Scorn

I was following the development of this game since 2016/17. It was a real pain for me to see, just how much this game struggled in development hell. The art of H.R. Giger and Beksiński speak to me on a deep level, they are as therapeutic as they are disturbing to me. So the possibility to have a game, which leans heavily into their style and philosophy sounded like dream come true. In the end i got something i did not expect. After god knows how many years, the original vision of the game deteriorated into an almost empty husk of it's former self. What i expected was a fully fledged game, what i got was an interactive art installation. As such it succeeds very well, so much so that i cannot rate it as a "game" in a traditional sense. Yes there are "gamey" elements here, like puzzles, combat, problem solving, etc... but they are so bare-bones and especially the combat, are more like a burden then anything else. Surely, if scorn wouldn't have been stuck in development for so long, the weaker elements wouldn't stand out so much, but it's a wonder it got released in the first place... So if you cannot stand games, that almost have nothing that is traditionally understood as gameplay, stay clear off, or wait for a sale. So why do i give this 5 Stars? As i said, i consider Scorn more like an art installation, a museum or an exhibition, then a game. So if this would have been a museum in the real world and you would ask me afterwards, how i would rate the experience, i would say: Well, the toilets were broken and the staff was a bit grumpy, but the exhibition was definitely a 10/10. I really enjoyed my time, wondering, pondering, soaking in the atmosphere and wandering around, trying to connect the dots for myself. In the end, i was a little disturbed and confused but as i stared into the abyss, it also stared back into myself and revealed something true about myself, humanity and life itself. That to me is the beauty of art and in that regard they fully succeeded.

Scorn definitely isn't a game for everyone. I wouldn't even consider it to be a real game, despite having some puzzles and combat - it's mostly a walking simulator inside a painting of H. R. Giger. Just like Giger's works, Scorn is very morbid, dark and sometimes outright disgusting, but not overly so, creating a really dense atmosphere or a rotting, half-organic world which was left by its past inhabitants. From a gaming perspective, don't expect much. There are a few simple puzzles which are reused throughout the game. There is no real inventory for multiple items, so anything the character carries is used right away. The combat mechanics are also very sluggish, taking a long time to aim, shoot and reload, and ammunition/health is relatively rare. This is by design, as combat is mostly optional and Scorn definitely isn't designed to be a first-person shooter. Scorn mainly lives from its art and interactive storytelling. The artwork and level design is simply amazing, often I've just stopped and looked around y taking in every little detail the developers put in there. The storytelling part though is the one I'm really not content with. You get some ideas about what most parts of the world were used for, but Scorn leaves you with more questions than answers after finishing it. There's no text or any other clues inside the game which tell you anything about the inhabitants, present and past. You actually have to buy the deluxe edition to get the art book, which gives some details about Scorn, but doesn't tell a cohesive story either. As a conclusion, if you like dark and gory horror and Giger's art - definitely play Scorn! If you are more into complex/challenging gameplay or don't like the genre, skip it. From the devs, I'd really like to have a DLC that goes deeper into the story, giving more details on the world and how all that what you see in Scorn happened.

SCORN is... weird. It’s a game that’s very indirect about the story it tries to tell. You wake up without explanation in a decrepit ruin. You are clearly not human, as evidenced by you looking down at your own character’s body. The world you are exploring is also clearly not Earth – full of weird machinery, alien landscapes and even weirder, grotesque creatures. But the game never really TELLS you those things, or anything else. The best you can do try to interpret the story and the worldbuilding from the aesthetics and enviroments of the game. And the aforementioned aesthetics are the main draw of the game, and the main thing that makes it interesting. SCORN is positively disgusting, and in a good way. It’s populated by grotesque, mutated creatures that shamble about in unnatural ways, it’s full of bodily fluids, and fleshiness and weird variations of physical form. SCORN is not particularly original, mind you. On the contrary, it wears it’s inspirations on it’s sleeve, that being H.R. Giger and a Polish painter called Zdzisław Beksiński, but the thing is, I think SCORN is most likely the best recreation of those author’s styles I’ve ever seen in game form. And I think it’s worth experiencing just for that, because gameplay-wise SCORN isn’t really anything special. It has light puzzle elements and light combat fps elements, but mostly you just explore this weird, foreign world and wonder what all of the things you’re shown might MEAN. Mind you, if you have a low tolerance for “walking simulators”, SCORN might disappoint you as a game. But I think it’s still worth at least SEEING, so maybe I can interest you in my playthrough, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjlmyjiXEvo&list=PLp4TpsJ7HUWW-rHKte3d1YwFdXfNh3sxO

Key word being immersion. I felt immersed in this games world. Being a huge fan of alien/s, H.R giger's and Zdzisław Beksiński's art and the interdimensional cosmic horror I feel when looking at said artwork I was very excited for this game back when I heard it was coming out. Many years later I had heard about the some of the bad reviews, while I tend not to look at individual reviews but do take them as a general consensus, and was frankly gutted. Well, I would have to wait for it to get low enough to buy before I delved in. Me personally I ADORE this game and wished I had played it long ago! I like games like dead space, resident evil series, alien isolation, souls games ( Kirby lol ) to give an indication of my general taste. A lot of those have this kind of dread and foreboding when playing them. Scorn Oozes that for me. Exploring a world that is so dreadfully alien, dark, depressing, gory, interesting. I haven't played to completion yet but I have played for 8hrs. It's called a walking sim by a lot of people. Well that's what I have been doing. Walking, using a controller. To soak in the atmosphere. The eerie music. The gorgeous environment. Looking at the world for clues as to what happened. People who rush through this and say they completed this in under 4 hours...why? Each to their own but for me this is to be savoured. The shooting/action is suited for this world where resources would be scarce, It isn't a balls to the wall action shooter. Nor should it be. It's akin to survival horror. I didn't get tricked into thinking that when watching the trailers either. The scenes are in the game, as is. The puzzles are interesting enough and hard enough to keep you guessing and trying. I'm not sure about the story so far, and you know what? That's ok for me. Souls games require online reading for some clarity. Same ball park. I am gutted that there will likely never be a sequel. Proper gutted. Hopefully I helped others see this game for what it is.

Great Geiger atmosphere, fun puzzles. Suffers from some QoL issues: - Not enough healing stations. As you begin to learn the damage/healing systems, it is easy to tear through the single-use healing stations. Next thing you know, you are stuck with 1 health, re-trying a section over and over - No run toggle. Do you have to hold SHIFT endlessly? Yes indeed. RIP left pinky. - No checkpoint/save selection. Want to go back and try a section again? Nope. Welcome to 1992.