For it's time, a fantastic game, and still enjoyable today.
You start out by choosing a location you would like to hunt and what dinosaurs you would specifically like to hunt (though you could encounter any of the ones listed). Then you choose between three weapons, a shotgun, crossbow, or sniper rifle and choose some other accessories such as a map, cover scent, extra ammo, etc. All of these, however, are chosen on a level based system that is advanced through points. For example, the novice level is the beginning, and you can only hunt three different dinosaurs, two being herbivores and therefore not dangerous to you, and you can only take the shotgun or crossbow and choose one of the first three out of seven locations. As you level up (three levels total) you'll be able to hunt the more dangerous carnivores, ultimately getting to the point to hunt the T-Rex with the sniper rifle.
The different modifications you can take to your hunt do different things to your score, which is determined by how many dinos you take out and their sizes. Things like the map that give you the locations of the dinos and cover scent that help your hunt, take a certain percentage off your score. To offset this or even to bump up your point total, you can opt to tranquilize the dino, which doesn't actually kill it, which also means it won't get added to your trophy room. The trophy room is where all the dinos you've slain are on display for you to walk around and bask in glory. Frankly, that's all there is to do and the whole idea seems like an afterthought.
Graphically this game was very good looking for it's time. The dinos were the most realistic creatures at the time, and especially smaller nimbler ones moved frightingly realistic and quick, opting to run in a zig zag fashion towards you right before leaping at you. The environments are the one of the biggest selling points in this game for me. Each location you can choose to hunt in has dinstint locations in it that stand out from the others. For example, one map has an old abandoned outpost from an early settlement attempt, another has a lava encircled temple, and the last location unlocked by getting to the last level has a massive lake in the middle of it and all of them provide some very interesting hunts.
There is no music in Carnivores, but the ambiance sounds make up for that. You can hear the lava bubbling and flowing when it's around and all the idle bug sounds and wind blowing make you feel like your hunting on some desolate island, yet you never really feel alone. That said, the calls that you use to try to lure other dinos to you are too heavily relied upon and makes you really want to rip your ears off they get so annoying.
All of this adds up to a very satisfying game, with one minor shotcoming, that being it's length. You'll very likely be able to unlock everything in one sitting. You'll get done wishing there were more weapons, more dinos, and more locations to hunt in. But for the time that it lasts, it will be very enjoyable. Besides, by now you should be able to find this in the bargain bin for 10 bucks or under, which is definately worth it.