For example, there are multiple levels in which you can jump out of the water to catch insects flying near the surface, as well as others which take place in darkness but become increasingly illuminated every time you eat glowing plankton. There are levels that successfully mix things up a bit scattered throughout the Story mode, but even these new features get old after you've seen them a few times. Your goal on almost every level is the same, and at times, the gameplay can feel as repetitive as the life of a goldfish swimming laps in its bowl. It's satisfying to turn the tables on your enemies like that, but when you're one of the biggest fish in the area toward the end of each level, eating enough to progress to the next becomes something of a foregone conclusion.
When you've eaten enough fish you grow bigger, and in doing so you move up the food chain a notch so that you can prey upon some of the species that were previously a threat. Typically, you start out as one of the smallest fish in each level, so avoiding predators is often more of a priority than chasing after the small fry early on. Levels in which you can jump out of the water and eat insects add some much-needed variety. Even as a great white shark you're not safe in this unrepentant cycle of eating the orcas who reside at the top of this simplified food chain can swallow you whole. Small fish seemingly exist only to be eaten by bigger ones who, in turn, are food for even larger predators. Shipwreck Showdown is played from the same perspective you'd get if you were peering into an aquarium, though the fish in the game certainly aren't species that you'd ever want to keep together in a confined space. Even those of you with a penchant for achievement points or online leaderboards will be hard pressed to find much in the way of replay value.
Shipwreck Showdown improves upon its simplistic predecessor by introducing a number of new gameplay features and multiplayer modes to the mix, but the fun is ultimately short-lived. Playing as one of several different fish, your goal is to eat species that are smaller than you while avoiding those that can swallow you whole. That's certainly true in Feeding Frenzy 2: Shipwreck Showdown, a colorful action game in which you become part of a marine food chain. In the words of Jedi master Qui-Gon Jinn, there's always a bigger fish.