Scorn

Scorn is a filthy game, especially thanks to the sick design that you both loathe and respect at the same time. It contains unique puzzles, an atmosphere that will give you the creeps and it might even make you nauseous, even after adjusting the video settings to your liking.

Scorn is a feast for the eyes, a buffet for the mind but not for those of a weak stomach. It satisfies the morbid and the curious with its odd forms and sombre tapestries.

Full of body horror and psychotically twisted imagery, players will have a variety of reactions to Scorn, but they are unlikely to be bored. While the game's world building and puzzle design are top-notch, the combat and a punitive checkpoint system may turn some players off.

Scorn is an author's game. An imperfect work of art indeed, but if the dull fighting gameplay doesn't set you off, the game will leave its mark on you, way after you turn the machine off.

If you are into extreme horror, you should really try Scorn. If you are absolutely terrified of visions of flesh and gore, you should even more consider giving Ebb Software's video game a chance: you may be amazed by your own reactions. One cannot remain indifferent to the work of the Serbian studio: a radical product, which walks with its head held high in a world in which you try spasmodically to please everyone, only to discover that it has not really fascinated anyone.

Scorn is a beautiful game with a sophisticated setting. On the other hand, the narrative feels slow but intuitive in terms of history and exploration. However, in its genre, it will be one of the most detailed and horrific installments of 2022 that survival horror or adventure fans need to play.

Eight years in the making, Scorn is a tremendous, grotesque and terrifying experience that encapsulates true horror with something alien and unknown, masterfully translating it into a first-person action puzzler. It doesn’t relish itself with its rudimentary mechanics, but it adds upon them with carefully synergized environmental design.

The constant suffering of our lives, the idea that there is something far worse than death itself, the prospects of a miserable life of pain and useful only for purposes not ours: Scorn is a modern decadent work that uses horror to higher purposes, to tell with silence what we are destined to be from our birth and what we will never be able to understand, while we enjoy our petty illusions that crumble in the face of the merciless reality that is ready to invest in any instant.

Inspired by the works of Giger and Beksiński, Scorn is a visual masterpiece that will leave you uneasy, feeling defiled, possibly horrified. And worst of all – it will probably make you brood over uncomfortable things. It’s simply not a game everyone will enjoy. It will discourage some by exceeding the limits of good taste. Others will be too goal-oriented to take in the atmosphere, intellectually engaged in solving puzzles so much they’ll miss their consequences, too excited by encountering enemies to notice their weapons have an umbilical cord. But I’m sure some will appreciate Ebb Software’s captivating creation deeply.

Scorn is a unique and high-quality video game horror that doesn't try to jump-scare you in the first place, but builds an exciting atmosphere that you'll love to dive into again and again.

Unique, sick horror with a remarkable Alien style and innovative huge puzzles, but too few enemy types. Only for very strong stomachs.

Scorn reminds me a lot of what Agony was trying to go for when it released – a fresh new experience through a nightmarish setting. With Scorn though, it arrived very playable with only a few issues, unlike the tragedy that we experienced with Agony. Horror fans should definitely give Scorn a try. Scorn is an experience like no other horror game and every horror fan needs to support this great effort.

Finally, once again a case where the long wait paid off. Scorn did not disappoint, but mainly brought audiovisual porn for fans of a specific art style. There is not so much playing in it, but I can still warmly recommend a visit to this virtual world.

Checkpoint woes and a short runtime couldn't keep this body horror sci-fi game from burrowing into my skull.

In truth, Scorn doesn’t tell a particularly fascinating story, but it hardly matters; the way in which it’s told is done to perfection, and provides an incredibly refreshing horror experience that truly gets under your skin.

Atmospheric, fascinating-disgusting survival horror that ends too quickly and clouds its finale a bit too much.

A lot of people probably won't like the gameplay, but the visual impact is so strong that it's difficult not to recommend Scorn. It's so disturbing you'll want to look away, and so breathtaking that you won't be able to stop looking. It's the playable nightmare of a macabre mind.

Scorn is a hard game to pin down, but it’s one I can’t help but recommend. It’s disgustingly alluring in its visual execution, with each new location bringing with it a waterfall of questions as you poke, prod, and cower at every discovery. This ambition of being artsy and cryptic can hold it back at points, but there’s something fiercely admirable in its artistic vision that few games in the genre are able to match. This is a tragic horror of Lovecraftian proportions, and one that really must be seen to be believed.

I would very highly recommend Scorn to fans of both horror and puzzle games. It definitely stands out in both genres as unique, and its challenges will keep you thinking constantly. It is also a game worth checking out if you are a fan of the Alien series or anything biopunk. The art alone was enough for me to immediately wishlist it. While the lack of dialogue did at times feel upsetting, possibly because I myself am a writer at heart, it definitely did add to the creepiness of the atmosphere.

