Gori: Cuddly Carnage is unlike any other games I’ve played in a mostly good way. The bizarre world and premise combine well with the ridiculously gory combat and spirited voice acting, creating one of the wildest games of the year.
Gori: Cuddly Carnage
Developer: Angry Demon Studio
Price: $30
Platforms: PS4, PS5 (reviewed), Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC
MonsterVine was provided with a PS5 code for review
When I previewed Gori: Cuddly Carnage a while back, I only got to play the first few stages but felt optimistic about the full experience. Now that I’m reviewing the game, I’ve found my initial assessment to be rather accurate, as the whole thing is filled to the brim with crazy moments that constantly kept my attention.
Gori: Cuddly Carnage’s premise of evil toys may sound like a done idea, but the game is earnest and unlike anything else in how it approaches this plot. The characters all swear like sailors (which even comes off as a little much at times), one of the biggest antagonists is a toy bear with a face made of seemingly torn flesh, and one of your allies is a mutated fish that thinks it’s human. Plus, your primary goal is to create an orbital laser that’s essentially a giant laser pointer. The title is filled to the brink with absolute madness, making it stand out as a bizarre and intriguing experience.
As the name implies, Gori doesn’t hold back on the splatters and carnage in its explosive combat. Using F.R.A.N.K. the hoverboard, the titular cat can dice up nasty toy unicorns, clowns, and more with brutal results. The blood and guts of these adorable and creepy creatures coat each stage as you decapitate and butcher them with unsettlingly satisfying smoothness. They also drop currency that you can use to upgrade your different attacks or change Gori and F.R.A.N.K.’s appearances, adding silly fun to the gameplay loop.
“There’s an incredibly enjoyable system of traversal that lets you joyfully hop around and smoothly glide across surfaces using your hoverboard.“
The variety of differently themed levels and bosses in Gori: Cuddly Carnage is impressive, even if the bosses typically boil down to a similar process of two stages. One area is a creepy circus/funhouse theme, filled with icky clown imagery, while another has you jumping into arcade games to learn new skills and fight off a giant sharp-toothed mouth. Throughout them all, though, is an incredibly enjoyable system of traversal that lets you joyfully hop around and smoothly glide across surfaces using your hoverboard. Something about it just feels great, as you can accelerate and grind on glowing rails to zip around at high speeds.
The voice acting in Gori: Cuddly Carnage is another strong aspect, as it somewhat emotionally grounds the weird characters and world. Despite Gori only meowing and his two closest friends being robotic objects, you get the sense that the trio cares for one another as they go up against hilariously mean-spirited enemy toys. The fish friend that Gori makes is a goofy addition to the cast too, who rounds the crew out and makes it quite memorable.
My biggest gripe is that Gori: Cuddly Carnage did crash on more than one occasion during my time with the game. One of these crashes came right after a lengthy boss fight, meaning I had to redo the fight from the beginning. Ideally, these crashes won’t happen after a patch near launch, but we’ll have to see as time goes on.
The Final Word
Gori: Cuddly Carnage is a truly peculiar game that is wildly fun to play. It has some unfortunate technical issues, but the distinct world and wonderfully gruesome gameplay go a long way to craft a game unlike anything else I’ve experienced.
MonsterVine Rating: 4 out of 5 – Good
