Games
Times can be tough in this Metroidvania creature-feature, but you've got to Carrion anyway.
Carrion, the latest game by gaming goremeisters Phobia Game Studio, is a horror game with a twist: you are the slimy, tentacled thing that goes bump in the darkness.
However, playing as the bad guy isn't all fibrous fun times and slurping your way through vents: Carrion is a tough as nails Metroidvania-style puzzler that makes you earn every achievement. It's brilliant, here are some tips for getting ahead.
Size does matter
Your horrifying mutant blob monster has a wide range of tools at their disposal to traverse the facilities you'll visit and the obstacles contained within them.
One of the more unique aspects of the puzzling is that your toolkit will morph as you do. The more biomass your creature has, the more aggressive your kit becomes. The smallest creature can fire parts of itself — perfect for flipping switches at long range or pinning down attackers until you can get closer — or turn invisible to slip past enemies and laser-tripwires. These are invaluable skills, so if you're struggling to get past an area, the many red-tinged pools around the place will allow you to drop a little weight to have access to the stealthier toolkit.
Meanwhile, if you need to barrel through a wooden barrier, you'll need a little weight. You can munch on a few enemies to grow, or return to where you dropped your weight previously and you can swallow the glowing coccoon to get hefty again.
Know your enemy
Nearly everyone you face in the game's first hour or two is a pushover: unarmed scientists that scream as they run or the light security guards armed with nothing more than a pistol pose you no risk whatsoever, merely lunge at them and get eating.
Security guards pack assault rifles (bad news) and flamethrowers (really bad news) and shields that prevent you from grabbing them. You also can't eat them. Dragging them into your mouth will still do a number on them, but you can also grab them and bounce them back and forth off of a few hard objects. Otherwise, grabbing a nearly object and smacking them upside the head with it will also stun them long enough for you to get in there and grab hold.
Later game, drones and even mechs will appear. Drones are remarkably susceptible to being grabbed and smashed around the place, but generally, a good rule of fun is to stay stealthy and hit your enemies hard and fast.
Save often
Carrion is a sprawling game, teeming with new routes, areas to explore and puzzles to solve. The game is well signposted, but having to traipse back through areas you've already sussed out can be a real pain.
Save points in the game are made by you: dark circles in the game's myriad of environments can be turned into save points, infested with your biomass. This will distort the level as you infestation spreads, offering new paths to explore, and opening gates.
Return to one of these at any time to save your progress, setting it as a new respawn point and also gaining full biomass so you can get extra chunky.
Hunt down the extra abilities
There are several new abilities on offer as you move through the game and getting them offers such an increase in possibilities, that you should try to find them as quick as possible.
When you find a little biohazard container, grab it and wrench it about a bit until it ruptures. Then, you can squeeze inside it and pick up your newest ability. There are also some extra additions that could give you, say, an extra tentacle or the ability to seek out the nearest edible body. These are optional, but useful.
If a puzzle is getting to you and you can't see a way to resolve it, leave it and come back. It could just be the case that you don't have what you need to work it out just now.
Two steps forward, one steps back
As a Metroidvania, you'll regularly find abilities that can help you at different stages in the game. The twisty-turny structure of Carrion and the fact that you're regularly doubling back on yourself means that you can quite easily duck back and forwards, using your new abilities to reach new areas.
Every big ability gives you a serious new traversal mechanic, and as a result there's plenty to go back and do. If you've left anything behind, it's worth keeping track of what obstacle you hit so you know when you get something to get past that obstacle.
