It was the idea of Carrion that first drew me in. We have all played games where we hunt and kill a monster, but in Carrion, you are the monster! While it may look like a typical Metroidvania style of game, it offers more than enough thrills and spills to make it stand out from the crowd.
While I think the premise of the game is great, it is a bit light on story, but I feel that is intentional. You play as this un-named creature, a mass of destruction that has been imprisoned in an underground facility and you have escaped! It has a little bit of back story, but it never gives you too much. I love a good story, but I felt this worked really worked well for this game.
They have gone for a bit of a retro art-style in the game. However, rather than looking like a 16-bit game, I feel that Carrion looks more like something we would have seen on the original PlayStation. The whole game looks really dark and moody and that is something I liked. There may not be a lot of variety in this underground facility, but what is here looks cool.
How to Download Carrion
To download the game, click on the Download button below this review. The game runs on Windows, macOS, Linus (check it out on Steam or GOG), Xbox One, and Switch
The Game Review
You play as a monster that moves around kind of like the Symbiote from Spider-Man. The way the creature moves is awesome and it has these tentacle-like things that will lash out as you move. You can take direct control of these if you like. There are many people in this facility that want to capture you, but you are not having that!
You have many different ways that you can kill those that get in your way. You can flat out just eat them and this gives you some health. You can also grab them and start smashing them around like a rag doll which is a great deal of fun. As the game progresses you get new and fun abilities.
These range from being able to cloak yourself to being able to take control of an enemy. When you have control of someone you can make them kill others, open doors, and so on. There are some other abilities you can get, but they feel kind of tacked on in all honesty with you.
You do have to think as you play. You will come across enemies that have shields, flamethrowers, and even little mechs. Figuring out the best way past them is fun and you feel super powerful when you do. You can even take control of one of the mechs yourself which is super awesome.
Carrion is not a massive game and it does want you to explore. However, the exploration aspect is very frustrating. The reason I say this is that there is no map at all! The game points you in a linear direction where you can go from one objective to the next. The moment you go off that beaten path, things can go wrong.
It is so easy to get lost in this game. Not only is it easy to get lost, but the game also does not keep track of what your current objective is either. I spent over an hour trying to get back on track after backtracking to open a previously locked area which in the end offered nothing of value!
I think that there are some great ideas with Carrion. Playing as a monster is just as much fun as it sounds. However, I feel if they had a map or something that could get you back on track the game would be so much better for it. I do feel this is worth checking out, just make sure you pay attention to where you are.
