Carrion

Genre: Metroidvania / Horror

Players: 1

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Review:

Carrion is a Metroidvania that puts players in the role of the monster – in this case, a growing, bloody mass of teeth and tentacles rampaging through a military research complex and murdering anyone it comes across. This game was released for multiple platforms in 2020, including Nintendo Switch.

In terms of presentation, the centerpiece of this entire game has to be its tentacle monster, and wow is it a heck of a centerpiece, a tangled mess of tendrils and viscera that’s constantly latching onto the scenery as it moves through an area, leaving a bloody trail in its wake. This game’s pixel art visuals are already pretty decent, but it’s the tentacle monster here that absolutely steals the show, and it never gets tiring seeing how gracefully such an ungainly thing moves through the game’s environs.

Despite that you are the source of fear and terror in the game, the game’s presentation still plays it like this is a work of horror, with eerie, low-key music as you stalk its corridors, and with the hapless humans screaming in fear as they hear you approaching, terror as they catch sight of you, and gurgling their last breaths as you rip them in half and chomp down on the remains, all with the slopping sounds of your tentacles as they slither about. While perhaps not as striking as the visual effect of the tentacle monster, the sound design in this game is no less deserving of credit.

As for the gameplay… well, that’s when we run into problems. Moving the tentacle beast through the game’s levels is no problem – it glides through the air latching onto the level instinctively as you move about, making traversal fairly effortless. The problem is that once you encounter enemies capable of putting up a reasonable fight, the amorphous nature of your body makes it difficult to tell when you’re vulnerable. I’ve taken countless hits from enemies shooting stray tentacles when I thought I was still safe, and while the game is pretty forgiving about death, with pretty regular checkpoints, it is nevertheless frustrating to have enemies chip away at your health when you think you’re safe.

However, that’s not even the biggest issue. Carrion commits what I tend to see as a cardinal sin for a modern Metroidvania – repetitive, labyrinthine levels, with no map. I spent way too much of my time playing this game running around in circles trying to figure out where I hadn’t gone yet, without even getting a good feel for the layout of the place. It’s hard to feel like an unstoppable terror when you can’t even figure out where you’re supposed to go next.

I hate that I have to say this, because there are elements of Carrion that I absolutely love, but despite the phenomenal concept and outstanding presentation, Carrion fails to stick the landing when it comes to the basics of the genre. When this game is good, it’s incredible, but far too often you’re just trying to get to those great parts and frustrated at getting lost or having to go back to a prior checkpoint because some jerk with a fancy gun shot a stray tendril while most of you was around a corner. If you can put up with a fair amount of frustration, there’s still a lot to love here, but most will probably be better off skipping this one.

tl;dr – Carrion is a Metroidvania that has you playing as the frightening, murderous tentacle monster storming through a facility. It’s an outstanding concept with a phenomenal presentation, but unfortunately, it falls prey to a few core gameplay problems, with the main one being repetitive level design and no map. This game still has some great moments, but those moments are interspersed with far too much frustration.

Grade: C+

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2020 Game Awards:

Winner:

Most Disappointing – This game had so much potential. Storming through a research facility as a murderous tentacle monster? Sign me up! Unfortunately, it ends up being more like “getting lost and going around in circles while trying to figure out where you haven’t already gone yet… as a tentacle monster”. I had high hopes for this game, but the reality is just… well, disappointing.

Runner-Up: Best Sound Design, Most Overrated

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