Carrier is a Survival Horror video game developed and published by Jaleco for the Sega Dreamcast. Notable in part for being fully 3D - then (2000) still a rarity for survival horror games, which mostly displayed 3D characters over pre-rendered backgrounds.
In Carrier, players assume the separate roles of an investigation team that was split up from a surprise attack.
A canceled sequel for the PlayStation 2 titled Carrier: The Next Mutation was once planned for release.
This game provides examples of:
- Ancient Evil: ARK, the ancient organism which was found in the South Pacific, is 35 billion years old.
- Anyone Can Die: Almost all of the main and supporting cast are killed during the course of the game, so much so that only three of the characters listed on the game manual live to tell the tale. The Heimdal crew members aren't so lucky either, as only a handful haven't been slaughtered or mutated yet.
- Jack: "Out of all of those crew members, this is all that's left..."
- Apocalyptic Log: You find many of these throughout the game, detailing what happened before you arrived at the Heimdal.
- Better to Die than Be Killed: Upon being infected by ARK, Bob, Jack's little brother, who Jack has been searching for since the game's start, shoots himself to prevent mutation. Much to Jack's distress.
- Beast with a Human Face: Some of the enemies fit this trope. Special mention to the sharks with human faces.
- Big Bad: ARK, the plant-like organism which wants to destroy humanity.
- Bloody Handprint: One of the soldiers writes a code with his own blood, leaving bloody handprints around it.
- Body Horror: Humans which become infected by ARK will have their head or other body parts deformed in later stages of infection (or when you see through their disguise).
- Boom, Headshot!: The quickest way to kill the mutants.
- Distress Call: Jack's team is sent to investigate the Heimdal after receiving no communications for a long time.
- Downer Ending: By the time the Heimdal is finally sunk, Jack has lost almost all of his friends AND his little brother. The downcast look on his face speaks volumes of his horrific experience on the Heimdal.
- Heroic Sacrifice: In Jessifer's chapter, the hangar elevator can only be activated remotely, so Sandra decides to leave Jessifer in the elevator and go activate it outside, being attacked and killed by mutants in the process.
- Inescapable Horror: After the final cut-scene there's a lingering shot of blood cells being attacked by what is supposed to be ARK, meaning that it's not over yet.
- Ludicrous Gibs: Body parts of the mutants explode into chunks after being shot enough.
- Man-Eating Plant: One of the bosses in Jack's chapter.
- Nightmare Face: Some of the mutants have a plant-like face.
- Not Using the "Z" Word: The ARK-infected creatures on the Heimdal are called "mutants."
- One-Word Title
- Plant Person: Pretty much most of the humanoid mutants, as ARK (which by itself is a plant-based organism) has passed on its DNA to all of the infected.
- Retirony: Leonard, the pilot that flies Jack and Jessifer to the Heimdal, was planning to retire after the rescue mission. Sadly, he's the first supporting character to die in the game.
- See-Thru Specs: The only way to know if a human is infected or not is to look at them with the BEM-T3 Scope.
- Shout-Out: Lang bears a strong resemblance to Albert Wesker from the Resident Evil games, Jessifer also seems to resemble Claire Redfield from Resident Evil 2.
- Sole Surviving Scientist: Only one scientist is alive when you arrive at the Heimdal.
- Tagline: "If you can hear it, you're already dead!"
