Carrion - Lore Theory and Review

[@paragonrobbie9270]

One thing that I can't get off my mind is the biohazard signs and quarantined apartments at the end of the game. Either the facility uses a fake quarantine area to keep people away from the entrance or the creature we play as isn't the only one out there.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

That's my thoughts too, considering there was one of those "sample containers" already broken - it could have been another creature that escaped before we did.

[@xshullaw]

​@@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr That was always my assumption, just as well that Relith HQ is partially sectioned off, like there was already an attack.

[@blake_the_dreadnought]

There is another: dark carroin aka the dark hive, was ment for multi player, has different sounds and texture, can be played though the steam workshop!

[@elkefransisca3747]

@@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr There is definitely more than 1 out there when we begin Carrion, heck I theorized that there was possibly even one during the events of when we were rampaging through the facility - maybe other specimens were alot more secretive and stealthy than us

[@Divine_general_raga]

It might be multiple operating off a hive mind trying to escape their containment to remarge

[@theonlyatlas]

dude i got the game on sale and when playing the game the look on my face when i found out you could make humans control mechs was ecstatic!

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

It was definitely an "oh hell yeah!" moment for me too lol

[@nahfr.]

Bro i need a dlc for this game or smthn

[@That-one-guy000]

​@nahfr. There is a free cristmas DLC, im pretty sure it comes pre downloaded

[@xxsheolxx]

The sound of the machine guns firing at such a high capacity hits that asmr sweet spot.

[@kelleyohora637]

We all know that Bill cipher will make a mo ster like the carrion monster

[@mkeratking]

I think I can explain the helicopter "capture" scene with fewer assumptions: we don't know how long assimilating the scientist took, but if we assume Relith is a standard Evil Corporation then they probably sent a military team to kill the scientists. The blood on the helicopter is from the pilot being executed by the soldiers, and the drone identifying your face as one of their targets is why the soldiers opened fire. But there's also a deeper weirdness: the helicopter you arrived in is a fake: it has the exact same call number (859) as the soldier's helicopter. At first I thought this was just asset re-use, but no: the devs took the time to flip the number properly for the other side of the helicopter, and they already made a new sprite for the blood effects. Intentionally, the game is drawing attention to the fact that these scientists arrived in a helicopter disguised as a Relith helicopter, but also that the situation was complicated enough that no soldier shot you on sight until a drone verified you were a target. I honestly think it was pure luck that the person the Carrion was impersonating happened to be on a hit list, because otherwise it would have escaped. As for the "Antediluvian" moss and modern-looking derelict with a modern stun-gun, I suspect that there's another faction we never saw. One that originally found and reinforced the Cyclopean ruins, but then vanished or was absorbed by Relith. If this was our world (I'm still not convinced it's meant to be interpreted as such) I'd wave my hands and say "Soviet-something-something Research Base"

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

Ah, that's something I hadn't considered. Good catch! The idea that there was and/or is another faction other than Relith opens up even more possibilities on what's really going on

[@redblade5556]

Well, the city has a few things I'd associate with futuristic building after all.

[@nathanlamberth7631]

I like the idea of a powerful shapeshifter that has to convince their host to allow themselves to be assimilated. It could easily kill you, but I wants to absorb you, and you have to sympathetic to it for that to happen. It would make a great mind bending horror story.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

That's the great and frustrating thing about having such an ambiguous story. It really could be anything, and I love you're idea.

[@l00p_de_L00p-n1h]

Mind if I steal this idea 👀

[@nathanlamberth7631]

@@l00p_de_L00p-n1h go for it

[@colewest7096]

Isn't this just Venom with Eddie Brock?

[@drizztrysylvae3045]

​@@colewest7096technically speaking, Venom needs a host to survive, and members of its 'symbiote species' are somewhat more parasitic than symbiotic in that they typically take control away from their host by increasingly influencing their thoughts and actions. Presumably with the goal of taking over full control. TLDR: Symbiotes like Venom dont typically require a 'willing host'.

[@strikeforce1500]

Imagine hiring a lead scientist and his team to investigate some alien looking life form, and they choose to go without hazard suits,and the lead scientist goes full Patrick and touches the dang thing with their hand

[@agent5333]

“LARRY WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!” “Haha red ball goes squish”

[@dungeonguy88]

Makes me think of Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. "Go ahead. Give the big, fleshy egg a jostle. It'll be cool."

[@Pyracyntrix]

For the final flashback, what I think happened was that the carrion creature tried to escape, realised that the chopper called for help, and went back to find a body to parasitize, in an attempt to evade detection. The scientist wakes up because of them being animated by the creature's parasitism, hence why the human didn't react to the carnage. That might be why the creature gets the flashbacks to begin with. It's remmebering it's first failed attempt to integrate and blend in with humans.

[@lucacoutinho5269]

Hey, so about the cocoons, if you are at the green level of byomass, instead of leaving one behind, you can transform into one, implying that the can do this to hybernate.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

And here I thought I saw everything in this game. That's a good catch!

[@recurvestickerdragon]

don't you also hatch from one after dying? like, it's a little part of itself saved away in case the active branch gets killed. ditto with the researcher and what came before

[@lucacoutinho5269]

@@recurvestickerdragon The cocoon in Specific are pieces of Biomass left in the liquid, equivalent to a level of mass(5 hp points), and we can turn into one while in specifically the green Level. It revives from "Nests" it leaves, poping out of the mouth of said Nests, but we never see the insides, so there may be Cocoons inside the Nest, and we just don't see them, but it seems more like an Hybernation Mode, that the researcher wakes it from

[@mc.builder8267]

@@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nryou should read the comic, it shows the Carrion as moss devouring the tubifex worms and growing from there. The carrion tells a military specialist that it is what it eats, so when it ate the worms it gained their hunger.

