Scorn review – Step into a dark and decadent world

The long-awaited title from Ebb Software is coming to Xbox and PC thanks to Xbox.

Scorn has finally made its way to our next-gen consoles. It took almost 8 years to arrive, but it seems the wait was worth it since we end up here with an experience like no other. First introduced in 2014, the game suffered numerous delays and lived through two Kickstarter campaigns. After a re-presentation in 2020 by Xbox, Scorn is finally here, and it’s exclusive to the new generation of Xbox Series consoles and PC. We usually comment that games that take so long to make are usually not very good, but Scorn is breaking this trendalthough it is not free from some not-so-positive details.

Largely inspired by HR Giger (alien creative leader) and Zdzislaw Beksinsk, Scorn has no respect for the finicky or the faint of heart. This experience framed in the genre of “body horror” forgoes conventional means of scaring, launching you into a conceptual narrative with a marked atmosphere and setting.

It’s hard to talk about what Scorn is from a narrative perspective. without spoiling it or sounding too vague to understand. You are a nameless character, a skinless being who awoke from a deep sleep on an alien planet. Without some cringeworthy dialogue or clue to tell you why you’re doing what you’re doing, your character wanders the planet presumably to escape or make sense of their existence. when i say that Scorn’s narrative structure is minimalist

, I mean it seriously. There isn’t a single line of dialogue in the entire game; the only aspect of the game that guides your understanding is completely non-verbal. There are no audio recordings or documents that give context to the strange and macabre images you see. It’s you who are dropped into an alien world to explore, allowing you to get what you want from your observations.

This approach has its advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, it allows you to fully immerse yourself in the atmosphere and the sublime decor of Scorn. But on the other hand, it feels a bit basic to me in terms of narrative structure. As the credits went on, I couldn’t help but feel that things were intentionally vague. I could be wrong, but there’s no doubt that It’s a game that will give rise to discussions and theories long after players have completed it. It’s clear that they focused on creating the environment in the first place. After all, the developers said they wanted Scorn’s world acts as a character in its own right. And I think they hit the nail on the head in that regard.

Scorn, as a game, is best described as a first-person adventure with horror elements. And no friends, there’s no fear here. In its place, Contempt creates an intense and unpleasant atmosphere instill a sense of fear in the player. When I played Scorn, I was more terrified of the situation (being so isolated and alone in this strange world) than of my surroundings. Throughout the story, you’ll explore, solve puzzles, and encounter strange enemies along the way. The heart of the experience is explore and interact with the world to create a path that allows you to enter it

. The puzzles themselves are the typical puzzles found in most games based on environmental puzzles.

Scorn is a straightforward experience when it comes to exploring and solving puzzles. It’s times like these that things make sense, and the team’s dedication to creating such an incredible atmosphere pays off. It is not as difficult as many players say, but it is true that if we do not pay enough attention to the environment, we can get stuck in more than one point.

Besides the puzzle mechanics, we have the combat mechanics. This is a point that makes me think that Scorn isn’t sure what he wants to be. It’s clearly not a shooter (the ammo you’re given in such small quantities indicates that) but it’s not survival horror either. Combat, in general, is slow and tedious. You can try to evade enemies at any time, but the environments are so tight and our movement is so slow that sometimes, instead of escaping, we will end up perishing.

Add to that a non-regenerating health system and a limited supply of health recovery items, Contempt can be frustrating for many. Scorn’s fight seems so secondary that I wonder why it was included. All other aspects of the game are so good that the fight only serves to spoil the experience a bitexcept for one memorable encounter near the end of the game.

Autosave is another fairly controversial topic in the game, as it can take several minutes to find one. This means that if we die we will have to start the same section again and redo everything from 0. And no, we will not be able to save the game on our own.

Having said that, Scorn remains an interesting and compelling proposition from start to finish.. Leaving aside the aforementioned enemy-focused areas, the title will last us between six and eight hours. Although linear, Scorn’s world is so masterfully laid out that it doesn’t matter. Honestly the highlight of the game, the way Scorn constructs its world with so little exposition or open explanation, she is truly masterfulI. Atmosphere and charm are built from the start without the need for shrill music or a raspy shrill to highlight what should scare you.

In conclusion, I cannot stress enough how good the world of Scorn is. Almost nothing happens there and yet it is one of the scariest places i know. So, I strongly recommend you to enter the terrifying world of Scorn.