Gori by name, gory by nature. Despite the titular star being a soft-centred ginger moggy, this hoverboard-based hack ‘n slasher cranks up the crassness. Said method of transport is equipped with swirling blades that turn adversaries into meaty chunks, and the dialogue is littered with f-bombs and other obscenities. The whole shebang is carried by a warped sense of humour, making for an experience that doesn’t come around often. It recalls the twilight years for the Xbox 360 and PS3, where games with violence and subjective humour – such as Lollipop Chainsaw, Anarchy Reigns, and Shadows of the Damned – appeared more frequently. Sunset Overdrive seemingly provides inspiration too, especially for the rail grinding elements.
After Gori’s spaceship becomes breached, the bipedal feline finds himself on a planet ravaged by sinister stuffed unicorn toys gone rogue. It isn’t long until Gori is branded a traitor due to their loyalty to humankind, commencing a manhunt. What then ensues is a bloody battle to forge a powerful weapon while following a path laid by a professor. First, though, Gori needs to find a new ship. This quest takes place during the tutorial, and although it crams a lot in – detailing the hoverboard controls and combat system, setting up the storyline, and introducing Gori’s two robotic companions (the profanity spewing hoverboard itself, and the ship’s despondent AI) – it does so admirably, with the pacing handled well throughout.
The opening phase also gives plenty of time to acquaint with the controls, which aren’t difficult at all to grasp. Gori is bound to his board and can perform both a small and a significantly larger jump, grind rails to generate the energy needed for heavier hitting attacks, attack groups of demonic unicorns with spinning blade saws, and later fire projectiles – which commences slow-mo. As there’s no trick/stunt system in place, the hoverboard’s purpose is squarely on traversal.
The eight stages present last around 45 minutes each and showcase a heady mixture of elements: hoverboard traversal to cross large distances swiftly, impromptu combat arenas, rail grinding while shooting hidden switches, and the occasional chase sequence. Then between missions Gori returns to his spacecraft to upgrade stats – with one or two usually purchasable using accumulated cash. More rooms in the ship can be unlocked, depending on the number of keys collected. These are the game’s one and only collectable, locatable by sound.
The stages themselves are wonderfully varied, feeling like locations the developers genuinely wanted to create. There’s an arcade world with supersized cabinets to leap into, a multifloored museum/aquarium with water to drain, a toy factory run by an immature child-like AI, a dilapidated amusement park, and an abstract world with floating arbitrary objects. While there isn’t much in the way of picturesque views, being set within war-torn locations and all, the game world is often richly and vibrantly detailed. The developers have included raytracing and other features, togglable within the settings menu, with a few different graphic modes available.
Combat has a slightly casual feel, which suits the comical tone perfectly. There’s a combo system in place, ergo S ranks to chase, and new enemies are introduced often. Shields must be smashed, projectile lobbers can have their shots rebounded, and exploding enemies must be evaded before they pop. Takedowns restore health and trying to pull one of these off while on death’s door can be tense. Every stage also ends with a boss fight, and it’s clear these have had a lot of time and effort put into them. Each is as memorable as the last, putting Gori against colossal, grotesque, beasts. A few bosses incorporate rail grinding, making them feel unique. One boss is however reused, turning up as a mini-boss in different stage, and the developers were perhaps a bit too keen on electrified floors.
Gori: Cuddly Carnage is an instantly appealing package, confidently delivered. It’s very easy to get into, luring you in with the promise of grisly ultra-violence and flippant foul language, along with its simple to learn controls and the eye candy the chaotic combat brings. Navigating its imaginative worlds is a breeze, with only one location falling short of clear signposting, and even on the easier difficulty the bosses take a few retries to bring down. The 7-8 hour runtime is ideal for a game of this ilk, and there’s replay value here too with more keys to collect and each stage having an additional combat arena to tackle.
While the crass humour may not be to everyone’s taste – which is perhaps why the profanity filter is a purchasable in-game accessory, found alongside character skins – those lamenting the loss of games daring to be different will likely relish the crassness and carnage on display here. This is an experience as colourful as its language, and in both senses of the word.
Angry Demon’s Gori: Cuddly Carnage is out now on all formats. Published by Wired Productions.