After a handful of teases, demo releases on Steam, and appearances at conventions far and wide, we now know when Devolver Digital and Phobia Game Studios’ Carrion will release for PC, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One: July 23. The same day that Crysis Remastered hits Switch.
Devolver Digital announced the release date for the “reverse horror game” during its not-E3 presentation over the weekend, where the developer also provided new looks at Shadow Warrior 3 and Serious Sam 4.
A new trailer shows off the grotesque, Lovecraftian horrors you’ll inflict upon those unlucky enough to imprison you and stand in your way.
Not only does Carrion look deliciously devilish, but it plays well, too. Back in December, we were able to go hands-on with an alpha demo of Carrion, and it left us mostly impressed. Of his time with the demo, Ty Arthur said:
Carrion’s selling point is that you play as a monster escaping a research facility. It’s immediately clear that the game takes inspiration from John Carpenter’s The Thing — just with a bloodier worm motif.
As the titular monster, you roll around on pseudopods that can stick to any surface, lending a serious World Of Goo feel to the game’s wobbly movement. It might take some time to figure out, but it’s satisfying once you start stalking the soldiers and scientists roaming about the lab.
Carrion‘s art style nails that dark and bloody feel, but it’s the excellent sound effects that really take things to the next level. Between the whipping and suctioning of tentacles and the screams of dying fleshy scientists, this is a game best experienced with the sound turned up.
Staying with the gory style, there’s also an appropriately gross take on save points. Your tentacled creature squiggles into wall cracks to form a beating heart that can be used to re-spawn and fill regain any lost biomass. It’s delightfully creepy.
Unsurprisingly, Carrion made our list of most anticipated horror games of 2020 alongside the likes of Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 and the System Shock remake.
There is currently a demo for the game available on Steam, though it’s possible it could come down any day now, so check it out while you still can.
Carrion will retail for $19.99 on PC (Steam and GoG), Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. It will also be available on Xbox Game Pass for console and PC at release.