Scorn is a survival horror shooter puzzle game and it uses each of those elements in its own mold.

At no point during my playthrough of Scorn did I ever consider it a "fun" game, and to its credit, developer Ebb Software has made no effort to disguise the game as such. Through all its grit and grime, Scorn's more of an experience than anything else. Completing only one playthrough may mean leaving some secrets and story threads likely left uncovered, but one playthrough is more than enough for the grotesqueness of Scorn to leave a lasting impression.

Scorn is a daring aesthetic experiment in virtual, interactive science fiction. Taking inspiration from the art of H.R. Giger and Zdzislaw Beksiński, developer Ebb Software seems hellbent on giving its players a surreal, nightmarish experience, and it mostly succeeds. While combat can feel like a secondary concern, Scorn’s puzzles provide just enough challenge to keep the game from feeling like a “walking simulator.” Really, though, the main attraction is Scorn’s compelling world, a fully realized artistic vision that will haunt you for days after experiencing it.

I certainly don’t enjoy Scorn in the way that I do most video games. The thought of revisiting its monstrous world makes me feel ill. But I respect Scorn for its technical artistry, design and environmental world-building that successfully encourages player agency, and how strong and cohesive it feels in its overall creative vision, despite its mentally and physically taxing nature.

Unhealthy, gloomy and scary, Scorn pours into true horror. Not the "good-natured" one of classic survival horror and easy jumpscares, but the one that grips the guts and really makes you feel uncomfortable. His sticky and visceral universe, inspired by the works of H.R. Giger and Zdzisław Beksiński, offers us a nightmarish biomechanical vision. In fact, with regard to the atmosphere, Scorn is a bit Agony in success.

It’s not just the sense that everything is aeons old, it’s that aeons seem to pass before your eyes, chapter to chapter. Brief combat encounters are tense but sparse, and neither a highlight nor detriment, although creature design is enjoyably gruesome. Not an acquired taste, then, but an unequivocally bitter one, engineered with such bold artistry you’ll wince as you go back in for seconds.

Scorn is a mind-blowing experience that will satisfy the eyes of thrill-seekers. But walking through such a flesh and blood maze, only visually experience is not enough. The gameplay and art are supposed to complement each other. I wonder if Scorn is held back by the mediocre gameplay or is too high by the impressive art - its poor bones can hardly hold up its entire core experience, which eventually leads to a discrepancy between the exterior and the interior.

Scorn's ways are obscure, and often frustrating in a way that gamers who didn’t grow up in the 90s may struggle with more than myself. It's a work of breathtaking vision and uneven execution - from its combat, to its unsatisfying ending that sadly doesn't do justice to the gruelling yet oddly poignant odyssey you embark upon. But for its flaws, Scorn makes a hell of an impression, filling me with equal parts immense curiosity and dread. I don't want to return to it any time soon - maybe ever - but I will be scouring the Subreddits and the Steam boards in an attempt to decipher it for a long time yet.

Scorn makes up for its mechanical deficiencies with its wonderful design. Whether that will be enough for you to enjoy is your judgment call.

Scorn has a unique setting focusing on symbolism, leaving everything to the player to discern and interpret. It is an acquired taste.

Aesthetically disgusting, Scorn touches on several deep-seated phobias all at once, ensnaring you with its alien and disgusting universe. While the worldbuilding shines, the combat can be pure frustration. Come for the visceral stomach churn, and stick around for one of the stranger stories you’ll ever see. While the combat will frustrate, the setting is worth the fight.

A few words on the sound, which is very essential in terms of musical accompaniment, almost absent, but does an excellent job in terms of design and effects among screams, moans and noises that will help make our stay in the mysterious game scenario a nightmare experience.

Scorn offers us an original dreamlike universe in which we don't really want to live. The atmosphere is refined and supports beautiful images with an inspired artistic direction. It's not very long and will displease those who are looking for clear explanations, but, even if it could have done without its shooter side, it offers beautiful exploration phases. Moreover, it offers original environmental puzzles, most of the time presenting a real challenge to solve them, due to the absence of any help from the game.

Scorn is a very atmospheric and unique experience. The game offers an incredible artistic direction inspired by the work of Giger and a fantastic atmosphere, ultra heavy. The universe that the player discovers there is as fascinating as it is disturbing and the puzzles as brilliant as they are incongruous... No dialogues, advice, objectives. The player is alone, lost, like a true explorer. Even if the game is not for everyone, those who play it will remember it for a long time, that's for sure.

It's hard not to admire developer Ebb's commitment to a bleak and violent biomechanical world. No game has ever nailed the style of Giger quite so precisely and consistently. Scorn is genuinely disturbing in the way of an unsettling nightmare, but even unrelenting tension eventually loses impact. Its puzzles and exploration sometimes feel arbitrary and needlessly obtuse. Ebb might not care if I waste time getting lost or missing important clues, but Scorn's rewards aren't always worth the effort. Scorn is a darkly beautiful vision but just not much fun to play.

