You play as a blob of slime in Carrion. A sticky, oozing glob of cannibal slime. Your goal? Kill and eat people. Devour their corpses. Get bigger. Do crime.
Carrion, described as a ‘reverse horror game’ flips the switch on the classic monster formula. Rather than fighting your way down dark tunnels, shooting at every sudden movement, you play the monster.
The ‘monster’ in this case is a giant liquidy monstrosity. It’s a blob with creeping, gelatinous tendrils and one hell of an appetite.
The game features a gloriously gory pixel art style. Tendrils are chunky, glistening and snake-like, and the blob leaves perfectly horrible trails of gore behind it. The level of detail achieved with the art style is stunning, and it makes for one good-looking game.
While there wasn’t much story in the preview I was able to play, the gameplay itself was slashing good fun. It’s a frenetic sidescroller set in an underground den, where soldiers and civilians are at the mercy of the mysterious blob protagonist. Bullets and fire will harm it, but without those tools, the humans are helpless.
Carrion feels fantastic, and its gameplay is fluid and extremely satisfying. The way the blob protagonist moves is fascinating, with flailing limbs and tendril movement that feels dynamic, buoyant and meaty. The more humans the blob is able to scoop up and devour with its terrifying limbs, the bigger it’ll get. The larger it is, the easier it can traverse the game’s underground lair. It’s these power-ups that help you traverse more of the secret underground lab where the game takes place.
While the blob is swift and deadly, it’s important to note it’s not immortal. Some civilians come armed, and bullets do rapid damage. Usually they’re easy to overcome — the blob can whip out its tendrils to carve them in half and consume them for added growth.
When the game gets hard is encountering soldiers.
Soldiers come with hidden surprises. Some are armoured and hold flamethrowers. These flames don’t just hurt, they burn and continue inflicting damage until you can guide the monster to water. Usually, this involves leaping and flying over a variety of obstacles before reaching safety.
As the Carrion demo continued, strategy played as much a part as much as rampant man-eating. Soldiers often wait where water is scarce, making the mad dash back to safety fraught with danger. Thankfully, there’s not much that can escape the clawing menace of the blob. All you need is a bit of good timing, thought and some hideous jelly limbs to help.
Carrion looks set to be a ripping good time when it’s finally released, and it’s a game I’m definitely looking forward to seeing more of in future. Bring on the blob.
Carrion is currently dated for a 2020 release. Stay tuned to the game’s Steam page for more.
Leave a Reply