Scorn Review - What Did I Just Play? — Too Much Gaming | Video Games Reviews, News, & Guides

For many reasons, Scorn was a highly anticipated horror game, one that’s been on my radar for quite some time now. The horrific landscapes, biomechanical weaponry and structures, everything we’d been shown via marketing and trailers had me thinking it might be something special - a game to be talked about for years to come. Did it succeed my expectations? In a way, it did, as I’ve never played such a disturbing and frustrating game.

Scorn is hard to understand, and playing it really tests your patience. You wake up as a man, naked within a structure that’s hard to pin down - is it mechanical or organic by origin? Everywhere around you is gross, and the first few hours are mostly spent just walking around, trying to make sense of what you need to do and what the story is all about.

Where am I?

The game gives you many opportunities to appreciate the world the developers at Ebb Software have created. It felt like their interpretation of what hell would look like if it were an actual place on Earth - a place devoid of life, with mysteries yet to be uncovered. Gargantuan structures are seen outside suggesting there’s a purpose for all of this, but something horrible has happened. On the inside, you are left with an interior that has been engulfed with flesh, similar to when wildlife naturally overtakes an abandoned modern structure.

It’s fascinating to say the least, but the game does not even try to convey any information to confirm any speculation you’ve formed in your head about anything. Heck, I don’t even have a name for the person I'm playing. No dialogue. No characters. Just two cutscenes – one at the start and one at the end of the game. The score is mute most of the time, as all you hear is heavy winds outside, or the movement of tentacles nearby. At times, a creature's footsteps can be heard, but there’s nothing significant to accompany these unsettling sounds that surround you.

Halfway through, some sort of goal finally formed as, in case it wasn’t obvious enough – I had to escape. But that's all you get as you inch closer to the game’s conclusion, which took roughly 4 hours and abruptly ends, leaving almost everything open-ended.

When I finally saw the ending, I couldn’t help but dive head-first into a rabbit hole of YouTube videos in the hopes of someone giving me any kind of answers to the game’s lore and story. I’ve learned more about the game, but due to the lack of any kind of confirmation from the game itself, everything is still considered speculation by most.

Figure it out yourself, or die from boredom

The game does not hold your hand one bit as players can easily find themselves lost if not paying attention. No markers of any kind for direction. The first thing you’ll eventually find is a complex puzzle, which leads to another puzzle. As you move forward, you eventually find your first enemy, an enemy that is slow and is as frustrated as you are playing this game. The initial encounters can only be disposed of by some kind of biomechanical device that serves as your melee attack, which also acts as a way to activate certain terminals in the area. It’s sluggish to use to the point where I prefer running away from any encounter, which is tougher than it sounds, thanks to narrow corridors.

You eventually find a new attachment for your weapon, which detaches the plunger-like melee weapon and switches to the new attachment, making it into a pistol. The switching sounds between each attachment of the living weapon are disgusting, but I finally have some familiarity. The game has now evolved from a walking simulator to a horror shooter in my second hour. But ammo is scarce, and aiming isn’t so forgiving, yet another obstacle. There’s only three weapons in the game, and three creature types, plus a boss-like encounter, which served as the only means of enjoyment I had with this game.

This isn't a scary game one bit, but definitely a horrific and disturbing one that’s filled with over-the-top gore that may make you gag a bit - a disgusting interpretation of a biomechanical landscape only the hyper-creative can muster. This isn’t a fun game to play, but a fascinating one to discuss between horror fanatics. This game isn’t for the faint of heart, not only because of the monstrosities found within Scorn, but also due to the activities you need to do to make it a video game. I was perplexed beyond belief. Everything felt intentional, as if all these negative feelings I had towards the game were the point all along, the dev team’s true goal. This video game sucks, but somehow, deep inside, I’m keen for more.