Games I Own: Carnivores

Nearly all the games I own are story-focused titles with a strong singleplayer campaign, because that’s very much the type of game that I prefer. There are a few exceptions though and Carnivores is probably the oddest one because it’s a genre I otherwise have almost no interest in; it’s a hunting game.

It’s a fictional one admittedly – you’re hunting dinosaurs using modern weaponry – but it’s still a hunting game. You have to do stuff like gauge the wind, aim only for vital organs and cover your scent. Plus, you only get one weapon and about six shots.

Or, you would if you played Carnivores in the way it was supposed to be played, which I never did.
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You see, the thing that always attracted me to Carnivores was simply the graphics. I love how the game looks and, with the aid of cheat keys, I love how you can move through it too. Normally Carnivores is a slow, stealthy experience – but when I played it I always used debug keys to let me run super fast and vault over mountains.

…and that’s all I’d ever do. I bought the game and have hung on to it for years (even though I know the game doesn’t work on modern systems) purely because I like how fast it feels to run so fast , dodging dinosaurs and leaping over trees. When it comes to Carnivores I’m not interested in anything else and, to be fair, it’s probably not very great unless you’re big on hunting sims anyway.

I have a theory too that the most popular games are the ones which let players move very quickly while still retaining control and without slowing you down too much. Games like Half-Life and Halo are the perfect example, because they let you move so fluidly. Sonic too, because that game is all about speed. Carnivores may have got almost everything else wrong, but I love it purely because it gets that sensation of speed exactly right.


Or, to express the same theory in another way, how many times have you gotten infuriated at a game just because it had a sprint meter which ran out too quickly? Or because the standard movement speed was too slow?

Carnivores remains a very interesting game to me, which is why I’ve never thrown it away even though it doesn’t work anymore. I find it fascinating that I could buy and enjoy a game that I know I don’t like – and that it's only appeal is something so minor and silly. It’s like buying GTA IV purely because you like the bowling minigame!

Times Completed: Twice. Don’t ask me why.

Random Trivia: If you stand in the centre of the temple in The Ancient Temple level then you can listen in on some hidden sounds…