[@Endless_Calamity]

"Lived like a queen, died like The King" Absolutely foul

[@rulerofeverything6294]

Foul

[@DarkKnight6six6]

Turning into a tentacle meat monster covered in mouths and eyes would've been a cool power for the PROTOTYPE games

[@johnarcher6150]

As a Mass Move or even an upgrade for Tendril powers, turn into Venom and swing around the city passively eating people as we touch them.

[@tootbender6935]

Yeah it'd be cool if you could turn into various forms that were less humanoid... Instead of just, guy in a hoodie with monster arms.

[@MACMAN2003]

my theory on the story is that the scientist in the flashbacks "absorbed" the power of the biomass ball and became the carrion. that would explain why the carrion morphs into the scientist at the end.

[@LastGoatKnight]

3:23 "that's right! *A* flashback" You mean fleshback? No no, carrion. You know what? *stands up slowly* I'll find the exit

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

Goated response

[@darryllmaybe3881]

Honestly my biggest complaint with the game was that there isn't more of it. I really liked it, and I kinda wish it had more replay value, but that isn't the fault of the developers, but just an overall problem with this kind of game. If they worked to give it more replayability, it'd lose a lot of what made it what it is, so the only real solution is that I wish the game was longer because it's just that fun.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

Agreed 100% I had a blast with this game. I'll still replay it after some time, but I do wish there was more. We need more Carrion.

[@DarkenedRaven]

@@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr Thankfully there's quite a few additional maps on the steam workshop, but hopefully we'll get more in the future.

[@mc.builder8267]

I’m just glad it was so well made. I fear if they tried to make it longer/make more of it it wouldn’t have come out being as good as it is.

[@nullstudios2989]

There will eventually be a sequel.. eventually.

[@darryllmaybe3881]

@@nullstudios2989 Why are you so sure?

[@Lonewolf360gaming]

I get that this whole games premise is playing as the monster but for a bunch of scientists/researchers its crazy how they lack a phd in common sense because if i went down into some old abandoned facility and saw sentient goop and a red pulsating mass I'd be like "yeah sharron and timmy i think we should make a u-turn and make sure whatever this prison is doing keeps doing its job of keeping whatevers inside here IN"

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

😂

[@nathanalves3284]

I feel like these specific scientists were sent on a suicide mission after all the alien was already inside an abandoned facility which indicates that they probably already had an idea that it at least existed and considering that after the alien assimilated the scientist and tried to escape in disguise there was already a battalion of highly armed soldiers and drones scanning everything around then they were probably already expecting this to happen.

[@DarkestMirrored]

my personal theory is actually that the whole game takes place on an offworld colony or else far, FAR in the future - the environments, especially stuff like the "bunker" in the caves, just don't feel like somewhere on Earth. i always assumed the derelict facility was in fact a previous human research facility (thus explaining why it's so similar to the one we escape from), and that perhaps the modern facility even based several of its containment procedures off of the derelict one. the strange corpses might just be other forms of the carrion monster took. it's also possible that there is some ancient, alien core to the derelict facility, but that humans had in fact found it previously and studied it once already before the disaster - the idea that the game represents history repeating itself is really fun, i think.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

Interesting take, I too like the idea of a "history repeating itself" scenario, and as far as we know - it could be on another planet, or in the distant future. Good stuff!

[@talongrau1823]

I honestly think that the compound with the flashback sequence was a holding cell/outpost near/for the carrion. It breached, and probably scattered some other samples around it too. I believe Relith science is wholly resposible for the entire mess, tampering with forces beyond their control.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

I wouldn't be surprised if that was the truth, Relith is shady enough for it

[@ivanpetrov5255]

My guess is that Derelict is an ancient facility. Relith found it and repurposed it for its own research, but something happened. They sent people to check out (the science guy) the aftermath. They probably sent soldiers to take back control, and the science squad was checking if anything was left for salvaging.

[@thesologoldfish]

I got genuine whiplash seeing that subscriber count. You are doing FANTASTIC!

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

Thanks! I appreciate the encouragement 👍

[@yaveker]

I personally think that the creature absorbs things and when the scientist touched it, it absorbed the scientist, essentially becoming the scientist. When the scientist carrion hybrid tries to leave, the drone detects it as non-human and thus the soldiers open fire, shredding it and splitting it apart. Through the game imo you're putting yourself back together so you can become the scientist again. At the end you pass perfectly as a human and leave, presumably to go about doing whatever the scientist originally wanted to do but with a new taste for raw meat.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

I like the hybrid theory, makes you wonder how much is the scientist and how much is the creature.

[@agent5333]

Now I’m picturing the monster stuck in the banality of everyday life.

[@shcdemolisher]

Though this does also open the theory of wanting to make what happened in the base spread to the city, making some massive flesh monsters and growths all across the city as the population is harvested.

