Game Review: Gori: Cuddly Carnage (Xbox Series X)

Poorly marketed, I don’t blame you if you haven’t heard of Gori: Cuddly Carnage, a hack and slash action-adventure video game developed by Angry Demon Studio and published by Wired Productions. It’s such a shame though as it’s a bit of a hidden gem, delivering straight-forward, enjoyable gameplay with an interesting story, unique characters, comedy, and a ton of violent and sweary content. Sure, it might be bright and colourful, star a cute kitty and a talking hoverboard, but Gori is not for kids, not in the slightest.

In fact, it’s a surprisingly adult game with a deep story that has psychological twists and turns but is wrapped up with a zany and comedic bow. I loved it, flaws and all, but I’ll get to them in a bit.

Gori: Cuddly Carnage is set in a post-apocalyptic world where experimental toys gained sentience, rose up under the Adorable Army banner, and slaughtered humanity. Gori is part of a group of ‘Ultra Pets’, created to aid humanity, but his nature made him unsuitable, and he was sent to a scrapheap to be destroyed. Except his creator saved him, sending Gori into space as Earth fell to the toys.

Now Gori is trying to return the favour by tracking down his lost owner. All with the help of his foul-mouthed hoverboard F.R.A.N.K and spaceship computer, the perpetually anxious CH1-P (Chip). Together they must return to Earth, visit varied locations drenched in blood and neon, face off against hordes of mutated and killer zombie unicorns, and construct a giant laser pointer that can help defeat the Adorable Army.

Sounds pretty silly, right? Gori: Cuddly Carnage doesn’t take itself too seriously and is all the better for it. Especially when you consider the action-packed gameplay.

Think Conker’s Bad Fur Day crossed with Earthworm Jim crossed with Ratchet & Clank, and you are part of the way to understanding what Gori: Cuddly Carnage offers. A straight-forward level-based 3D platformer where the goal is to fight your way through enemies, traverse varied platforming challenges, collect key pieces (to open bonus rooms on your ship), solve basic puzzles, and defeat a boss at the end. All with blood, guts, and swear words raining down upon you. All thanks to the F.R.A.N.K’s abilities.

Gori never gets off the board, with levels and combat designed in a way as to make movement easy and free flowing. There are no restrictions, and thanks to the well-designed controls, it won’t take long for players to get to grips with the platforming system and combat. The latter of which is a constant blast, with varied enemy types that force players to rethink strategies.

It’s all about F.R.A.N.K, who is more than just a mouthy hoverboard. In fact, he’s a deadly weapon with an array of offensive and defensive abilities. Slashing blades that can tear through the bodies of the not-so-cute-anymore unicorns, a shield that can turn them into mulch, slam attacks that can crush, and even projectiles that can change a battle in an instant when it comes to dealing with tougher, or aerial enemies.

It doesn’t take long for more enemy types to be introduced, and players will need be at their best later in the game and on increased difficulties, but the game is fair and always gives the player ample time to get used to new enemies, new abilities, and new challenges. Especially as the fuel system (what Gori uses to power up F.R.A.N.K) comes into play, but everything can be upgraded from currency earned throughout levels. Overall, combat is easy to get to grips with and easy to master, although it’s fair to say that it can also get a bit repetitive.

A criticism that also applies to most levels too, as Angry Demon Studio has made each a lengthy trawl (30+ minutes in some cases) with multiple sections, cutscenes, and a guaranteed epic boss fight at the end. In most cases this is fine, but there are one or two that do feel like they drag on.

Thankfully, to off-set that are varied designs that really bring the game to life and give it a ‘comic book’ feel. This post-apocalyptic world is vibrant and imaginative, and every level looks and feels different. From rain swept floods that lead you deep into a giant aquarium, along dystopian streets, into giant arcade machines, across giant pinball machines, and even deep into the mind of the adorable lead, Gori. You’ll never be bored looking at the game, and performance wise, it holds up well. I had one game crash against the final boss which meant I had to do it all over again.

A minor problem and not one to harm the overall enjoyability of the game, even if some of the erratic tone switches, hit and miss humour, lengthy levels, and repetitive combat stop it being a truly great game.

Still, I enjoyed the hell out of it and am glad I came across it and took a chance on it. I think you will too, now let’s get a bloody sequel!