Estimated reading time: 10 minutes
A Bet on the Unknown
When you’ve been playing games for years, you can get just as excited about the oddly surprising games as the successful ones. It’s a game that may not be objectively that good but that works differently than you’re used to. By different rules. I launched Scorn expecting an action-packed first-person horror game in the vein of Dead Space. Privately, my friend and I were betting on a generic entertainment that would want to impress me above all with its distinctive aesthetic, making no secret of its inspiration from H.R. Giger. I lost the bet.
The Origins of Scorn
Serbian studio Ebb Software was founded in 2013 with the vision to develop a “different kind” of video games. By all accounts, Scorn was part of that vision from the very beginning. The game (then still split into two parts) was announced in late 2014, and a crowdfunding campaign followed soon after. The Belgrade studio failed with that one but managed to get direct investment and a few years later was able to give it a second try on Kickstarter. This time, it was successful.
The backers were especially excited by the striking visuals, but the information about the game was somewhat incomplete. The developers then announced “an atmospheric horror adventure set in a nightmare full of strange forms and gloomy environments.” They referred to “a disturbing setting that is a character in itself”. They weren’t lying about the game, but at the same time, they weren’t saying everything about it either. They deftly rationed the published demos and did not comment on the interpretation in the media or among gamers who did not infrequently compare Scorn to Doom.
Thrown Into the Deep End
In the opening, I am immediately thrown into an alien world and walk down a dark corridor with my bare hands. With the last of my strength, I smash open a half-open door and discover a strange device. I insert my hand into it curiously, and a peculiar implant appears. Could it be the first weapon? That looks promising! But no, it’s a key. Around me, I gradually discovered more and more strange mechanisms, devices, and control panels. There are some tracks on the ground… damn it, this is… well, yes, this is a puzzle!
I don’t want to spoil the surprise, but you don’t get your first shot until about an hour in. Until then, you’re just solving environmental puzzles, which also definitely don’t “play” by the established rules. No red carpet, a relaxed start, and a gradual introduction to the mechanics. It’s a nice and rough start. You’re thrown into an unfamiliar world, and around the corner, you encounter several complex obstacles. So let’s get this straight.
What Scorn Isn’t
What Scorn isn’t: It’s not Doom or any other pure action game. You’ll take a shot here and there, and you’ll use your guns more and more as time goes on, but I’d be reluctant to label the game as a shooter. You don’t progress through a strictly linear tunnel, but on the other hand, it’s not open-world, either. And it’s not a chatty game, either. It doesn’t talk to you at all, and it doesn’t even have any text.
What Scorn Is
What Scorn is: Primarily horror. And pretty much a puzzle game. It is a strong audiovisual experience for players who like to revel and let the eerie atmosphere get to them. No one explains the controls, let alone the extensive puzzles. If anything speaks to you, it’s the environment around you. And it’s quite loud.
A Biomechanical Nightmare
I’m getting to the audiovisual experience later than I should. The aesthetics of Scorn are, after all, an absolutely core component of the game, and it’s not just there for decoration. It doesn’t serve as a backdrop for the game, it plays a major role in it. You appear in a kind of dreamlike, probably alien, but in any case extremely disturbing world. The inspiration was primarily the visionary H.R. Giger, who became famous for creating the iconic Alien and many other biomechanical creatures that combine elements of man and machine into terrifying demons that point to a kind of futuristic mythology. At almost every turn, however, you also encounter surreal visions inspired by Zdzisław Beksiński’s hellish “landscapes” with mutilated figures.
Disturbing by Design
One of the key motifs of Scorn is the overall architecture. Sex and reproduction on a massive scale combine to create an alien spectacular world of which you are a tiny and insignificant part. Around you, you see hideous, parasitic creatures and pulsating fleshy monsters on the verge of death. You are always close to it, too, as you watch with your head bowed as the alien tentacles dig into your insides and deform you. There are even hideous creatures crushed in a mechanical blender. It’s just disgusting. Scorn can be disgusting, and he really excels in these moments.