[@artninja1819]

“Ara- Arah- Aura- Spider shit.” Nailed it. XD

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

😂

[@BlazeMakesGames]

I've always been under the impression that the ending is a twist reveal that the flashbacks are flash forwards. The facility being explored is the same facility, but potentially after the surface was nuked in a failed last-ditch attempt to contain the breach, explaining why it goes from being in the middle of a city to in a seeming desert. And I think it just makes more sense with what we see of the scientist. We see him being created from the creature at the end of the main story, and then him being 'killed' or at least revealed to be the creature in disguise at the end of the flash-forwards. Maybe the entity wanted to explore the facility to try and learn more about itself and its origins now that it has infiltrated human society. Which would also explain why the scientist seemingly took like zero reasonable precautions when exploring a facility that is clearly full of biohazards, because he already knows that it's all just more of him. And I think that the scientist blacking out is meant to be a misdirect to make it look like they only just got possessed instead of being possessed the whole time.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

oooh that's an interesting take

[@godtheone2083]

I feel the best comparison I can think of is a more aggressive monster from "the thing". A creature taking control of a human but prefers to engage the humans in less sneaky ways

[@flazzorb]

IMO, Carrion is an Action-y Puzzle game. Although you can absolutely throw yourself at early enemies with no consequence, most enemies will shred you in a straight, face to face fight.

[@octopode170]

after playing through this game several times, here's what i've come up with over the years for lore: Relith is a hybrid organization similar to the SCP foundation, dipping its toes into many different subjects to most efficiently complete its goals. Considering there is neither uranium nor tropical rainforest in seattle, Relith must span either the americas or several parallel universes, and i prefer the former for this interpretation. as far as the game's plot is concerned, it starts with a place in the middle of the desert. this place, perhaps due to celestial alignment or simple remoteness, was perfect for the practice of occult sacrifices and rituals to summon or create malign extraplanar entities for various uses, and was used as such. eventually, Relith became aware of this place and either booted out its current inhabitants or reinhabited its ruins, gussying up the place to Relith's modern architectural and electronic tastes in the process. naturally, since this place was perfect for the practice of occult sacrifices and rituals to summon or create malign extraplanar entities for various uses, Relith got right to doing just that with its state-of-the-art technology and research divisions. in their experiments to bring about entities beyond the stars, they found out at least two things: colonial/gregarious creatures are best for quickening normally shapeless things into our shaped universe, and it is very logistically difficult to manage both the esoteric resources required for their r&d to be happy 𝘢𝘯𝘥 the constant influx of forgettable people for the sacrificial use of their sapient minds. both of these newfound facts led to the exact same ending; a catastrophic occurrence resulting in a complete collapse of control over dangerous organisms and the proceeding total abandonment of the facility we now know as the Derelict. fast forward some couple decades and, through a secretive combined effort with the local powers, the Derelict's surroundings are now finally considered safe enough to enter the Derelict proper and search for any recoverable records. an initial canary team is sent in with minimal gear to perform some basic surveying and determine if further searches should be invested in. in the end, the canaries did their actual job of sacrificially flushing out any surviving specimens perfectly, and provided Relith with both fresh eldritch horrors and a perfectly safe facility to repair and continue their dark experiments. you, of course, were the fresh eldritch horrors in question, which would break loose and tear Relith's hubristic ass a new one. anyways uhhhhh yeah subbed because your epic

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

Oh man this is really good! I had the thought they were similar to the SCP foundation as well, but didn't think about it as deeply as this. Good job, and thank you!

[@WillKester]

@@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr My theory for the blood on the helicopter in the flashback, is that he was shot by Relith's soldiers they did this since he was part of the sacrificial team to lure the specimen out, and might have figured out what was going on.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

@@WillKester That could very well be true. Definitely adds to the intrigue.

[@the_infinexos]

I think, above all, the scientists' desires were to live. More than hating or killing this creature, they wanted to go back home alive and see their loved ones. We see them cowering and running away and trying to fight back to survive. And so... the Carrion also develops that urge to live, and live it does

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

I like the idea of the carrion taking on more human role

[@Haephasto]

I liked the game a lot. One thing I would have loved for them to add would be a sandbox mode. Random selection of powers, random map. Go crazy. Because the game's puzzle elements only really work well the first time. As for theories, the game appears to imply by ways of how the research areas are constructed, that the creation of the creature is tied to radation, likely nuclear because of the creature's innate resistance to the nuclear cores (it is not resistant to basic things like bullets without some form of powerup). This would suggest the crystals are either radiation shielding or or generating devices. The reason the scientists are not actually hurt by the creature might be its weakened state. We never see "our" biomass come to life, suggesting it is too weak to do that on its own (would also be a negative evolutionary decision). However, if the humans coming might have reactivated some form of radiation after they restored power, the biomass gets to be charged again and come to life, but possibly be weaker than the original creature and forced to be small and hide in the human's head. The attacks left it weak enough to be captured and put in the box. Where the humans once again begin to experiment, likely once again with trace amounts of radiation, allowing the creature to awaken and become strong enough to break out. The other samples are from the "original" creature which apparently tried to escape (blood in the chopper) and so they took these samples and stored them in several places to make sure the creature could not re-form. Each bit of biomass absorbed gives extra powers, because you slowly "become" one with the original creature.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

Sandbox mode could be fun for sure. At least to extend the game a bit more. I definitely think you're on to something with the radiation and the fact the "samples" were separated.

[@danieldilick3593]

I love your voice, your jokes are 10/10 and you have good editing! Keep up the great work!

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

Appreciate the kind words! Got another vid on the way soon

[@eudescardozo3395]

I belive that between the second and third flashback, the loss of communications with the science team and the heli pilot witch can be seen in the first flashback sending a distress call due to the monster reaching the surface had the corp send a response team to the area, that being the second heli and the soldiers, now i belive that they managed to save the pilot due to two reasons, first the heli windowns are not broken and second the blood is outside the heli. Also the soldiers were probably waiting for reinforcements before entering into the facility to find the missing research team when you left, thus implying it only took a couple minutes between all of the cutscenes. Also the reason why the latter levels have more or only soldiers could be because at that point the soldiers have arrived and have evacuated the scientists in there

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

Very good point! I think you're probably right on this one.

