Scorn

Scorn is an atmospheric survival horror puzzle game heavily inspired by the artist HR Giger. Though it's marketed as a horror game, it isn't really scary but even more disgusting, it really celebrates the gore and does not hold back.

I'm such a huge fan of the work from HR Giger and his work, the Xenomorph especially. Everyone who knows me, knows that Alien is my favorite horror movie and Alien Isolation my favorite horror game. So obviously I was really excited when this game was announced all the way back in 2014 and I've been following the development ever since. Scorn had a lot of pumps in the road including a failed Kickstarter campaign. I didn't watch much gameplay because I didn't want to spoil the myself the mystery which surrounds the world of Scorn. My expectations were quite high after that demo but also knew that Scorn won't be your typical horror shooter.

So the question is did Scorn fulfill my expectation?

Yes and no, Scorn is a massive work of art with impressive images and a really great atmosphere but it's not really a great game and yet one of the most interesting gaming experiences of this year. Scorn has no dialogues and no text, the story is experienced entirely via environmental storytelling and much like the world of Little Nightmares it's more show than tell and leaves the story up to the players for interpretation. Gameplay wise it is rather shallow. You have the typical weapons like a grenade launcher, shotgun and a pistole. But the fights and shooter elements are the biggest weakness of Scorn. They are slow, sluggish, really frustrating.

And boring. But you can avoid most of the enemies. The boss fight is the climax of the boring shooter parts of the game and the worst boss fight I experienced in a long time.

Same Boss fight twice. When you look past the boring shooter elements you notice that Scorn is absolutely beautiful and the art design is stunning. Technically, Scorn makes a really good impression. I had no performance problems, I had to replay a chapter only once because I fell into the abyss and my character was stuck there. The puzzle are okay, some are a little bit too easy and some are really frustrating. The stunning world and art design and the great atmosphere are the strength of Scorn, the animation are also really good and I enjoyed the way they told the story and that it was more show than tell. I can understand if some people find this game boring but it doesn't deserve the hate. If you are a fan of HR Giger and like atmospheric horror puzzle games with an interesting way to tell the story, then you should maybe try this game.

This game offers what most games lack. Quality at the highest level. Here, sound scenery, atmosphere, design and graphics harmonise so perfectly that the overall package is more than convincing. A big compliment to the development team.

If you like the alien movies, you will love the game. It's not a first-person shooter as you usually know it. No first-person shooter in which you have to shoot senselessly from level to level. You have to approach every path, every decision, every step wisely. The riddles are very well done. Sometimes there are easy riddles, sometimes heavy ones.

Please watch the trailers first and only rate them after you have played this game. This game deserves the best rating.

Let's get this established first, the visuals are deliberately hideous. The bio-mechanical design is fantastic, the world is desolate and long dead, the few living entities are misshapen, the game succeeds in making a such an ornate, non-human place look like a graveyard and the sound design is equally unearthly

However, while these positives make the game stand out, they're also the only things carrying the game. Gameplay is drab, there's combat which is clunky and feels unrefined, like it should've been the main focus or pulled completely.

There's no context for what's happening, no dialogue or such, one should draw their own conclusions.

I've very little to say, it's visually catching but that's virtually all it has going.

The first association with contact with Scorn: the game strongly resembles the environment associated with the Alien universe. In the initial phase, it is not at all disturbing or however scary, it is ... strange.

Scorn leaves the player alone in an alien, strange place resembling a research facility - certainly not built by humankind.

At the same time, the game is not particularly engaging. After dealing with the title for a long time, my thoughts drifted far away from the game.

The title is crude - it's very easy to get lost in the maze of alleys and wander around for long minutes in search of another device with which you can interact.

At the first logical puzzle, I was quite puzzled, and each subsequent one became more and more discouraging to me.

It was supposed to be creative, but it turned out boring and complicated.

The trailers of the game did not reflect what this game really is.

And most importantly, who can you recommend the game to?

Enthusiasts of adventure games with puzzles in which you don't know where to go or what to do.

I advise everyone else to let go of the title, and spend the saved money in any better way.

Rating: 3/10.