Carrion review: the best monster movie game to kill everyone in years

I love the honesty of a video game where you play villain. Many games revolve around killing everything in plain sight, and at some point, we should admit that turtle-killing plumbers and mass-murdering treasure hunters are not as “good” as we are led to believe.

With their murderous intent exposed, the best “monster” games lean towards absolute power. Classics like Rampage World Tour and Destroy all monsters allows you to wreak explosive and hilarious havoc, then build up humanity’s accelerated efforts to stop your villainy.

The new Devolver Digital game Carrion, this week on PC and consoles, follow that tyrannical tradition, although with a different tactic. Instead of looking like a schlocky monster movie, Carrion fills up with HR Giger with its monstrosity of tentacles and teeth. Its combination of atmosphere, mechanics, and a dark and hilarious ride make it one of the coolest 2D games we’ve seen in years.

Screaming mozzarella sticks

The new game’s idea of ​​a “plot” starts early: you’re an amorphous, crimson-red monster, made mostly of tentacles that can reach, grab, and crawl across nearby surfaces. They can also grab and dump debris, doors, and nearby people, and their blobby center is characterized by a massive, tooth-covered mouth with which humans can be better eaten. When he is released from captivity, some nearby employees fire pistols, and the main way to heal these wounds is to kill and eat anyone in their way. Then you will do that a lot.

Or you can grab and throw them, letting the collision physics do the damage as they flap around like they’re yelling mozzarella sticks. Or you can touch a “growl” button, intended primarily as an echolocation tool, to scare the ever-living bejeezus from the person who has left without eating. It’s that kind of game.

This movement and combat core works flawlessly on both the gamepad and mouse and keyboard, though the latter is all about mouse clicking, not WASD, and, gosh, it feels good to point your movement path with a mouse pointer and instinctively watch your creature grab all relevant surfaces to propel itself into a smooth and dangerous jolt. (In particular, it’s delightful to see some of the tentacles move nimbly across the screen, while others cling to closer surfaces to establish a surprisingly natural balance.) Animation routines needed to keep so many tentacles moving, spiraling, and aiming. The exact shape you want, whether for movement, puzzle solving, or combat, is among the most impressive things I’ve seen in a 2D video game. This quality will quickly take apart any negative impressions you may have on the game’s pixelated designs.

Metroidvania

Speaking of: Any “Metroidvania” vibes you can get by taking a look at the game is well placed. Your progress from one zone to the next is generally controlled by new types of barriers, such as bulky doors or complicated laser grid security systems, and you will move between combat rooms and light puzzles to find the correct tracking path for your next journey. enhance. Carrion It is smart about this fee to have been there in some cases. An example is a ubiquitous “biomass” option. At a certain point, your monster can double its health and enjoy a “battering ram” attack, propelling your entire mass of tentacles toward enemies and barriers. But when it’s equipped, you can’t use certain abilities, such as a “projectile launch” attack, which you’ll need to solve certain puzzles.

Its monster avoids it by being able to discharge its health bonus into any permanent pool of water, allowing for certain abilities, at the cost of health and the aforementioned ram attack. This is a smart risk-reward solution not only in terms of reducing health on key difficulty peaks, but also because you never have to change skills by pausing and flipping through an “inventory” menu.

Terror can arise from any air outlet

As a result, CarrionDevelopers keep players in action at all times, rather than forcing them to enter and exit pause menus like games. This is probably the same reason the game does not include a built-in map, despite the fact that you will be crossing previously explored areas to advance. Sometimes, I wish I had a map to retrace my steps through repetitive corridors, but for the most part, it’s not necessary thanks to a combination of clear signage and one-way tunnels that propel you forward as needed.

Carrion He also cleverly weaves combat into your progression from one zone to another, aided by your monster’s science fiction trope escaping from a Weyland-Yutani-style military-industrial complex. In general, these enemies emphasize directional attacks and shields, like a guard pointing an electric shield in whatever direction he’s looking, and this routinely forces you to notice every air vent, narrow passage, and alternate tracking path in a room. given combat. Do you sneak up your back to grab and eat an enemy? Fall from above, while using a spare tentacle to launch a torn door at a guard to stun it? Studying a particular area becomes crucial once enemies start using elemental attacks as well; You need to know where a pool of water might be, for example, once the enemy’s flamethrower enters the mix.

Like a grab and throw monster, you have to create your own projectiles or think carefully about what you are grabbing and why. The enemy designs from the later game do well to emphasize this, as an apparently invincible clone of RoboCop‘s ED-209; You can’t kill him, but with careful maneuvers, you can open your cockpit and choose your pilot as a cherry pit.

Short, bloody and sweet.

I leave some of the game’s nifty tweaks to the Metroidvania formula, as the powers in question are delightful surprises. Suffice it to say that going from point A to point X made me laugh like a mad scientist sometimes. The same goes for combat encounters that push your limits like a hardened monster. These emphasize that your creature can die as fast as it can kill you and force you to map a certain battlefield before jumping from a hidden passageway.

My biggest problem comes from the hard-to-handle nature of crowded combat. One-on-one encounters are clear and manageable, but when some people stand next to each other, it is impossible to catch and bite them all at once; Even the battering ram cannot constantly sweep away crowds. Further, Carrion be careful not to wear it down, so it will only take you about five hours to complete your first ride.

But in terms of time, unique 2D tour, CarrionThe execution has no equal. The closest thing I can think of is the 2015 experimental platformer Mushroom 11but the puzzle potential of that game has nothing CarrionThe memorable stalking matches in the corridor and the delights of the environmental puzzle. It’s a pretty easy recommendation for $ 20, and an incredible hit for the Xbox Game Pass subscription service.

Honestly, if you’ve ever wanted to pretend like a xenomorph in a video game, Carrion offers a facsimile better than any official license Alien game.

The good:

• Slide, jump and devour, as the grotesque monster in this game is unmatched in 2D games.
• Detailed animation techniques make the monster’s beastly movement even more engaging.
• Ambient effects like blood, flames, and creepy lighting power an already appealing variety of science fiction interiors.
• Crunches, screams, drips and explosions – the sound design really helps for this monster game.
• Smart twists on the usual Metroidvania formula keep players moving forward as they progress through solid environmental puzzles.
• Combat increases with a solid enemy design, meant to emphasize your monster’s grabbing and throwing powers.

The bad:

• There is no mapping system to help when you inevitably get a little lost.
• Crowded combat can become difficult to handle.
• The game is nothing but welcome, but get ready for a short game in five hours.

The ugly one:

• I don’t know, man. This game is pretty good while maintaining a modest range.

Verdict: Buy (or claim on Xbox Game Pass for console or PC).