Carrion - Review

Imagine waking up and not knowing where you are. You slowly get your orientation together and notice you’re captive in a glass container… in a lab. No one’s around… and you have no clue as to why you go there. Are there mad scientists doing experiments on you? What the hell is happening?! And by chance, you’re able to set yourself loose and break out of your containment… it’s time to get out of here and escape to freedom! This is the starting narrative of Carrion… the difference is the playable character (you) has been flipped on its head, where you are a foreign alien organism. One that looks and moves similarly to the likes of Marvel’s symbiote (Venom/Carnage). Yup, you play what people would consider is the antagonist of the story… but that really depends on your POV.

Carrion’s spin on its main character is definitely one that’s welcomed and fun. Not only can you antagonise the humans (both scientists and armed forces) in the game, but the whole metroidvania platform is one huge puzzle. As your symbiotic alien evolves, learning new skills, you unlock access to certain areas that weren’t available to you in the beginning. 

Not to give too much away, but these skill upgrades are seen in the way of being able to shoot a web, take over human bodies, turn invisible and much more. These are the type of progression and upgrades given through the game that keep you wanting to hunt down upgrades to see what your alien body can do. Going back to the game itself, the whole level/platform is used as a puzzle to progress through the narrative… however, one feature that is included in most metroidvania games seems to be missing in Carrion… a map. Yup… it’s very normal to flick over to your map and navigate where you haven’t explored yet in these platformers as it gives players a rough progress guide. Carrion has purposely left this feature out of the game.

And though it will likely come across quite frustrating as you find yourself going back and forwards over through similar looking rooms, only to realize you’ve definitely cleared that particular area of the game. It occurred to me that the creators of Carrion must have made the lack of navigation intentional. Just as the story starts you off in a lab, which you very soon realize you need to escape to freedom, the feeling of disorientation, confusion and lostness is enhanced with not knowing where to go or where you’ve been other than just using your memory. Remember, we all didn’t have access to a smartphone with google maps at one stage too.

As panic starts to set in with the non existent navigational aid, this is intensified by it’s absolutely gorgeous and amazing score, which completes its horror genre. The absolute sounds, and OST played throughout the game is not only enough to give you tingles… but couple that with the sound of the screaming humans when they see you pulls you back to the reality that you’re not running away from a monster… but, you ARE the monster they’re running from. 

Carrion’s pixel art has been created so well that at times, you forget it’s pixels due to the fluid motions of your tentacles. As you move through each level, the way the animation moves with flicks, grabs and rolls makes you appreciate the craft behind getting it to look organic. Adding the fact that smooth controls of squeezing into vents, tunnels and tight areas have been created so well in the game, it really takes you back to the 80s horror films like Alien(s) and The Thing. Phobia Game Studio are obviously masters of this genre as they’ve created an absolutely fantastic horror game.

If there was one negative criticism Carrion has, it’d be the fact that the game does feel like it hits its peak quite early on in the game, making it feel a little too short. And much like the incredible music score, the feeling of disorientation due to not having a map, and fluid like animation and controls which obviously have been orchestrated on purpose, this might also been created on purpose to leave players wanting more.

The Score

7.0

Review code provided by Devolver Digital

The Pros

+Fun being the antagonist with fantastic character/alien animation and movement

+Incredible score and sounds to keep you in the horror genre

The Cons

+Hits its peak early in terms of gameplay

+Could come across frustrating due to lack of map