DISCLOSURE: This game was reviewed on the following platform: PC – Check out our Review Policy page for more information.
Scorn is a first-person horror brutal, bloody, and extremely gory adventure game with a spooky world full of strange shapes and dark patterns. If you cannot comprehend graphic and terrifying bloody game elements, then Scorn is definitely not for you.
Other than that, Scorn is a very one-a-kind type of game. What it offers is completely unique so it needs to hold up on its own. Does it though? – Let’s find out.
How Good Is It After 8 Years of Development? – Scorn Review
Scorn is not a DOOM-like game. You won’t get that fast-paced action demon slaying while sliding toward molten flaming lava. You need to know that first before you even decide to give this game a try. It is a slower-paced game that relies a lot on its visuals.
There are certain positives and negatives to it though. Let’s find out the most important ones.
Pros
We shall start with the good part of the dark Scorn game.
Premise & World
The premise and the story might not be actually all that liked by a lot of the players. This is mainly because you are simply thrown inside a terrifying and dead-like world with nothing more than simple lore information here or there.
But we would have to say that when feeling and going through the world, you feel like everything has its own place. Everything just feels right and livable almost. You will feel as though something is really happening around you.
As you progress through the story, of course without any spoilers, you will also see the environment changing with you.
Visuals
Scorn is really feeling like the best and most artistic piece of a game out there right now. No matter where you will turn and look, you will feel as though it is a perfect time to take a screenshot. It is just that good! Assuming you’re a fan of the dark and apocalyptic theme of course.
It is basically like concept art in motion. There are tons of little details here and there that you can notice even in the far away distances. It is simply breathtaking and looks very amazing.
We have talked about the environment and everything, but what about the monsters that you will be facing? Where could I even start? You all know how the trailers and those small videos were on YouTube from before. Well, they are equally as good in the real game.
You can literally feel all the details after seeing the insides of a monster. They are made with much attention to detail and they look amazing. But still, very gory.
No Loading Screens
You will never get outside of the world in Scorn while playing the game. You won’t get a pause, or a loading screen, or something that will make you feel as though you are outside of the game. This doesn’t happen except for some instances where you will be knocked out.
This feels very amazing for the whole atmosphere of the game. You will get your immersion to the maximum thanks to this little but very important thing. Something like this is what a horror gore game always needs.
You won’t get a break from the things that will come at you and that secure feeling of a loading screen won’t help you at all.
Cons
How dark can it be?
Gameplay
The developers are explaining this whole process as environmental progress and gameplay, but to be honest we have no idea what that means. Yes, the game is stunning and absolutely gorgeous. But that doesn’t change the fact that you actually need to be playing too.
The puzzles are downright boring and not interesting at all. The combat is what it is, we will talk about it more later, but it feels very clunky and sometimes very off-putting.
There is way too much time spent doing nothing like the elevators taking you up or down to different places. We get that they’re showing off the visuals, but still, it needs to find that balance.
Performance
Although it can hold up on its own, sometimes though, you can clearly tell that the game hasn’t been fully optimized yet. Although this is really something that is easily fixable in the future, as of right now it might not be an issue for some, but for others, it might be game-breaking.
Because the game doesn’t have loading screens, you will oftentimes be going through very big zones that will be loaded in for you. Whenever you will enter a new map and zone you can get random low FPS drops.
The textures that are running in the background occasionally sync up together and lower your FPS. If you do have these issues, we recommend just lowering the graphics for now. The devs will surely optimize it better in the future.
Short Story
The game is way too short, and the way it ends is not so good. It is a 5-year game that took 8 years to make. Absolutely non-acceptable.
It feels like more than half of the game is missing, and the ideas that seem to be there aren’t developed at all, so the whole thing is just a big “Eh?”
The developers have talked in the past about endings that depend on the moral choices you make throughout the story. They’ve dropped all of that (except for that one guy at the beginning), and now you get the biggest you ending I’ve ever seen in a game because you have to make morally bad choices to move forward. Yes, you read that right. You have to.
So yes, when it comes to the story and how short it is, it is downright awful.
Combat
Although the whole premise for the combat in Scorn wasn’t really that the developers were going or, or what players were expecting to get, still it still feels like a downgrade from those very quality trailers we have been getting even since 2017.
You will get your casual type of shooter with more gun types. There’s the reload with stronger and weaker bullets and guns. But just the whole impact of the combat isn’t there. You can check the older trailers and see for yourself.
It is not a big minus in my books since it is basic and works well, and the visuals are very good, but for some people, it is a very big Con.
Price
It is a very costly game given to what it has to offer. It is around 40$ depending on where you live, and this is downright a steal. You can enjoy the visuals for sure, you can enjoy the environment because it is stunning. But you do not pay just for the looks.
You won’t get the gameplay that you will expect from it, and the worst thing, is you won’t get the length of the game that you will look for too. It is extremely short for the development cycle and years that it spent.
It feels as though it is a $15 indie engine game testing game. We definitely recommend you to wait until a sale comes so you can buy it.
Overall & Rating
Overall, we have to say that Scorn is whatever you make it up to be. If you come looking for a Doom alike game, well don’t come at all. If you decide that a puzzle-dark and brutal game where you’ll feel hopeless at times is good for you, Scorn will fit just right.
Scorn Review
Summary
That is why there are lots of mixed feelings about the game. Besides that, it still has its issues and definitely didn’t live up to the expectations after almost 8 years of waiting. That is why, as it is right now it feels like a 3 out of 5 game. Very unique and one of a kind, but needs something extra to it. Hopefully, in future updates, we will get that something.
Thank you very much for trusting Item Level Gaming and checking out our review. We hope that this review has given you a brief overview of the biggest positives and negatives of Scorn. We definitely recommend this game because it is one of a kind, but wait for a sale to come. Have fun!
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