[@nullpoint3346]

Why is it always "Ancient aliens", are we humans not freaky enough for ourselves? We _are_ cryptids.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

We really are aren't we?

[@Liam_Patton]

The "antediluvian" part refers to pre-flood biology/people. The word antediluvian is almost never used in any serious way outside of conversations relating to THE flood as in Noah's Ark. Whether you believe in it or not, bear with me for a moment. As far as the Bible is concerned, humanity's actions before the flood were worthy of obliterating them and the world they lived in entirely. According to the bible, people lived dramatically longer than people today, and the bible says that in our age it would be like the days of Noah. This all paints a very vague picture, but it's actually extremely relevant to both of your comments and the game overall. Due to seeing the monster's genetic samples all over the base, we can see that its DNA is extremely easy to modify and mess with. In real life, culturing genetically different samples that are so different that they possess entirely different traits is doable, but extremely difficult to do the backwards-way. We can "knockout" genetic sequences pretty easily, eliminating functions from the DNA, but creating entirely new traits and abilities is very much a fictional or near fictional thing without "spooky authorities" being involved. Bottom line: Unless your budget's infinite and you have no oversight, that shit ain't happening. But that actually paints exactly the perfect picture. The flashbacks show that the original specimen they captured had the ability to mimic a human, the last ability we get in the entire game. If they started with the full genome and selectively knocked out parts of it to whittle down the creature into a testable, controllable state, it would explain why they have test samples of the abilities and they're all stored separately and we start the game as a neutered wad. When people have extreme amounts of time on their hands and no moral restraint at all, they start messing around. If you had five hundred years to yourself and unlimited access to technological research, wouldn't you build some crazy shit? Suppose that the Antediluvian people were interested in genetic engineering. What if living for almost a thousand years wasn't enough for them? The first and most basic trait we can see in the monster is that it is biologically immortal. It's not immortal because any one part of it is immortal, but because the organism is immortal as a collective. New worms are created, old worms die, the monster remains the same. What if a human being with no morals at all and access to ungodly amounts of technology invented a way to make himself immortal. Then he saw all the ways that his immortal body could be stronger. Inventing ways for it to travel, swim, fight, kill, infect, eat, travel. What if the monster in carrion is as intelligent as a human from before the flood because it IS a human from before the flood? Did God annihilate the pre-flood civilization for inventing a life-form so dangerous and vile that it threatened all life on earth? Relith didn't invent the monster. Ancient Aliens is half right. It's Ancient. The ruins are antediluvian. But I don't think it's an alien at all. After all, the first thing it does as soon as it gains access to its full genome is return to a human form. The form of a scientist. The only survivor other than Noah and his family.

[@ramenguy563]

great video, i've been hyperfixating on carrion for a while now and seeing someone else's input and thoughts on the lore was really fascinating! keep up the good work :)

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

Thank you! Glad to have provided 👍

[@Argacyan]

The "soldier" type enemy mentioned here leaves green blood, we cannot eat them & I think they even have different audio cues. My theory is they're androids or something.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

It's a possibility, might explain why we can't eat them.

[@ultmateragnarok8376]

Yeah, when you kill them they make glitchy-sounding screams with feedback mixed in, like it's coming from a speaker that you damaged while killing them. They also aren't suited in hazmat areas, while normal armed and unarmed humans are, which would further imply them to not be biological.

[@FinnDanger-e3v]

But, one of sits on a toilet

[@xxsheolxx]

The way the skeletons are hanging in the hibernation chamber.... yea, those were kibble for the creature. I'm guessing the victims were placed there to tie over the monster.

[@dagdammit]

20:30 blood on helicopter could also be from the followup containment team executing the helicopter pilot on sight.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

Very well possible!

[@jacobcox4565]

18:28 That creature on the D&D campaign art looks very familiar.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

Right? I thought the same.

[@michaelclark5237]

"TRAAAIN!!" followed by "OH SHIT!" was so unexpected from a lore video. I love it. Also a pretty good movie. Still remember the story about the pie eatting contest.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

lol glad you liked it! Stand by me is one of those movies I watch every couple years.

[@blueygooey8899]

Antagonist doesn't mean bad guy, it means opposing force. Same is true for protagonist, which is just the leading character. The creature in Carrion is by definition the protagonist. The antagonists would be the humans attempting to contain it

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

Thank you for the correction!

[@EnbyNomad]

I pray for a sequel every day

[@craz2580]

Video essays about videogames??? Hell yeah, im following

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

Welcome to the legion 🐐

[@FlannelHobbit]

Came for the Carrion coverage, but stayed for the voiceover. You have one of the most unique and compelling voices / deliveries I have ever heard. If you're not already signed, you should seriously consider submitting yourself to a voiceover agent. You have a real knack for it.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

Wow thank you, I appreciate the compliment! I haven't done any VO work other than my own vids, and feel like I could still do better. It's something to consider though, thanks for that!

[@Varler_]

Great video! This was my favorite game the year it came out but I never realized there was a DLC for it!

[@commanderlackgaming1230]

When i got it, i saw Mark's video on it and pirated it to see if i enjoyed it. Long story short i now have the purchaced version of the game

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

It's a gem for sure.

