
The ambient sounds and music do an OK job of setting the atmosphere, but the star of the show is the horrifyingly squishy sounds the monster makes when eating or killing. The environments feel extremely similar, which makes sense for an underground maybe-military complex but wears thin by the end once you realize you're not going to see much more. The enemies are all basic but clearly distinctive, so you can figure out what is and isn't a threat at a single glance. The gory creepy tentacle monster you control is genuinely horrifying to look at, and the oddly graceful way it moves gives it a distinctive feeling and personality, even if it is just a bloody blob.
#CARRION SWITCH COVER SIMULATOR#
It stands well enough because of that pacing, but don't expect it to be a "pop in and play when you want to terrorize humans" simulator because there isn't much depth.Ĭarrion looks pretty good.

It's also hard to imagine replaying it much because it was clear the basic premise was running out of steam by the end. There's no real buildup to the ending, nothing resembling a final boss or even a final challenge room, and the game just … ends. Unfortunately, this also means that it feels perfunctory. Just as it has given you everything you're going to see, it ends. To the game's credit, it is well paced and doesn't outstay its welcome. It can take a little more time if you backtrack for the aforementioned power-ups. The problem above isn't too serious largely for one reason: Carrion is about four hours long. It only feels like a limitation in the rare instances when not having energy is part of the puzzle. Likewise, energy is a gate for abilities like spikes or invisibility, but since those abilities are so frequently used for puzzles, energy recharge stations are everywhere. Rather than making me feel like I'm solving a puzzle, the presence of red pools lets me know exactly what I have to do and turns it into busywork. If you need less, there are red pools that let you temporarily drop off biomass. If you need more biomass, there's something nearby to grant it (usually a save point). Neither is particularly fun to play around with because the game is obligated to give you plenty. Abilities in the game are gated behind two things: biomass and energy. Unfortunately, these don't end up being very fun. In addition, you'll gain a few other passive powers, such as mind control.Ĭarrion's Metroidvania DNA is visible in the fact that you get new powers and new abilities and can even backtrack for more as you progress. The second-largest form can smash through wooden barricades and cover itself with spikes that can kill enemies. The smallest form can shoot a web that stuns enemies, pulls switches, and temporarily turns invisible. Each piece of biomass has two abilities: one offensive and one defensive. Each piece grants your creature a new ability. Taking enough damage returns your creature to its default form and size, but you can always grow larger after you've eaten enough or found a save point to refresh your character.Īs the game progresses, you'll unlock new abilities by finding scattered pieces of the creature's biomass located in various areas. These larger forms are generally more powerful but larger, so it takes more damage. As you progress, the creature gains the ability to take on a second and eventually a third larger form as long as it's consumed enough flesh.


At the start, it can only withstand a handful of bullets before dying, and a straight fight spells doom.

Only fleshy uncovered enemies can be devoured, so there are certain soldiers you'll need to eliminate first or the game's over.įor a giant, sentient mass of viscera, the monster is shockingly fragile.
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Most of your time is spent either figuring out how to get past a blockade or how to eliminate enough enemies so it is safe to take out the rest. Get to a place, kill everything, and repeat. These controls are the basis for almost every action in the game. Right-clicking makes it grab an object, and if it's an enemy, you can drag it closer to automatically gnaw on them. In essence, the creature can fly, even if it's displayed as tentacles whipping out. The monster is extremely easy to control, and left-clicking makes it go wherever you point.
