Scorn Review (Sigmar's Sausage)
Let’s just say right off the bat that I love Scorn but it is not for everyone. I would describe this as a “Dark Souls” of Walking Sims in that it can be very unforgiving and difficult in places. If you are expecting a shooter then turn around and head back out the exit because Scorn is a linear walking sim with some very dicey shooting mechanics. But if you are interested in taking a stroll through an H.R. Giger inspired alien world and piecing together a strange tale of life and death told through a mashup of viscera and technology then oh boy, Scorn might be a great way for you to spend half a day. Honestly, looking back on the game the more I appreciate it.
THE PROS
+ drop dead gorgeous. This game is amazing to look at. I found a lot of my playtime was spent just gawking and screenshotting the environments and landscapes. It’s a hellish nightmare world of decay but it is so conversely beautiful at the same time. It literally oozes with life.
+ Look Ma! No Hands! There is zero handholding in this game. You are On. Your. Own. Things you can interact with are highlighted in the game but you will need to figure out everything else. I really appreciate the very limited use of a HUD, zero quest markers or tutorial. We are equally as lost as the main character.
+ Puzzling Surroundings. I enjoyed the labyrinthian areas to explore and puzzles to solve. I felt like I had really achieved something when I finally got a great hulking piece of alien technology to work, or I found that button that had been eluding me for the past 20 minutes. I felt rewarded for my curiosity but others might be frustrated by the very slow pace of the game.
+ easy peasy cheevy. Collecting all the cheevos was a cakewalk. There is only 1 point where the story has a decision to make that results in you missing one of the first cheevos. All the rest are mandatory and its just a case of restarting and doing the introduction again to get that sweet 100%.
THE CONS
- Too much cutting room floor lore. To fully understand the game you need to purchase the special edition with the artwork pdf. They tried to include lots more in the game but what didn’t make it into the final product ended up in a fairly extensive pdf. You can theorize about what the game is but its not until you see a detailed YouTube video that goes through the artwork pdf that you will understand the game in its entirety.
– Dud checkpoints. There are some terrible checkpoints in the game. The developers said they fixed them but I found a few more later in the game. You might find yourself having to replay a good chunk of the game again if you die. The good news is I didn’t really find myself dying until the late game stage anyway. But also consider where you save and exit for the night. Relying on the game’s autosave is worrying at times.
– Price-gore. I get it, this game took a long time to get made. I get it the artwork is great. But in my opinion the price tag is a touch too high. I would suggest buying in on a sale around the 20 dollar mark.
THE CONCLUSION
This game is very polarizing but its still currently sitting at a “mostly positive” on Steam but I can see that dropping to “mixed” once more people pick this up and give it a try. In all honesty I am not a superfan and had no idea of the kickstarter history and extended development of this game. It popped up and I wishlisted it a few weeks prior to launch because it looked interesting and different. And I got exactly that. Interesting and Different. I got a walking sim without all the audio logs and diary entries, I got a really awkward Katamari Damacy shooter, I got an old school puzzler where nothing is explained.
And I’ll end by saying something that’s sure to upset a few people: “It’s a better Prometheus than Prometheus.” You really get a good look at “The Builders” of the Scorned and you feel like an anthropologist/archaeologist piecing the parts of this doomed world together.