[@fatmanbatman9374]

I detect a southern draw

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

Yup 🤠

[@TheCorrodedMan]

I actually wrote a story from the Carrion’s perspective, called “Carrion: in the mind of a monster” that I’ve been told was fairly good in how presented the monsters mindset: in my opinion, it’s not evil; it’s broken. Year after year after year of being experimented on by one company or another corrupted its mind and outlook so completely that it sees humans as less than livestock. Essentially, the Monster is traumatized, and it’s taking it out on fucking _EVERYONE_

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

That sounds really intriguing, I pictured it as "you messed with something you shouldn't have, now you're suffering the consequences" kinda thing. I'd be down to read it if you have it posted anywhere.

[@PuertoRicanRattlesnake]

Got a feeling I'll be fallowing this channel for a while, content out the gate seems choice

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

Glad to have ya here! 🐐

[@NymPSeudo]

Fine work! I'd been considering writing a story about this setting and your video was quite informative.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

That's great! This setting is pretty juicy for some really interesting stories. I don't know if you're into posting your stories online, but it could def be an interesting read. No pressure of course.

[@NymPSeudo]

@@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr We took the freight elevator down to the BSL-4. That metal coffin was so damn loud we had to use our helmet comms. I briefed the men with all the intel I had, which was whatever Command had scraped together from the last four hours of security feeds. It was apparent, even to a grunt like me, that the situation was escalating. And rapidly. We hadn’t been the first purge squad dispatched into the facility. Or the fifth. “What is it, though,” my second, Callahan asked. “Security breach,” I said. “Like always.” “Bioweapons? More of those biting critters? If so, glad we got these new cut-proof suits.” “No,” I said. “Something bigger. Something worse. We’re full-auto here. This is a purge op, not a rescue. You see anything in there move, human or otherwise, you put it down. Immediately. We crystal?” Callahan and the others nodded. The elevator shrieked to a halt, and the three-foot-thick security doors of the BSL-4 opened. We stepped in slowly, weapons up. Main power was out, and red emergency lighting bathed the reception chamber. The floor was sticky. I ordered Callahan to take point with the flamer, and he hesitated, something I’d never seen in over a dozen ops. I repeated the order, put some anger in it, hoping to force down the thing building in all of us. Fear.

[@RicardoAlmeidatm]

In the ending there are a lot of barred windows with Biohazard signs on them. I thing our goopy guy is late for the apocalypse and other parts of him (or others of it's species) already broke containment and ate the city.

[@seb24789]

I had one gripe with the game that kept me from ever finishing it. The lack of a map. Every time i put it down and come back a few days later, i had no idea where i was.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

That seems to be main issue for most people. I too would have liked some kind of map

[@nobintov9748]

24:00 looking at the official spotify playlist for the game, the final track, The end as we know it, It's likely the creature is out to end the world as we know it.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

That makes a lot of sense. Especially since Cris Velasco said something about how he wanted the music to be from the monsters viewpoint.

[@Golden_Bunny_Aus]

20:57 the human from the flashbacks.

[@grave5512]

glad youtube recommended this channel, 785 subscribers is to low, this is fantastic and i loved the intro, game me good nostalgia for the early days of youtube before everything felt *too* professional, feels like a nice little anim that fits the subject, great work

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

Thanks! I'm trying to get better at pixel art/similar styles and using it as an intro gives me more of a reason to. As far as subs, I'm blown away by the reception! I'm honestly surprised to have this many.

[@grave5512]

@@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr From my experience, sometimes ya end up filling a neiche that people didn't know they wanted, i work on game projects and at most i expected 100 or so people to be interested, but turns out the particular style catches people. I think yer straight forward yet comedic blend really does it for people in terms of continued engagement. You have a good blend of explanation and joke, never to much one way or the other it really keeps one watching, this coming from a fella who usually has 8 different things going on. keep it up.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

@@grave5512 Thanks for the feedback, it definitely helps! Also glad my humor is coming across lol, I hope you continue to do well in your endeavors as well!

[@grave5512]

@@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr well, HDD failure for my endevors, so some delay, but thank you

[@Xexelli]

Just found this channel, looking forward to watching the full backlogs.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

Appreciate it!

[@nopticillusion0809]

First video of yours I watched and I couldn’t ask for a better voice to listen to, and reviewing one of my favourite games no less! Can’t ask for anything better

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

Thanks a bunch! I appreciate it.

[@scifriskyxy]

This game needs a sequel ngl

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

💯

[@THEGHOSTBURNER]

I like this, this is really well made. I'm excited to see what you do next!

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

Thank you! I appreciate the support!

[@1spyrocrash1]

Love this video and I love listening to your commentary, very soothing

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

Awesome, glad you liked it!

[@im_Vmk.2]

id really love to see more of this universe

[@ShadowMage]

I think the midnight goat is a great name for a channel. You might say that it is the goat.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

We're all GOATS here🐐

[@archuserbytheway]

I think the entity actually just wanted to be free

[@irishguy3002]

3:03 Spreading your influence? Nah. Spread the love. The... Bloody, beating heart... Of love

[@silkenemperor]

15:32. It seems the monster will sometimes swap an eye for a mouth

[@AkinokazeHaruichiban]

A good review of a very fun game. I had such a good time playing this with my chat XD I'm not sure you're right about the past and present being separate locations, IIRC you can actually visit the past location within the present one. Even if you can't get there, I think you might be wrong because they use the same hill background for the flashbacks, as you can see behind the city at the end.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

I probably missed it, I'll have to pay close attention next time I play. Good catch!

[@yarro1965]

Man, I gotta finish this game. Between it and Mo Astray, I love being a little guy who gets into some silly antics (murder).

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

It's satisfying pixelated carnage for sure. Never played MO Astray before, I'll have to check it out.

