CARRION Reviews

CARRION is ranked in the 67th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
75 / 100
May 8, 2023

Carrion is an unusual experience that seeks to do the most with just the essentials, which makes it somewhat repetitive after a while, when almost all the cards are already on the table. Even though it looks like a labyrinthine metroidvania, the design tends to guide the player linearly so as not to get lost, keeping the gameplay flowing between puzzles and massacres, without much reason to explore on your own. The game's greatest success is in fulfilling its promise of horror by putting the player under the skin of a tentacular monster to devour, grow and evolve into the perfect predator.

Review in Portuguese | Read full review

8 / 10.0
Nov 27, 2021

By turning the roles of heroes and villains upside down, Carrion delivers a unique and fun experience. Literally incarnating a monster and causing chaos and destruction is cathartic, and adding a surprisingly appealing narrative to it all makes for a pretty complete experience. It falls a little short in one aspect or another, namely when it comes to incentives and rewards for the careful exploration of the world, but Carrion never ceases to be an extremely recommendable game.

Review in Portuguese | Read full review

8.5 / 10.0
Nov 10, 2021

Although not without flaws, Carrion is a very fun experience that can also boast a magnificent visual style and a successful setting.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

7.5 / 10.0
Nov 5, 2021

Carrion presents you with an opportunity to take the reigns of an invading monster, and it delivers on all fronts with visceral gore and effects that translate vividly even through its pixelated style. The lack of a map combined with navigational and interaction clumsiness make for a more cumbersome Metroidvania formula, but the payoffs of gameplay and exploration outweigh the issues that Carrion presents.

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6 / 10
Oct 31, 2021

Despite the gameplay and level design being pretty middling, we still think this game is worth a spin. It’s all about the atmosphere, and the organism itself, both of which are rousing successes and worth the price of entry alone.

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8.5 / 10.0
Oct 1, 2021

Carrion is a devilishly enjoyable horror experience where you can swoop up enemies in your tentacles and rip them apart with a smile on your face. It's a short adventure lasting around 6-7 hours, but it's worth it for the gameplay alone. The awesome reverse-horror story is icing on the cake. It's too bad there's no in-game map as that would have eliminated getting lost and made this an even better game. Still, with what's on offer it's an easy recommend for anyone wanting their next juicy horror experience.

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7.9 / 10.0
Oct 19, 2020

In Carrion we will revive with a retro pixel aesthetic the fear of a horror movie from the 80's, only in this case we will be in the place of the monster. A very fun game to enjoy from start to finish.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

Worth your time
Sep 13, 2020

Carrion is relatively simple but nonetheless unique reverse horror experience.

Review in Greek | Read full review

Aug 27, 2020

Playing CARRION on the Nintendo switch reminded me so much of one of my favourite science fiction horror films from the ’80s by John carpenter: The Thing. Crawling about and feeding on the human population in a military facility, all while searching for bio-capsules to gain new abilities which allow you to gain access to new areas and lay siege to them is engaging and fun, albeit with a frustrating omission of the map screen which makes navigation difficult at times. Let’ take a trip into the twisted world of CARRION to see if this is a title worth owning.

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Video Chums
Top Critic
5.5 / 10.0
Aug 26, 2020

Carrion is a game that I would love to play through in one night with a group of friends as long as I'm not the one playing it. While it's not the best Metroidvania to navigate, it's a joy to watch. If you love horror, especially old monster movies, this is worth checking out for the atmosphere alone as it makes for a rather spook-tacular night.

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Noisy Pixel
Brian Lee
8.5 / 10.0
Aug 23, 2020

Carrion is a unique game and one that is refreshing and fun to play. The gameplay is smooth, and the arcadelike aspect of hastily crawling around eating scientists is both humorous and satisfying. While there are portions of it that I found confusing and slow, the core gameplay was enjoyable enough to where I didn’t mind the negatives. Carrion has a little bit of everything, and I would recommend it to anyone who is tired of being the protagonist in distress.

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Aug 19, 2020

Carrion is one of the best indie games released in 2020 so far. The premise – playing as a monster trying to escape a lab instead of as a human trying to contain an outbreak – is unique. I highly recommend checking it out.

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8.5 / 10.0
Aug 14, 2020

Carrion is a stellar example of how indie developers like Phobia Games Studio continue to provide unique fusions of video genres.

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6 / 10
Aug 14, 2020

Carrion embraces its identity as a "reverse-horror" experience, offering some viscerally violent action that is not for the faint of heart. Presentation here is top-notch: this is a polished title that Phobia Game Studio has taken a lot of care in crafting. Sadly, it stumbles in its core gameplay. The combat is poorly balanced and navigation can be a frustrating chore, but when Carrion does transcend these trappings, it does so with a sadistic glee that makes it unmistakable amongst its peers.

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8.8 / 10.0
Aug 14, 2020

Carrion is a fascinating reversal of the typical Metroidvania. Playing as a hungry, tentacle abomination is fast, fluid and unnerving. My only complaint is that there is no mapping function, which can make progression a chore.

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7 / 10.0
Aug 12, 2020

Carrion is a very cool concept held back by frustrating map design and repetitive combat.

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GameMAG
Top Critic
5 / 10
Aug 11, 2020

Carrion has all the potential to become really interesting, but right now it feels like a technical demonstration of an incomplete concept.

Review in Russian | Read full review

8 / 10.0
Aug 7, 2020

We do not like backtracking, but we love role of bloodthirsty creature and gameplay.

Review in Slovak | Read full review

Aug 6, 2020

Carrion is a short, focused experience, which is something I really appreciate. It is deliberate in its purpose, and it does a small set of things particularly well, rather than sprawling out in too many different directions. The result is a tight, well-paced romp through a unique take on an action horror game that feels like the take-home version of a pulpy 80’s popcorn monster flick. The story is fairly light, but it doesn’t need much to be successful, and the game ends on a fun, surprising note that’s a pitch-perfect end to the messy journey of destruction and devouring that has come before. There are a lot of fun ideas on the table, most of which are used well (if not to their full potential), and the experience of playing Carrion is equally delightful, disgusting, and satisfying to engage with. You’ll probably never get over the unsettling aspect of controlling a writhing mass of angry flesh, but you’ll undoubtedly also have a lot of fun with all of the destruction its capable of.

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Aug 5, 2020

It perfectly encapsulates the terrifying monster horror the game Is based on, and is filled with mayhem, gore and one hell of a power fantasy.

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