For there’ll be peace when you are done. True for you, but not for the poor humans found in this game. Unlike most titles where you valiantly save people from the horrible monster, Carrion lets you be that monster, players familiar with the movie The Thing will find some similarities here, as you’re a morphing, tentacle welding, thing of nightmares, you are flesh, you are teeth, and you are hungry.
Flow
The first thing I noticed is this is no ordinary platformer, in fact, it isn’t really a platformer at all. As you move about the underground research facility your avatar of hunger automatically reaches out with tentacles, gripping surfaces, swinging from ceilings etc. So long as you’re close enough to something to grip you sort of flow effortlessly through the environment. This prevents you from getting stuck on corners and reinforces the feeling of being an apex predator scurrying in and out of the vents as you search for prey.
Sound Design
Cavernous music with an echo-like quality, the soundtrack for the game fits perfectly with the environment, what I’d like to focus on here is the games attention to detail, entering water dulls all sound effects, moving has this rhythmic whipping effect as your wet tentacles move you about, chains hanging from the ceiling in something seen from Alien make light clanking as you pass by and if you delicately grip a door handle and pull back, metal doors make this tiny squeaky sound. The game is littered with these tiny effects that all add up to a very detailed environment.
Power
Your health is tied to your bodies biomass in Carrion. I found as I consumed bodes and progress through the game my mass grew, throughout the world you find more “Samples” of whatever you are, merging with these unlocks more abilities and expands your total mass, consume enough and you can morph from a tiny critter into a monstrous entity, changing what abilities you can use.
You’ll unlock such abilities as echolocation, a charging smash, and a ranged web attack, these not only aid you in combat but, in the same vein as Castlevania, allow you to unlock more parts of the map by pulling levers or breaking open tunnels. There’s also a selection of hidden powerups for completionists to hunt down.
Final Thoughts
If you’re a fan of horror movies involving strange alien creatures or just want to blow off steam smashing relentlessly through squishy humans then I highly recommend Carrion, It plays equally well on keyboard and mouse as well as a controller. Its only downside is its length, as you can blow through the game in a matter of hours, hopefully, the developers consider expanding the content with challenge modes as it currently doesn’t have much replayability.
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