Preview: ‘Gori: Cuddly Carnage’ has a Suda51 vibe with ‘Sunset Overdrive’ gameplay

“Gori: Cuddly Carnage” has a Suda51 aesthetic but the curious part about the upcoming action-adventure game is that it’s made by a Swedish developer. Angry Demon Studio throws in an amalgam of weird elements together that don’t seem as though they’d fit together, but somehow the team manages to create a cohesive project that’s fun to play.

The single-player adventure follows Gori, an anthropomorphic cat. He meows instead of talks but wears clothes and can shred in both senses of the word aboard his talking hoverboard named FRANK. The feline rides atop his F-bombing-dropping friend, grinds on rails and rides across walls while making spectacular leaps over chasms like Tony Hawk.

MIXING TWO GENRES
When faced with minions from Cool-Toyz Inc., Gori turns the FRANK hoverboard into a roaring chainsaw of death. The board’s sides whip out blades and he can slash through undead unicorns and other enemies, tearing them to shreds. Players can combo moves together and finish weakened foes off with powerful moves.

The gameplay leans slightly more toward the hack-and-slash side as players will have to mix in more combat rather than “Tony Hawk”-ish skateboarding. “Gori: Cuddly Carnage” isn’t as technical and the hero won’t biff into the concrete if he lands incorrectly. The skateboarding is more of a means of comboing and dodging enemy fire while dealing damage and juggling enemy hordes in combat. It gives player movement a refreshing zippiness.

Angry Demon does a good job of introducing players to traversal moves such as boosting and dashing while layering in more intensive combat. They’ll encounter long hallway sequences that require players to use the boost and dash to speed by enemies or risk a demise via trailing laser wall. Elsewhere, players can mash the X button to defeat enemies, but as adversaries grow stronger, Gori will have to modify his with a Boost. Later, they even acquire a heavy mace-type weapon that’s useful in taking down shielded enemies and knocking heavy-duty objects at stronger bosses. Gori also adds a shield to his arsenal as well to block enemy fire.

The one element that prevents players from spamming these powerful attacks is that they require Boost fuel and that’s acquired by doing tricks, gathering fuel from the environment or performing other feats. It creates an addictive loop of combat and traversal that’s reminiscent of the underrated 2014 Insomniac title “Sunset Overdrive.”

GORI TO THE RESCUE
The big difference between “Gori” and that older game is that the cat game is more linear with levels. The feline hero travels to Earth after escaping the destruction of his ship and while stranded on the postapocalyptic planet, he discovers his missing creator Professor Y is still alive and in need of rescuing.

Although the narrative isn’t the most original, the world-building and character designs stand out. The dilapidated earth overrun by feral Ultra Pets has a cheery but dark cyberpunk vibe to it while the monsters themselves are disturbingly ghastly. They look like the mutant mashups from “Toy Story” except they’re made of flesh and blood and can be ripped to shreds. That should be no surprise as Angry Demon touts itself as a Swedish horror game studio.

Players should expect “Gori: Cuddly Carnage” to be released on Aug. 29 on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X and Series S, Xbox One and PC.