- Publisher: Prime Matter
- Release Date: Feb 28, 2023
- Also On: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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Feb 27, 2023Scars Above is AA game design at its absolute best. A tight Sci/fi adventure that is perfectly paced and entertaining from start to finish. Proof positive that a smaller, tighter scope is often a wiser road to success in the world of video games.
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Apr 19, 2023Scars Above tells an excellent story and provides several mechanics that fans of the genre will enjoy. The landscapes and monsters are designed beautifully, with audio that completes each setting. While character design could use some work, and customization would have been nice, the good heavily outweighs the bad with this one. The combat difficulty will provide plenty of frustration and enjoyment for days on end.
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Mar 1, 2023Scars Above seems to have borrowed traits from several games that all combine well to make Scars Above and enjoyable experience. This mixture of simple puzzle-solving and light combat may not suit everyone, but I certainly enjoyed crafting weapons and gadgets that helped bring down the Custodian.
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Feb 28, 2023Scars Above is an excellent third person shooter, in which the plot plays a leading role without stealing the scene from the action, which never fails. Each step of Kate Ward risks being the last, due to a wave of alien monsters or some environmental trap, and the above average difficulty always keeps us on our toes, hoping that after that battle there will finally be a checkpoint to secure the progress made. The growth of the character is not so decisive, but it remains a game that invites us to progress to discover what new surprises await us.
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Feb 28, 2023Although Scars Above will not become a gaming icon and you will quickly forget the name of the main character, we have a good feeling about the sci-fi adventure. Especially the first phase of the game is imaginative, then the level drops a bit and the gameplay is more austere, but finally everything ends successfully.
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Feb 28, 2023Scars Above offers a great shooter experience that's a bit rough around the edges in some areas when it comes to realizing its vision and potential. While these problems are noticeable, I don't feel like it takes too much from the full product while offering a haunting survival horror experience with a unique gimmick that makes players think about the best approach to the way they face the environment around the enemies.
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Feb 28, 2023Scars Above sets out as a standard sci-fi action game and experiments to great success. The story intelligently weaves in some horror elements to keep you hooked with a level of narrative consistency and cohesion that keeps things simple yet enjoyable. Combat is fun and forces you to think on your feet, leaving you properly immersed in the gameplay. With only one save file and a lack of voice and mouth synchronization, the game certainly isn’t beyond criticism. Although despite the shortcomings, Scars Above is a great example of a game that isn’t afraid to push boundaries, and succeeds in delivering a fun experience that doesn’t overstay its welcome.
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Mar 1, 2023A game suitable for those who loves Sci-Fi creatures. It delivers the concept of facing various life forms during an adventure throughout an unknown planet quite well. A shooting action which requires puzzle-solving brain work is also quite interesting. However, you need to endure the unnatural modeling, stiff animation and unreasonable level designs before all these charms.
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Apr 8, 2025Scars Above is an ambitious game that tries to balance action, exploration, and storytelling into a cohesive experience. While it’s not perfect, it manages to deliver an engaging adventure that stands out for its intelligent protagonist and creative use of scientific elements.
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Mar 15, 2023Scars Above is a game that will help you turn off for a few hours, without needing to be challenged by gameplay while being entertained by the visuals and storyline — if your eyes haven’t glazed over by then.
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Feb 28, 2023Scars Above is an entertaining yet familiar action adventure that while having its flaws, is bolstered by enough engaging gameplay elements and tropes that it makes you want to get to the end of its relatively short story.
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Feb 28, 2023Scars Above is an enjoyable, if simple, entry into the sci-fi shooter genre. Although elements of the game feel a bit rushed or unpolished, none of that will detract from the overall experience. If you have a few hours to spare and you like mysterious adventures on far-flung planets, I recommend giving this one a go.
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Mar 14, 2023Scars Above is a third-person shooter that should have a mysterious narrative filled with cosmic horror involving intense issues. However, even though it develops the essential aspects that are expected from a game like this, it still needs a lot to qualify as a good video game of the genre.
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Mar 13, 2023Despite a tedious beginning and many generic traits, Scars Above comes alive near the end with decent third-person shooting set in an intriguing alien world that is oddly familiar in more ways than one.
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Mar 3, 2023Overall, Scars Above just can’t rise above its AA roots. This translates to some cut-rate animations, character models, and environments. The game’s primary weapon is good enough, as is the story and combat. But just being adequate is a tough sell. It’s hard to imagine Scars Above moving to the front of the Soulslike line.
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Mar 16, 2023Here is a game that falls short of its potential, but still won't make patient gamers unhappy. If its general sloppiness and various bugs don't get on your nerves too much, fans of the genre can give it a chance.
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Apr 17, 2023Scars Above wants to do a lot of things at once and takes its inspiration from many successful gems of the past. But it executes all of it just a bit more awkwardly and its own ideas fall flat more often than not. The combat system is pretty solid and the story drags the game from the mire of averageness, but it could’ve been so much better.
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Feb 28, 2023Scars Above is a game that gets lost halfway between its ambitions and the ability to realize them. It's got some interesting ideas yet staged in a clumsy way. If you come to terms with its many limits and uncertainties, the experience can certainly deliver a few pleasant moments and some challenges.
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Feb 28, 2023Scrappy, fun and with a meaningless sci-fi story, Scars Above is equal parts B-movie horror and sci-fi shooter. Adopting several parts of the Soulslike experience with heaps of its own ideas, Scars Above is low on polish but high on moxy, and could find cult status come sale season.
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Feb 28, 2023The inspired settings and the tactical element at the base of the gunplay are certainly appreciable but fail to make Scars Above go beyond the boundaries of sufficiency. Many of the errors and lightness are due to the youth of the development studio, which was still able to define a credible and in-depth lore and a complete but not fully satisfactory plot. If you have an immoderate passion for space and science fiction cinema, you might consider the idea of accompanying Kate on her journey but, if not, the reasons that should push you to try it are considerably reduced.
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Mar 6, 2023Scars Above is unfortunately bland, with dull combat and very few puzzles. It has hints at interesting ideas and ambitions, but couldn’t execute on those.
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Mar 3, 2023Scars Above tried to make its place by adding twists onto well know mechanics, but tragically falls just short. While it does bring many new and interesting ideas to the table, it is hard to notice them when none of the other mechanics seem to work well together.
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Mar 9, 2023It’s disappointing because if the gameplay had any substance or intrigue to it, all that great atmosphere and design work would’ve lifted it up into something worthwhile, but it’s so relentlessly boring that I just don’t care about all the nice bells and whistles it's packaged in.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 18 out of 37
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Mixed: 7 out of 37
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Negative: 12 out of 37
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Mar 3, 2023
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Mar 26, 2023
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Mar 15, 2023