[@lilyfhonazhel2675]

​​@@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr It's an absolutely good game. 10/10 would recommend it to anyone who likes good and convincing story in a game. As a writer, I love every part of the lore and story-bits. If I could compare it to other games, I'll say Rainworld and Ori and the Blind Forest/Will of the Wisp. It is between those two.

[@mandragorius9637]

How does this channel only have less then 1k subs Sure a tiny bit derivative of so many other 'explained' types of videos But her viloice is cute as a button and Frankley it's really well edited and set up Crazy to me

[@noahwebb8161]

Great video. Something that I took note of in my most recent playthrough is that the creature that we play as isn't necessarily a singular entity. I feel as though we as humans assume it to be an individual creature as we would an animal. But the "Biomass" leaves infections throughout the facility that look to be pretty clearly alive to me. My thoughts are that the Biomass we play as is merely the vehicle through which the entity as a whole transports and spreads itself through.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

I can see that, I wondered if it was like the tubifex worms and were a bunch of individual creatures with a hive mind - or if it worked like a virus and replicated itself. Either way, interesting stuff.

[@silkenemperor]

Fun fact, the parasite ability gets you more food

[@overfailed3639]

No it very much isn't a bad channel name! I love it! Also great video, I really liked Cariion, but fin it not often enough in my timeline for some reason.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

Lol thank you! 🐐 I'm surprised I don't see more pop up in my timeline either.

[@lantern_logic9676]

Thank you komasan for this video!

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

👍

[@imanize2444]

Loved this vid! Good catchup on the lore. Keep up the vids, you defs gotta future on youtube if you keep it going!

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

Thank you for the input, I appreciate it!

[@madma5855]

The violence in this game is so satisfying. I love games that let you play as a creature of mass violence and horror. If you’ve ever played Prototype that’s a good game where you just transform in to a mass of blades and death. Can’t wait for your next video

[@JoshSweetvale]

Carrion, my wayward son.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

Watching supernatural while I read this, get outta my head 😂

[@JoshSweetvale]

@@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr It's an old pun but it checks out.

[@TheFollyWorks]

When I played the game Initially It read to me that the ruins the research team goes to was a older version of one of their labs. I have a few reasons I feel this way, Also sorry Long comment :). 1. The architecture is human-centric - there are walkways and ladders and normal human doors, ECT. If it was an alien civilization I would figure that there would be more alien architecture aside from the crystals (That doesn't really prove much on its own because, If im remembering correctly, the elder things created humans as land bound servants so that could be the primary explanation for that) 2. The Technology that the company is using is already significantly advanced by the time they encounter this lab. in the final flashback we see that the group already has the energy shield projectors for their soldiers. which seems like the company already had access to advanced tech - Possibly from prior experimentation on the creature, or its technology? 3. The Drones the Soldiers were using already seemingly had information about the creature as if it didnt how was it able to detect the aliens presence? To me, it seems like they had already experimented on this creature before in this place, it attempted to break out and killed a number of people, then they came back to uncover it or see if it still remained? All in all im not even completely convinced by my own interpretation as there is alot that lends heavily to yours as well. It's just vague enough with enough points where the narrative is unclear to give that uncertainty. It definetly could be aliens, But I think humans of some kind came into contact with it first. I'd Love to hear more of your thoughts though, and I really loved the video! Keep it up, these are awesome!

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

I'm all for interpretations different than mine, and yours certainly has merit. The presence of the drones in the derelict lends credence that it was an old Relith facility, and I agree that they probably knew about the creature going in. As for my interpretation, I'm not entirely certain that it's correct either. I saw Lovecraft references and ran with it lol

[@TheFollyWorks]

@@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr I honestly Definetly love the Lovecraftian interperitation as honestly there is alot in favor for that as well. Its just vauge enough to be hard to completely fit everything together. :)

[@caseylynch8705]

first video watched and loved the editing. keep up the good work

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

I'm full steam ahead, Hope you enjoy future videos!

[@aircraftcarrierwo-class]

This game would be dramatically improved with a map in the pause menu. Other than that it's freakin' perfect.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

I feel much the same. Especially when you're trying to 100% all the areas.

[@TheMilkman62]

the south park we don't take kindly to your kind around here hit so perfectly

[@spartan0013]

Wait a sec, I can't believe I didn't see this before. We gain the ability to go invisible to get passed lasers, but lasers aren't tripped by visually seeing someone, but by the light going to the sensor being interrupted, this means we don't just visually disappear, we somehow reduce our mass in reality to such a degree that we no longer block light from passing through us!

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

That's big brain thoughts right there.

[@Shnarfbird]

I liked politely opening or closing doors

[@TrulyBS-QJ]

Carrion learned from henry on people's most exposed moment

[@Justacheese]

I loved this game because it straight up gave you the option to be a somewhat nice meat monster throughout the game. While chomping down on people is fun, it only restores a point of biomass. Which you can get back from your nests. So multiple times I would kill the hostile humans with guns, then leave all of the non hostile ones alive. it was so funny too! There were multiple times where I would casually crawl around past screaming people, then get in an elevator with one and ride it up with him- while he was still screaming. :'D In fact I got lost a bunch of times and had to backtrack, so I ended up riding the same elevator with the same terrified dude :P But my favorite moment had to be when it actually helped me when I left that dude alive. Because he never left this certain set of rooms, I started to use him as a landmark. If i reached the human, I knew I had gone too far backwards lol.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

lmao I can just imagine the dude you rode the elevator with. "Mondays, amirite?"

[@BabyDragon63]

This sounds like a rly fun way to play ngl. Roleplaying your first day at work, pretty much 😂

[@Justacheese]

@@BabyDragon63 Oh yeah. Maybe I should go and upload a vid of me doing that.