But part of its exceptional atmosphere is also the vagueness of the world and the story. It doesn’t give you any clear answers, and you probably won’t mind at all. Confusion is part of the experience, as is amazement and disgust.
A Silent Descent
Very rarely do you hear anything that could be described as music. The soundtrack is almost inaudible, composed mostly of sound effects. However, they reliably create an oppressive atmosphere without you realizing it. You feel it intuitively, which can be said of the whole game. The game’s otherworldly environment is eerily claustrophobic, and you’re completely absorbed as you curiously explore it.
Puzzles, Pain, and Progress
Scorn’s campaign comprises five acts and takes roughly four to six hours to complete. The puzzles are complex and often span across a single area, which you must first explore to understand what is required of you and find a way forward to deepen your suffering. Frequently, there are multiple levels of puzzles. It’s a mix of finding keys, moving platforms and activating machines, but perhaps also hurting strange monstrous creatures whose entrails you must then step into. Trial and error only works sometimes, and most of the time you’ll have to really get to the bottom of the mystery.
A Questionable Sense of Familiarity
There are also some pretty classic puzzles here, which makes you wonder if some distant alien civilization has created a similar form of puzzle that you’ve seen in some variation many times before in your life. Similarly, the very existence of the keys, unfortunately, disrupts the otherwise very unique atmosphere of the local lair to some extent so that you end up constantly realizing that it’s “just a game.” Satisfactorily avoiding self-importance in games is never entirely possible, so I was more bothered by the unbalanced difficulty here.
The logical consequence of that distinctive, uncompromising approach I praised so highly in the introduction is the simple fact that while some puzzles are fun challenges to solve, other times they’re relentlessly difficult, not to mention the absence of any real reward for solving them other than simply getting on with your life.
When Scorn Arms You
Then, after an hour of playing and a few puzzles solved, you’ve almost given up hope, and finally, Scorn puts a gun in your hands. It’s a variation on a slaughter gun that you have to walk right up to enemies with, but it’s all the more intense for it. Plus, you only get two shots, after which you have to wait a few seconds, so even with not-very-dangerous enemies, you need to be on your guard at all times.
Combat and Its Cumbersome Nature
Combat is again somewhat self-explanatory and feels out of place in the logic of lore. I asked myself again and again why the weapons were there and what they were typically used for. Especially with the later weapons (I don’t want to spoil those anymore, as there are only three and pretty conventional ones at that), Scorn is at times degraded to exactly the generic action I was talking about at the beginning. Anyway, the action is the weakest component of the game, if only because of the slow weapons and lack of ammo. But I suspect the developers made it cumbersome on purpose.
Fight or Flight?
You have a choice of two strategies – either you have to proceed slowly and play with the enemies like a cat and mouse. In that case, you run at them, shoot them, and quickly run away again. But monsters are slow, too, so you can often choose the second option – just run past them and get lost in the labyrinth of corridors. If nothing else, the fights are intense, and you must fear for your life. They’re not much fun, though, and I could do without them altogether, especially if it meant more room for logical obstacles.
A Polarizing Experience
When I consulted a friend of mine about my rather positive feelings while playing, this is his response: playing Scorn is like enduring five hours of torture. The strong Gigerian aesthetic isn’t for everyone, and not everyone can swallow the skeletal nature of the design and appreciate its different approach. I completely understand that the first puzzle will put off quite a few players who start the game with completely different expectations.
About Scorn Game
Title: Scorn
Type of Game: Atmospheric First-Person Horror Adventure
Developer: Ebb Software
Publisher: Kepler Interactive
Release Date: October 14, 2022
Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X|S
Where to Purchase Scorn:
- Steam (PC): Get Scorn on Steam for a deeply immersive horror adventure for PC gamers, now for only $9.99
- Epic Games Store (PC): Experience the chilling world of Scorn on the Epic Games Store as a PC game for $32.99
- Microsoft Store (Xbox): Play Scorn on Xbox Series X|S by purchasing it from the Microsoft Store for $39.99.
- PlayStation Store (PS5): Get Scorn on PlayStation Store, now available for PlayStation 5 users to experience this unique horror adventure for $39.99.
Prices may vary
