CARRION Reviews
Carrion doesn't just flip the horror script—it's the ultimate power fantasy, packed into a tight, uncompromising space. It might utilize some video game tropes, but it doesn't seem too concerned with accepted video game values. It's a 2D side-scroller without platforming, an action game where you dictate the action. The Doom Slayer might talk a big game about ripping and tearing, but Carrion's meatball monster puts its money where its many mouths are.
All in all, if you love the likes of Alien or the Thing (which would make for a hell of a licenced DLC), you’ll want to buy this day one. On the other hand, if spooks like that make you want to duck under the covers, then maybe stick to something softer.
Carrion's sickeningly animated protagonist and distinctive playstyle will sate the desires of any player who has ever imagined being a monster from a horror film. It is also a blast to torture faceless government workers with a buffet of slimy powers. Bland level design and a narrative that has the complexity of a paramecium keep Carrion from being something truly memorable.
Carrion is an excellent power fantasy that casts you as the monstrous villain in your own horror film. The wonderfully gloopy animation and conception of Carrion's meaty monster makes it enjoyable to play, especially when tearing through the unfortunate humans that stand in your way. But dull exploration, a lack of memorable environments and disparate gameplay ideas that never really come together, mean that Carrion never truly reaches its full potential.
CARRION is a game that only someone associated with the madhouse publisher that is Devolver Digital could create.
With Carrion, I wondered how Phobia Game Studio would be able to keep me interested without that dynamic. They managed it through the careful balance of giving you enough agency to feel powerful, while still requiring you to plan and act with precision to use that power effectively. The result is a razor-sharp campaign that fully put me in the amorphous shoes of its terrifying beast.
Despite its flaws, Carrion is immensely enjoyable, though I would imagine its grotesque nature will turn some away.
Carrion excels at creating realistic tentacle locomotion in the shape of a bloodthirsty nightmare. It falls behind when it requests precision from a monster only capable of blunt violence. As mad science grants sentience to raw brutality, articulation must be sacrificed for overwhelming power. It leaves Carrion as a mesmerizing concept overcommitted to its code.
Devolver’s seal of approval is more than ever evidence of a classic as Carrion’s credentials as an incredible Metroidvania title as well as an inverse horror experience will never be in question.
Carrion is a very cool concept held back by frustrating map design and repetitive combat.
Acting as a monster and hunting human beings are exciting. Carrion definitely worth trying if you are interested in the reverse-horror games.
Review in Chinese | Read full review
Carrion is brilliant take on the metroidvania genre, a game where you control a creature that feasts on human bodies and grows as it develops new and deadly skills. It is another incredibile and crazy Devolver Digital game.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Carrion is remarkably successful in so far that its visuals, sound design and interaction come together to create something truly horrifying, beautiful and engrossing, but its novelty wanes, and what you are left with is surprisingly superficial.
Carrion is an excellent 2D action game that lets you unleash mayhem as a terrifying, destructive monster.
Carrion is very entertaining and extremely unique. Making humans whimper in fear never gets old and killing them is even more fun. I wish some of the areas were more distinguishable from each other but that's a very small issue really. If you want to play something a bit different then you won't go far wrong with this one.
Carrion is ultimately fascinating, engaging, and short and sweet. By putting you in the role of the alien threat it imbues you with a strange supervillain-like sense of playing in an insect farm.
A positively perfect example of an indie title doing what it does best – exploring a unique concept and polishing it to a brilliant shine
There's plenty that Carrion gets right beyond the fluidity and attention to detail its horrific, blood-red monstrosity is given.
Carrion is a delightfully gruesome game that has just as many puzzles as it does action.
If you would like to spend five hours ripping and tearing your way through scientists and security guards as a bloodthirsty tentacle monster though, then you’ll probably have a lot of fun with Carrion.