[@Scorpreqdl]

I want this game so bad.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

It's a fun time, hope you get to play it at some point!

[@nicknamed1267]

You can play the demo for free on mobile IIRC

[@WarriorOO2]

What if those flashbacks weren't memories, but images of the future? The Carrion ate so many people, it could've constructed one for itself; the scientist. It managed to get away and find the ruins? That's one of the two theories I believe in. The other one was already here among the comments.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

Its possible, there isn't anything directly saying it's a memory of the past.

[@Crazybawrks]

SCP but you're the monster, interesting stuff

[@guardianhero6124]

"Now calm down skeether they aint hurt nobody-" 2:32

[@RunawayDanish]

Instant subscribe with the Lived as a Queen, Died like a King gag

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

I'm glad someone caught that lol

[@RunawayDanish]

@@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr :) There was a lot of tight edited jokes laced throughout that I found enjoyable, it was especially fabulous catching old Fallout stuff mixed in.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

@@RunawayDanish Fallout 1, 2, and New Vegas are a love of mine. I even enjoyed Fallout 3

[@owengriceactivechannel5625]

Welcome back to the flood gaming channel

[@arandomsystemglitch2398]

The daralect was probably actually one of the research facilitys but they nuked it in a attempt to stop the thing but being a literal nukeclear shelter theres no garentee it worked or the nuclear reactor in it probably went super crictial even though theres still some power left and they probably waited for radation to clear out or enough for no hazmat suits

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

Solid theory. It is mainly underground just like the research facility, I'm just wondering what those giant remains are of, and why those crystal/gem things are there. Wish we had just a bit more info

[@arandomsystemglitch2398]

@@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr gems could be some sort of shield tech actually shields aren't even really a shield they seem more like basically a lazer wall so that's probably what the gems were a bigger lazer wall and also pretty much really only way itd damage the player when hit by it and egg is probably one of the creatures and it had to wait for power or something to be cut so it decided stay like it was till someone touched it also if there's something posibly dangerous in the daralect left why only send researchers in so there's also a posbility of this being right there was never a research team sent in in the first place or well atleast not a human one could explain the bloody helicopter cause the thing knew what would happen once the security team realized the researchers were never "alive" in the first place and the fossils atleast unrecognized one is maybe the thing played as doubt it has a bone structure with its movements and abilitys but it's possible also reason for atleast a "alive" one chance that the creature used uh that one ability to turn into effectively flying snakes to hide inside the research team and any scans they looked human enough to pass and only being "whole" is when scanners detect something isn't human ill add that the bones might've been where this blob came from and the daralect was the first research facility where they more or less remade whatever the bones were but it kinda breached and probably had a hell of alot more abilitys then seen in game and all the DNA containers is its missing DNA and maybe some more advanced DNA it didn't have when it went back to the helicopters when it got finally discovered for probably regaining mass it left behind

[@arandomsystemglitch2398]

Alright if you were trying to read ill let it happen now most of the edits were ideas that came to mind and went ahead and added them so wouldn't forget later

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

@@arandomsystemglitch2398 It's a possibility that the gems could have been some kind of defense system, I agree. It is possible that the "lead" researcher, the one we control, could have been a little more than human when he went in but I'm gonna say the other two were human because they didn't survive. As far as the bones, could literally be anything, so your explanation is as valid as any.

[@arandomsystemglitch2398]

@@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr yeah based on them having no wounds I'd assume they just were knocked out or something also since the scanning drone is gone dunno where it went might've missed it I'd assume that something exploded it and that's what got the other 2

[@CheeFan-y7o]

Oh No SEATTLE??!?! I’m screwed

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

Nahhh I'm sure you wont even notice a difference! ... JK. Thanks for the watch 🙂

[@user-sz2qc4uq3j]

There should be a movie about this but in the human point of view

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

iirc I believe the developers said they were loosely inspired by the movie The Thing. If you haven't seen it yet, definitely give it a watch.

[@user-sz2qc4uq3j]

​@@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nrthanks ill give it a watch

[@Brobiwan-515]

Imagine the creature trying to live as a human before saying “No! I don’t like being people!”

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

Reject humanity. Return to meat.

[@tapewormtimothy]

Really cool video, this game did alot of cool stuff in alot of different ways

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

Thank ya!

[@alonesometravler9343]

I had a thought about the human remains in the derelict. If it really is as old as the scientists believe, then maybe those bones don’t belong to people as we know them but are actually the remains of ancient Neanderthals. The “elder things” could have easily rounded up a whole tribe of them for experimentation, food, or whatever they wanted and when our shagoth friend revolted the tribe would have become a food source for it. That would explain why it’s chamber not only had so many bodies in it, but also why so many of them throughout the derelict were strung up and wrapped in the same withered creature tendrils. I believe it slowly drained the entire tribe of everything they had in them to hibernate in it’s cocoon until those scientists woke it up.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

could be, it's interesting that human remains are hanging above the chamber in the uh.."cocoon room" maybe they were meant as a food source for the creature. Or maybe it was punishment. So many possibilities, I like you're idea.

[@someguy1894]

i honestly think the carrion thint is just some alien discoveredby the facility, maybe even chest bursted from the 'Cyclopean entity' like a space jockey in ALIEN as for Carrion itself, I wish it had more 'horror' elements, there was one part I think in Bunker where (dont know if it is intentional or not) civilians RUN into water during a combat zone this is wonderful, i wanted more moments of seeing what humans had to go through, like an in depth fear mechanic than just- *AAAAAAAAAHHH* or shooting, i might be psychotic but it was intended to be a reverse horror game.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

If you're psychotic, then I am too lol. I would have loved to see more of the humans reactions too, seeing genuine fear and desperate to escape by any means.