Scorn successfully leverages an intense atmosphere with striking artistic direction to offer a horror journey like no other. While combat can get in the way of an otherwise strong offering, and the story takes a back seat to everything else, Scorn is a unique horror experience and a great debut.

Scorn is the classic case of a brilliant idea, diligently implemented which then lacks much of the content to be savored and enjoyed. The settings are excellent and cause great anguish, and the adventure around the exploration of these carnal and biomechanical tunnels is fantastic, but the shooting phases are faulty, the puzzles are repetitive and in some cases fillers, for a project with little longevity. Having put the nearly eight years of development on the table, it was reasonable to expect something more.

Scorn is still a journey worth taking for its appearance and environments alone, but I would have traded away every single repetitive combat encounter for just one more puzzle to sink my teeth into.

Scorn is different and original in its own way, an experience that you should give a chance if you know what you face. Although, if you are most demanding it will not be your game at all.

Scorn is clearly a labour of grotesque love, feeling unlike almost any other game out there. The alien are satisfying, the lack of handholding adds to the sense of a hostile world, and the nihilistic drive of the game in subjecting your character to further degradation really makes it stand out. It is a game that will live long in the memory, but it is the very definition of a divisive experience.

Scorn is an interesting game to play. Lacking any real story to follow, it instead relies on your own curiosity to see it through. You’ll be interacting with all sorts of disgusting things, and fighting off horrifying creatures, and if you’re the kind of person who can not only stomach the aesthetic, but actually enjoy it, Scorn will undoubtedly be a wonderful experience. For just about everyone else, though, maybe look at a couple of screenshots and trailers and see if you can stomach the aesthetic first.

Scorn is an esoteric journey / roller coaster. While its raising the atmosphere with great artistic direction and amazing sound, it slows down to a halt with clunky shooting mechanics and repetitive puzzles. Still – great job Ebb Software.

Surreal, grotesque and hauntingly beautiful. Scorn does not offer much in terms of story or depth, but the atmosphere and art direction are off the charts. It's a short, sometimes confusing experience and if you are looking for a shooter, by all means, look somewhere else. But if you keep your expectations in check (and have a taste for some seriously twisted stuff), you are in for a ride that will stay with you long after the credits rolled.

Scorn is a relentless and haunting foray into a surreal and macabre world of alien mystery, but the most terrifying part is the gruesome combat.

Scorn presents one of the most visually striking and untouchably atmospheric game worlds in recent memory. Ebb Software also admirably challenges horror gameplay conventions and profoundly examines humanity's insatiable desires. Unfortunately, the crawling pace might deter players from seeing it through.

Scorn works wonders with Giger's and Beksiński's artwork, not only in terms of aesthetic fidelity but in creating a world that's utterly strange to exist in. This is a violent, painful, but fascinating place, thick with symbolism and interlocking puzzles that hint at some terrifying grand design. While it can be overly obscure and frustrating, especially in combat, Scorn serves up one hell of a journey.

If Scorn were much longer than it is, I think it would have overstayed its welcome. But the fact that it's such a bite-sized sprint through the grisly and surreal made it memorable and satisfying. The frustrating combat, mercifully, only haunts a fraction of that playtime. But the superb, darkly mystifying art direction and ambient soundtrack suffuse the whole thing like rancid blood bringing a creaky corpse back to life. It's an uneasy, sometimes disorienting experience from end-to-end. Yet, it's one I don't regret plunging into.

Despite a troubled development, Scorn managed to evolve over the years, to reach a visual and aesthetic power hardly achieved by other video games, including AAA. Unfortunately, the gameplay core is anachronistic and makes the gaming experience unsatisfactory, at times even frustrating... certainly light-years behind the artistic aspects of the title.

Scorn is an atmospheric masterpiece that wants you to be smart, logical, and mindful. If you are not, then it will feel more like a frustrating tease than a disturbing journey of discovery.

I’m fairly confident Scorn is aimed specifically at fans of body horror and the darker sides of humanity, because suffering is a key theme here. But fans of dread-filled atmospheres and H. R. Giger-inspired aesthetics will not want to miss it, so long as you have the emotional resolve required.

Scorn may make a few missteps here and there, with some short-lived but shoddy combat sequences and puzzles that grow a little repetitive as the game reaches its climax, but none of this really takes away from the artistic achievement at core of this adventure. Ebb Software's debut is one of the most gruesome, thought-provoking and completely alien experiences we've had in a very long time. It's a game that flings you headlong into a blood-soaked nightmare, leaves you to push and prod and make your own way forward, to draw your own conclusions, and it's one that's left a lasting impression on us as a result of some truly superb world-building and startling imagery. It's absolutely not for everyone, but if it sounds like your cup of tea, we urge you to give this one a whirl.

