Disclaimer: trigger warning, body horror, blood and gore and negative references.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H-ynxhE1JY
Video about switches, minor spoiler (won't reveal puzzles).


The appeal:
First thing I love here is the biomechanic design that was probably inspired by the master of the genre, filled with nuances behind it. The game's design however, stays original with its own artistic touches, it has its own personality and vibe with original lines I never saw before, one true playable art also because of the correct manipulation of graphics and so. The developers style of assembling and programming seems VERY organized, I'd say very precise and clean, almost a science job to be honest. I mostly played it just to be there, relaxing my brain. When there is music it is sinister and done right, but most of the time the real music is "ambient," only shoving darkness into the mind.

How it goes:
There is no savegame station, only immediate check-points if you die and chapter points if you load a game. Puzzles shows up, but they're environmental and object orientated. I recommend finding the answers on your own so immersion rewards nicely if you think your way out of it. They're usually not hard, but sequential or replaceable, it requires some exploration and observation. When it comes to the survival horror part, you must manage limited bullets and resources. The controls responds good enough at the pace it proposes - at first. It takes some time for other guns to show up, but eventually powers and enemies comes at the right time. Sadly, an issue undermines this good aspect of it.

A major con:
AI is well animated, but behavior is basic of the basics. The game fails to hit higher notes because of that. You can run, but you can't turn or backstep or strafe any faster, so you're just a pathetic slow puncher that barely moves. Since you can't save game directly, if you screw something up, either forever load to death or roll back an entire episode. So the survival horror slowly derails into a generic corner shooter, after the middle game up. It slowly pushes the game to a limit it can't provide, so fights turns out predictable, clumsy and sorry to say, downright annoying. The action imbalance; you're simply forced to abide as if these encounters were mandatory puzzles. Action becomes an one-way street, failing to rhyme the hidden art with what should be a challenging survival.

Others
Can't holster a main weapon, so the beautiful POV is always blocked in part by the gun. To make it worse there is no screenshot mode to fully make use of all that bizarre tapestry. Replay-factor is small, because there is no multiple endings.




Developers should start considering this before delivering their games to Steam or any other platform. I grew tired of notifications popping up with every move I did for whatever challenge I unlocked, because some were downright spoiling the game with its challenge names. The only thing you can do right now is to deactivate notifications manually, but Steam is not that smart to provide a checkbox for specific games, while some others you actually want or need it turned on. Gaming platforms are fast-food of gaming, where games like Scorn are treated like a kid's toy.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3049447086


My personal opinion on the matter; horror is at risk of extinction. Real horror for me are Amnesia series, Rebirth I couldn't even finish it, Dead Space 1 and Alien Isolation. Honorable names and other games were just not enough for me. I finally found another game to my personal best list. Scorn is a good horror because direction and art does it just right for those who likes it. It makes no sense, but not to be confused with nonsensical stuff, there is a difference.

While puzzles are so intricate and rational, it makes things look reasonable. Your brain starts mapping things. But questions keeps coming, answers not so much and all that collides into one true dance macabre. The design is so good it almost works stand-alone as you ignore any flaws, like the blocky action I mentioned. It is a rare experience to have if you pay attention.

Well the problem here, that isn't a problem, is that the design is so fakking fantastic it makes you appreciate the deformities rather than fear it. Not careful enough and you'll end up loving it, and I'll have to welcome you into the goth state of mind we live everyday.

Acid trip, nightmare, alien mutations, rotting in hell, its just too pretty. I don't care for the "real" meaning, whatever is just beautiful. Inventory and gadgets are VERY attractive due the level of details that makes you wish you could have these items in the real world. I want these gadgets. I want the weapons, these implants. I want to install these switches in my home. Imagine some doors, a bed or a wardrobe with authentic Scorn design. What a dream that would be.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3049286223&tscn=1697051193


Now, while some games overdo adult things like Agony Unrated did, at the point of ridicule, some games disguises it too much like they're afraid of it. Scorn does that. I thought I should put this as a con but I don't have the courage to complain, I understand why it wasn't done more directly. So there are other ways to sprout things inside the hot humid cave.

An erected mechanical pump exploded a white goo inside the cell after penetrating the engine.

That's the "closest" the game will get to refer to that, and perhaps a few figures. For such dark art expression, ignoring that thing directly and toward the player is just bad - but at the same time it is a clever way to bypass censorship. See how it limits us? Such designs like those of HR Giger are obviously referring to the lowest spheres of that, very explicitly yet so needed. I don't want to spoil it, so I'd just say like that. Scorn is beautiful, because it is an unnoficial yet closest exploration of that thing in a game - but insufficient without it at best. Sadly, developers are probably forced to keep adult content away, so not to be stopped from selling a game to potential underage that shouldn't be playing it. It would end up in some wanking site instead of rightfully absorbed.


Liked this review? Join my curator page for more

There is just one Scorn's background image for Steam profiles that is good, so you can use to represent the genre with pride. Since no other game really got this close, if you're a fan of the style, you need to have it. Sadly, cards are not as dark for my tastes and emojis could have been much better, exposing more of the game's brilliant item trinkets instead of its enemies.