[@someguy1894]

@@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr i mean the hiding was pretty cool and all but it wouldve been cooler to see things like humans slaying eachother like in bunker where civs literally (again, maybe its a pathfinding thing though i doubt it) slay eachother, imagine you see one go into a room and just stay quiet, or even picking up guns that dead soldiers couldve dropped carrion had a lot of potential and it is still a really good game but it also couldve used a lot more things to make it an actual reverse *horror* game

[@vinnydo314]

The epitaph on the grave won a subscribe

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

Niiice! 🐐

[@vinnydo314]

@@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr it was probably the funniest thing in awhile that and this video is well done

[@recurvestickerdragon]

I'm told the game can be beaten stealthily, without killing humans. would love to have seen an exploration of that, its differences, and its implications

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

I'm not entirely sure how one could do that. Sometimes you have to kill the soldier/security enemies for a door to unlock etc... unless we're saying they aren't human. Which is possible. I'll have to investigate that in my next playthrough.

[@Delta-007]

21:28 I think it's more like The Thing than a Shoggoth. Unless it's the same i don't really know. One particle is enough to take over the host. Him touching it immediately infected him and it then proceeded to kill everyone. He could have also gotten infected earlier, when he steps into the contaminated water or touches the weird creature goop. He either didn't realize it yet (he was still conscious as it was taking over) or it was just playing along. If it is like The Thing then that begs the question, why didn't it assimilate them instead of killing them?

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

The devs said they were inspired by The Thing, so that's probably not far off the mark, and I'm not sure why the other two of the team weren't assimilated either, that's something I could never really figure out.

[@reecechapman7286]

Would love if they made a tv series on this game

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

Same

[@CaptainRasmot]

So to clarify for those that don't know "Antediluvian" is a short hand to mean "before the flood". Specifically the flood as mentioned in the story of Noah's Ark. Whether or not that happened can be debated by those of higher scholarly ambitions. But either way that is what the game is trying to allude to. My best guess is that the Derelict is as you said, an ancient ship or some sort of research base of some kind. Possibly made by the cyclopean entities that there are remains of. Something of course didn't work out and the whole place was abandoned. So over the years the place got covered up and was maybe found every now and then by explorers or treasure hunters. Which would explain the stun-gun. As far as to "why" the Carrion was created, a hint may be in that ending. It could be a form of bio-weapon, meant to infiltrate into a society. Whether that be human or otherwise is unclear. It is afterall meant to be parasitic in nature. But that is just one way of looking at it.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

I had a bit of a debate in my head about which meaning of Antediluvian they were going for here, but either way I guess it all boils down to "this is a really old structure" - and the creature being a bio weapon would be interesting, It does seem almost purposely designed for infiltration. You may be on to something.

[@Cyrielx2]

So my Counterpoints on hearing this are as follows - The blood on the helicopter on return could be from the pilot. A helicopter of that size seats 4+, we see 3 embark downstairs, 2 die, one returns surface way and presumably it could be the pilot being executed when military personnel arrives, considering this has big unethical research vibes all over it and would seem like something they do (kill the chartered flight guy) - Around 26 minutes the narration claims possibly another creature escaped from captivity, and it's my theory that that entity is responsible for creating the nests in obscure locations. For a facility of that size along with the "precautions" they created it would seem wholly irresponsible to not clear out said pockets if they occurred naturally so it's my belief that whatever escaped "went into the walls" for lack of a better term. There's many open ended questions surrounding that one room for sure. The basis for this is it showing the exact same growth when "opening" a savepoint. - Lastly during the final room of the game (outside) you see quarantine signs/warnings in the background. This could lead to the theory that whatever escaped in the last container already got out and is wreaking havoc in human civilization. Another (wilder) theory is that whatever is the reason for the scientists visiting the location in the flashbacks is tied to what's happening outside. Perhaps some kind of contagion or outbreak is running amok and they turn to "questionable alternatives" to find a solution/cure, which would explain the extensive testing and documentation of the creature from another point of view. This is one of my all time favourite games for reasons i can't fully explain, but it hits all the good areas in my brain for sure, the same way butcher does too.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

These are some pretty good counterpoints, I hadn't even considered that the flashbacks and what's going on in the ending scene are linked aside from the researcher himself. I may have to do another video on this game some time in the future to account for all the really good theories you and others have brought up. It really is a fun game, definitely holds a high spot on my list.

[@hurricanev6]

Wow I completely forgot about this game. Thanks for the reminder, gonna go buy it!

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

Enjoy the slaughter!

[@Junker_JU_87stuka]

Finally some carrion and im happy for you because you great in this you can do alien isolation

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

Thanks so much! I'll definitely check it out and see what I can do

[@Grukgrimskull]

Tbf limbs apply to ANY appendage used to grab,hold,pull,or use in a way that allows movements and uses beyond just moving. This would be like pointing out octopie (if I got the thing right) have tentacles yet they are still limbs since they serve a purpose beyond aesthetics. Figure I give this tid-bit as technically it DOES have limbs as for organs would we not consider eyes,tongues,or the overall mouths as a form of organ? Maybe not vital like a heart,lungs,or anything but it does form those parts needed for its continued survival.

[@TheMidnightGoat-pj1nr]

Very true! Thanks for pointing this out!

[@raythegamingdisaster4055]

Pretty good sense of humor to make the game seem a bit less bleak

[@bruzzunathtuch]

Maybe those crystals produce heat to incubate the caccoon?