Scorn Review

A twisted bag of nightmares that has been long awaited by some and by me personally, has finally landed upon us in the form of Scorn. Developed by EBB Software and published by Keplar Interactive, Scorn is available to purchase right now on Xbox Series X|S and also on Steam.

It’s great news if you’re an Xbox Game Pass subscriber as Scorn is included day one with the service, ripe and ready for you to jump into, offering one of the most impressive, nightmarish landscapes I’ve experienced in recent times, he says, totally un-biased as he proceeds to look down at his Alien mousepad.

If you somehow couldn’t already tell, Scorn takes some very heavy inspiration from  H.R.Giger, a Swiss artist best-known for his airbrushed images that blend human and machines together. He was also a part of the special effects team that won an Academy Award for the design of the xenomorph in the 1979 film: Alien.

If you’re still unsure of H.R Giger’s work, you can read more information about him; here! Or watch a trailer for the game below:

Traversing The Hellscape

If you’re after a somewhat slow, puzzling experience that will remind you of the Prometheus film every chance it gets whilst being crammed full of obvious sexual innuendos, then you’re in the right place. Sorry if you were expecting b*lls-to-the-wall action, however.

Whilst there is combat it can feel quite sluggish and somewhat tedious in places and becomes quite clear that combat was not the developers main focus here.

You will only find yourself coming face to face with 4 or 5 different enemies so there really isn’t a lot of variety in that aspect. Their only attacks seem to be spitting, whilst another just aimlessly charges at you.

What the Scorn offers combat wise could be considered quite Outlast-esque, as I’ve often found it easier to not waste my time trying to kill enemies and rather, just lure them away from my path and quickly run around them instead.

As for progressing through the story, there’s no dialogue, no icons, and no way-points. This game doesn’t hold your hand, and right from the beginning you are left alone, fending for yourself whilst trying to work out what to do next.

The game has no manual-save option, which didn’t affect me personally, as this game isn’t all that difficult and you’ll find plenty of health stations scattered throughout, whatever this place is. As for dying, the auto-save checkpoints seem generous enough and you won’t find yourself retreading to many of the same steps if you succumb to the hellscape.

The inventory system, along with every other little detail within the game, is very cool to look at, easy on the eye, ascetically pleasing, to the point of taking damage because I was having to long of a glance just trying to take it all in.

Along your journey you’ll find a few different types of weapons, which are helpful of sorts, but as i mentioned above, your best bet is to attempt running around enemies instead of facing them head on.

In Scorn, you’ll acquire the odd new weapon or tool from time to time whilst trying to solve puzzles to progress but, there are no upgrades to these weapons, and you really don’t have a huge array of tools at your disposal. The Puzzles might prove quite tiresome in Scorn, depending on whether or not you have your thinking cap on.

Whilst the puzzles are still easier than a Sudoku, they can still test your patience at times and if they don’t catch you at the right time, could prove disheartening and even turn you away from this beautifully crafted world.

If I’m being truly honest, i had a couple of experiences in the game where I found myself needing to just press a switch, instead of spending 20 minutes or so walking around in circles, as stated previously, you are on your own here and the game doesn’t care about you, which isn’t a bad thing if you like this approach.

The Design

Visually this game is an absolute stunner, if you can stomach what it wants to throw at you. Scooping out your own insides, cutting yourself, mutilating embryos among many other gruesome acts. It’s certainly not going to be for the faint of heart.

Multiple times I stopped to ask myself what the hell is actually going on here. If you love gore and just over the top disgusting stuff in general, then I’d like to welcome you to your new home.

So many times, I found myself stopping to look at the design of a certain door, or to look at a new weapon I acquired. From start to finish I was in almost constant awe at the design and atmosphere. I’m certain nobodies screenshot button has taken a beating worse than mine.

There is a clear H.R.Giger influence here and personally, I’m all for it. I’d stop just to look around and admire this beautifully crafted erm… thing. In certain places it honestly feels like it could be an extension of the Alien universe and that puts a great big smile on this chap’s face.

The detail is second to none, even down to the reload animations on weapons and healing yourself or refilling your health pack at a health station. They have nailed their craft here and delivered an overly grotesque experience that I wish could’ve been a little bit longer.

The Verdict

Overall, EBB Software have knocked this one out of the park in terms of building a grotesque, mysterious experience, just ever so slightly let down by its sluggish combat. At heart it’s a puzzle heavy walking simulator wrapped in a big, twisted bow that I wish lasted longer.

Completion will only take you between 3-6+ hours depending on how quickly you manage to solve the puzzles and your approach to enemies. I also found some of my time spent just stopping to take in the environment around me which definitely takes it time, but that isn’t a complaint, quite the opposite.

11 out of the 12 achievements that accompany this game can be earned just by playing this from start to finish so you will only need to go back and mop up the one leftover, should you miss it

Scorn is most definitely an acquired taste, so if you’re still on the fence but you’re not keen on puzzles, I’d give this a miss. However, if you don’t mind them and want to see something twisted, definitely jump in, especially if you have an Xbox Game Pass subscription. If you’re like me and you love the Alien franchise, then you probably aren’t even reading this and instead are already within Scorn.

I don’t think Scorn will be in the Game of the Year talks, but there will be quite the conversation around it, hats off to Ebb Software.