Hungry Shark

Summary

Have any of you ever played an “eat ‘em up” type game before? I hadn’t tried one out until I came across this game. Hungry Shark is based on a pretty disturbing game concept as you might guess judging by the title. This game should be a tasty little snack for anyone that enjoyed “Jaws” if you know what I mean….

Hungry Shark is an “eat ‘em up” game that revolves around chowing down prey. I was reminded of the classic “Jaws” movies while testing this game. You’re a great white shark that eats everything and everyone in its path. It’s not just fish and other sea animals, but also regular human beings that bleed like crazy. Sound disgusting? I’m not in a position to judge on the moral aspects on this game during this test. Is this game unethical? Should it be banned from children? Should it be censored for violent content? I don’t have any answers to these kinds of questions and don’t want to go into a lengthy discussion on the topic. Blood and guts are simply an integral part of this game even if it has nothing to do with the way sharks behave in the wild.

The shark in Hungry Shark needs to eat 24/7 and never seems to be getting enough food. Your health meter is constantly decreasing, so you’re in a race against the clock to keep your health up by eating just about everything that you can see. You also receive points for every living thing you stuff down your throat. Eating a bunch of prey in a row gives multiplies your score. The more you eat, the bigger and stronger your shark gets. You can obtain Achievements by moving up along the high score list. Besides constantly eating everything in sight, you also have to keep your guard. Steer clear of bombs and jellyfish – not only do they taste awful, but they also lower your health. Some sea life can only be eaten at the certain moment: eating an inflated blowfish can kill you, but eating it when it’s flat makes for a tasty little snack.

There are 10 bonus objects hidden in the depths of the sea that give crazy Big Points, so keep an eye out for them!

Bottom Line:

At first I thought this game couldn’t keep me entertained for more than half an hour. While playing it, however, I discovered that it was extremely addictive and fun to play. Although it works great as a “commuter game”, it can also be fun to play on longer trips, plane rides or even while just sitting on your couch at home

You have the following options on the Hungry Shark start menu:

Play
Hi-Scores
Options
Help

In the high scores you can take a look at your current results under Achievements. Here you can see what your latest score was, how much you’ve managed to eat and how big your shark has gotten.

In the Options you can turn vibration and sound on/off, adjust the tilt sensitivity and calibrate the controls. Actually, you have to calibrate before playing every game, but this option let’s you fine tune it more precisely.

In Help you’ll find useful tips and instructions on how to play the game.

During the game you control your shark by tilting your phone in any given direction.

At the top you can see your current game time, score, health level and number of boosts. Using boosts you can accelerate your shark for a short instant. Boosts get used up very quickly and take a while to reload.

There’s a small button to pause the game at the top left corner.

Bottom Line:

Hungry Shark is graphically stunning. The background sounds are well-done, too. Even the controls are impeccable. There’s really nothing left for me to criticize.

Hungry Shark ran smoothly and without any problems during our test.

Hungry Shark can be downloaded for £2.49 from the Android Market.