Xbox Game Pass Users Only Have Days Left to Beat This 5-Hour Horror Game

The countdown clock on Game Pass games can be intimidating. It can seem like you’ll have all the time in the world to beat a certain game until you see that it’s next on the chopping block and set to leave the service. It can be hard to crunch and finish something when under that kind of time pressure. Thankfully, some games like Carrion are incredibly short and can be finished quickly.

Carrion is one of the two games set to exit Xbox Game Pass on December 31st (the other is popular multiplayer first-person shooter Hell Let Loose). Carrion is a search action horror platformer where players play as a gelatinous monster wreaking havoc on the scientists and soldiers who locked it up. Essentially, it is like The Thing but from the reverse point of view.

It has a few strengths, but its length is what stands out. Carrion can be finished in around five or so hours and possibly less for speedrunners. Getting all 21 achievements also isn’t hard and doesn’t take too much extra time, as none of them are missable (it’s possible to load back in after the credits, too) and getting 100% isn’t all that arduous. Traversing around can be a bit confusing thanks to its lack of a map, but there are plenty of online guides that make getting every containment unit rather simple.

Carrion Isn’t a Genre Staple, But Is a Decent Distraction

Carrion‘s ability to turn the character into an anti-hero is one of its strengths. Using the creature’s tentacles to slam guards can occasionally be cathartic and its unique movement skills make it stick out when compared to other games of its ilk. There’s no jump button. Instead, the mass of viscera travels around by sticking to the walls and structures. Its spider-like movement makes it a little unsettling, which is how it should be.

Puzzles also take advantage of its supernatural abilities and have players carefully growing and shrinking in order to access certain size-exclusive powers. The bigger blob can perform actions the smaller ones cannot, so it’s on players to think about what size they need to be in order to progress. These predicaments aren’t ever the most brain-twisting tests, but they let players explore a different side of this insidious predator.

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This change of perspective and ominous tone (which carries on to its fittingly heinous finale) are respectable parts of Carrion, but it doesn’t come close to the genre’s high points. Combat can get frustrating because of the frustratingly loose and inaccurate controls of the beast’s tentacles. Tying them to the analog stick instead of a simple button means they behave inconsistently and can lead to plenty of cheap deaths that call into question the monster’s lethality. It is annoying to see a grunt and flop around a bunch only to realize that you have barely done any damage.

And even though it is somewhat of a search action platformer — a genre where upgrades reign supreme — there aren’t many upgrades to speak of. There’s no missile tank equivalent here. Lacking proper rewards means the levels are rather linear and don’t leave much room to explore. This is often a key part of the genre and not being able to grow in power through optional means leaves games like this feeling a little hollow. This is made even more clear in its 20-minute holiday-themed DLC that doesn’t do anything differently from the base game; it doesn’t even give players the fantasy of slaughtering elves in Santa’s workshop that its title and tone somewhat imply.

Its story does little to contextualize what’s going on, too. Players get brief flashbacks and whatnot, but there’s little explaining what’s going on, what the blob is, and who these humans are. It’s difficult to craft a narrative around a mutant mass of destruction that can’t speak and a game like this doesn’t absolutely require a story, but that doesn’t completely absolve Carrion of its storytelling shortcomings and the unique tale it could have told with its out-of-the-ordinary perspective.

It is this perspective, though, that is what makes Carrion worth checking out. Few other games like this have players inhabit a raging monster, flipping the power dynamics seen in many games. The premise is intriguing and sets a decent-enough foundation for new developer Phobia Game Studio, which has been teasing its new and still unannounced project. Game Pass may get a lot of attention for its ability to snag big titles like The Outer Worlds 2 and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, but it is often more valuable as a service that serves up rough yet interesting titles like Carrion.

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