Maniac Review: Is This Chaotic Crime Spree Worth the Madness?

by Jim Smale · May 27, 2025

Maniac Review throws players into a chaotic whirlwind of criminal escapades, testing their ability to thrive in a world ruled by madness. With its adrenaline-fueled gameplay, relentless action, and nostalgic nods to classic crime sims, this game sets out to deliver a high-octane experience where survival is anything but guaranteed. But does Maniac truly capture the essence of unrestricted mayhem, or does its chaos spiral out of control? In this review, we break down every explosive detail of gameplay, mechanics, visuals, and whether the madness is worth the price of admission. Read on to discover if Maniac Review is the ultimate criminal sandbox or just another descent into disorder.

Maniac Review Pros:

Decent graphics.
462.7MB download size.
Platinum trophy.
Gameplay settings – easy car controls, automatic aiming, and automatic fire.
Miscellaneous settings – language, camera, blood splat, camera shake, UI scale slider, and floating scores.
Six characters to unlock, and each has unique stats for health, speed, gun handling, and impact resistance. They will also have a motive and a perk.
Each character earns their own money and upgrades.
The goal of the game is to survive 20 minutes until the nuke drops and you get an ending.
Imagine if the part of Gra d Theft Auto where you just go on a mayhem spree killing everyone and getting chased by the cops was a game, this is that game.
Tutorial pop-ups as you play.
Very addictive.
Even with auto-aiming aiming you can still aim using the twin stick shooter style controls.
As your wanted level goes up the cops get bigger and better, the army can get called in with tanks, aliens can even come down and help.
Very impressive on-screen enemy count.
You can steal any vehicle, including tanks and cars etc. Depending on the car, it takes how long it takes to get in. (Don’t worry, you get a bar to show progress.)
Level-ups are shown on the map one at a time, and you go to it and pick one of three random upgrades.
You can replenish your health and the car’s health.
Money will drop from enemies and vehicles you blow up and this money is banked to spent after the run.
You can upgrade and improve your car like giving it more health, adding bull bars to avoid taking damage etc.
Each character has a unique special ability you can buy.
Spend money on upgrades and equipment, and then equip them for your new run.
A full 3D game world and it’s all wide open, and you can do whatever you want.
Find jumps, do barrel rolls, drive underwater, the world is your playground.
Each upgrade and piece of equipment can be upgraded up to five stars to improve them.
A fun game that is an excellent time-waster.
Hire followers who can do the carnage with you.
Fast loading times.
On-screen button icons to help.
Depending on upgrade choices and character sets, the survives 20 minutes until the nuke can go up or down.
Glitches, I’m putting them here because they are hilarious and add to the games carnage and reckless abandonment of the rules.
I may have had my fill in a few hours, but it was time well spent, and I loved every minute.

Maniac Review Cons:

The camera angles are fine, but when you are driving, there is always that delay waiting for the camera to spin round and catch up, as you don’t have control.
It is annoying that each character earns their own cash and upgrades, as there is little incentive to try out other characters.
Driving can be a nightmare as its all on the left stick and mixed with camera it can make routine cornering a real pain.
Only one game mode.
I had my fill after a few hours.