Plus, sharks don't camp, or troll over Xbox LIVE, so your argument is invalid.

I think I'd rather have an ocean of sharks than an Internet of CoD fanboys.

Anyway, I picked this game to review because it really is just plain, honest fun. It's certainly one of the most suspenseful games I've played in a long time. You start out near the surface of the ocean and can swim over a very large area. The region encompasses a plane wreck, coral reefs, rock tunnels, a minefield, a shipwreck and lots of open areas. The downside is that there's only two maps, but still, for a dollar, that's not too shabby.

Round 1: The Minefield

My first attempt at the game saw me meandering carelessly through the azure, marveling at how good the graphics were for a $1 game. I decided to explore a shipwreck a la James Cameron and emerged into a field of mines, the giant spheres solemn monoliths to the terrors of warOH MY GOD SHARK SHARK EATING MY HEAD GAH TURN AROUND TURN AROUND TURN AROUND BLAGAAAGGGHGHGHGH!!!!!!!

Tum tee tum, check my phone, look up and *#*$#)Q)#*$&%^&!)!_!)*!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you play this game, do yourself a favor: don't assume that just because a shark isn't in your field of vision, it must not be there. Only dummies like me make that mistake.

Round 2: The Coral Reef

After reattaching my limbs and siphoning approximately all of my blood back into my body, I respawned in the exact spot where I'd been mauled and swam like hell to the cover of a nearby coral reef. I crept through the foreboding rock tunnels, toting my trusty harpoon gun and glancing fearfully behind me. I came upon a sort of coral junction with an opening in the top, just in time for a shark to lazily swim overhead. I harpooned the beast; it swerved and came at me just in time for me to shoot it in the frickin' face! WOO! One shark down in 30 seconds or less! Let's see how well the remaining nine minutes and 30 seconds goes.

Apparently sharks make their homes in caves. Shark tips, tricks and more at iangetsmauledbysharks.com

Not great. I went back into my coral tunnel and found a shark waiting for me. Probably a relative of the one I just slew, which I'm sure only added to the ferocity with which it tore into my character. Round 2 over, with only one shark kill to show for it.

Round 3: ZOMBIE SHARK MODE

Aside from staying in that underwater hotel in Dubai, one of my goals in life is to go head-to-head with a zombie shark. I got to fulfill that dream with the game's zombie shark mode, in which you have to fight the undead monstrosities in a map resembling Atlantis. What practical difference is there between a shark and a zombie shark? Nothing, they both want your blood. I found this out when my character crested the top of a sunken ship, and I swear this was true, I was mauled to death by no less than five zombie sharks all chilling out on top deck. 

Oh you sons of...

Well, that was a violent story. Why tell us?

Well, awesome as it is, Shark Attack Deathmatch has no narrative. But I liked the game because it satisfied that itch for suspense and thrills that only a few games manage to give out these days. Most horror games are watered down by your character having heavy ordnance, or that the monsters are hallucinations that may startle you but don't actually threaten your character's life. 

With Shark Attack Deathmatch, you only have a small harpoon gun with which to battle legions of hungry sharks. That challenge of using limited resources to overcome huge odds is what can make or break a suspenseful game, and it's a challenge that I can't not rise to. Jumpy music starts playing every time a shark notices you, which is handy as a warning system but also raises the terror even more.

This knife sucks. Where's my Wuuthrad battleaxe from Skyrim?!?

Shark Attack Deathmatch also contained that element of resource management that can enhance a suspenseful experience. Your harpoon gun has unlimited ammo, but you must manage your health and oxygen supplies with pickups found in the ocean. These pickups are usually in exposed areas, creating a conflict between your need for safety and your need to reattach your intestines. All of these conflicts for resources and safety are what make a scary game suspenseful, and Deathmatch delivered them in such an elegantly simple way that I couldn't help but highlight that somehow.

The Artwork

Shark Attack Deathmatch has good artwork for how much the game cost. The graphics aren't Crysis-level but they're still the most impressive I've seen for an indie game. These include vivid water effects, murky environments and immersive sound effects. The sharks move realistically and react violently to your predation attempts, but the realism of their movements reinforced the feeling that I was a shark hunter, though this swiftly depleted upon being consumed by my so-called prey item.

C'mere, sharky...

The ocean also features other wildlife, though you can't shoot it with the harpoon gun. Manta rays lazily glide through the sea, and schools of fish scare the hell out of you in the coral tunnels. A big eel will occasionally swoop in around the sea mines, but the only critters you need to worry about are the great whites.

Nice work, indie peeps, this is quite lovely :D

Should I get it?

I don't think you need to be an adrenaline junkie to play Shark Attack Deathmatch, though non-adrenaline junkies might disagree. For a dollar, it's hardly the end of the world if you try it and decide it's not for you. Aside from Skyrim, Shark Attack Deathmatch might be the most bang-for-your-buck game I've ever played. You certainly get a lot of content for your money, so long as you don't mind your contents occasionally getting spilled by a hungry shark.

Thursday's review is taking us out of the ocean and into a metropolis rife with crime and awesomeness, so I'll see you then!