Carrion (2020)

This game surprised me in a very good way.

The Thing is one of my fave films ever and this game definitely has the vibes of that classic. The gore was over the top in a Mortal Kombat way which i liked. Definitely not for the little ones though.

I was expecting the gameplay to be quite mindless. You are playing an alien after all. But i was wrong. The gameplay was quite cerebral in that you really have to think about how you can solve the problem of that level using what tools you have at your disposal right then and there. I really liked that the save points were very generous which allowed me to experiment with different ways to solve the problem. You dont get punished for trying something which most games discourage these days. In this way, it reminds me of the good old Splinter Cell games or more recently the Hitman series where there is more than one way to reach your goals. I loved that about this game.

The length of the game was just right too. Too many games overstay their welcome but this one was perfect. This game was perfectly crafted in that i never got lost, because the game knew just how to push me in the right direction, even without a map. I read that some reviews complained about the lack of a map but i honestly never needed one. But, in saying that, i did play the game through in two days. If youre the type to play a level and take a while to come back to it, i can see why youd need a map since you probably dont remember your placing after that time.

My only complaint, nit picking really, is that when you eat a lot of people and become huge, the controls get a bit unwieldy because you've become so large. Its not clear where the center of your mass is and in some cases its hard turn the right way. Tricky when youre trying to dodge gunfire.

This is a very good game and kudos to the developers and will look forward to more of their games.

Wow, this game has so many great ideas. I love the look of the monster, the way its amorphous form flows and leaps with its tendrils. I love the the way it can grab the humans and suspend them in the air screaming in classic movie monster fashion. I love that some humans can get knocked down, then prop themselves up and shoot at me from the ground in a final hero moment before the monster comes back to finish them off in a horrific fashion. There are so many great little bits.

This is one of the few games where the lack of map and limited explanation works well. You get a real sense of being this alien monster growing and learning your abilities, limits, and how to manipulate the human world to spread your malevolent biomass.

The combat is frantic and fun but lacks much depth. It is satisfying to rip off grates and slam them into the weaker humans. My favorite trick is to growl to distract the humans, and then sneak up from behind; a tried and true movie monster tactic.

It does horror extremely well with its gory monster kills, but I really wish the game had more terror. It lacks the sense that you can hunt the humans and make them truly afraid to confront you. The unarmed humans cower when you approach, or try to run away, while the armed humans fight back in simplistic video game fashion. Classic monster movies are all about slowly breaking down even the most hardened human warriors that try to fight you. It could have been a great combination with the limited stealth in the game.

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Would love to see what they can do with a sequel.