Scorn is a haunting journey through an alien world that asks a lot from players, both through its striking imagery and some smartly designed, unique puzzles.

Scorn offers a superb and unforgettable setting influenced by the work of artist H.R. Giger, in a first person puzzle adventure with combat. Unfortunately, the puzzles are generic and lack deep and varied mechanics, and the combat sections don't quite work. Recommended for lovers of the Swiss artist's work and extreme and bizarre settings.

Contempt has become hostage to its concept. This is an excellent interactive artbook, which has practically no analogs. But as a game, this is still a piece product, not everyone needs a product that not everyone will appreciate.

Scorn isn't necessarily scary, but it is gross and uncomfortable. You may not like what's on the screen, but there's no denying that Ebb has thought long and hard about the world it's presenting and has succeeded in creating a cohesive and fully-formed offering.

Although there is a room for arguments, Scorn's art design seems properly portrayed the original intention of the game. It is also fun to digest the ending as the way you think. However, intuition-dependent puzzles and insufficient combats can make players easily quit the game before ending. The combination of checkpoints and dysfunctional combat is the scariest part of it.

Scorn really brings the art that inspired to 3D life, meshes it with good music, and presents it on a stable platform. But the mundane puzzles and poor combat drag it down.

An atmospheric experience more than a game itself, Scorn is a desolate travel reminiscent of old school adventure games like Myst.

It took eight years to complete Scorn and, when playing the final result, it's clear that more development time was needed. The game succeeds in teasing our senses with an exquisite setting and challenging puzzles, but it lacks a compelling story and refined gameplay to make it a worthwhile experience.

Scorn is an art house experience. I’m sure that other reviewers will plumb “Scorn” for its hidden high-minded commentary on the human condition, but for me, the appeal of the game is how it made me feel rather than think. I felt a constant, humming anxiety for simply existing in its macabre world. I was never particularly scared of anything I encountered; like the playable creature, I just wanted out.

Scorn is arguably worth playing for the visuals alone. We’re rarely transported to somewhere truly alien in games, and it’s something I’m glad I experienced. However, it’s more of a theme park ride than a genuinely immersive experience. That’s fine, but with a little more complexity and refinement outside of the artwork, it could have been something extraordinary.

Scorn brings together a beautiful world and alluring mystery with some confusing design choices that really hinder how much fun it actually is. Scorn may well be one of a kind, but you have to wonder if the title is derived from the contempt they feel towards the people actually trying to play it.

As a piece of world-building as assured as this feels like it deserves something more dynamic - something like a BioShock or a Deathloop, with you cast as an agent of chaos in an alien ecosystem. [Issue#378, p.110]

If you love H.R. Giger, unsettling body horror such as those seen in the works of Junji Ito, or creepy alien experimentation scenes from films like Fire in the Sky, you’ll undoubtedly appreciate Scorn’s overarching concept. Sadly the execution leaves much to be desired, which is a shame as I feel like Scorn could have been a real standout as far as atmospheric horror games go.

Scorn is a game with a terrific art direction that is directly inspired by the creator of Alien, H.R Giger, but also the works of David Cronenberg. An incredible ode to Hans Ruedi Giger that fails on every other level. Combats aren't good and necessary, and puzzles are too often base on the same mechanic. A VR version could have made the ride perhaps less tedious.

Scorn is in conversation with H. R. Giger’s art, but it’s playing a game of telephone. Despite nailing the aesthetic it's going for with excellent sound design and striking visuals, it struggles to deliver the same intimacy that makes Giger’s work so unsettling. Even when it does, Scorn’s artistic ambitions and its video game obligations are often at odds with one another. Ebb Software makes bold design decisions here to achieve the perfect atmosphere, but those decisions make for a frustrating shooter and first-person puzzle game that never quite feels fully formed.

Despite showcasing an interesting visual design, Scorn is an agonizing trip through a bizarre alien world with clunky combat, glacial mechanics, boring exploration, and a misplaced narrative.

Scorn was one of my most expected horror games, after a long while, what we got is a fairly boring game with bland mechanics and mostly just environments. I wish this would be an experiment for Ebb Software, but there is just so much wasted potential here which left me with just disappointment.

The restrictive saves and unbalanced combat combine to make much of Scorn's adventure a frustrating slog, betraying the initial promising opening hours that emphasize puzzle-solving and atmosphere above everything else. Even with the disappointing smaller puzzles, the overarching ones that are the centerpieces of each act are satisfying to slowly put together, but not captivating enough to distract from the brutally unfair challenges along the way. There's simply too much in Scorn that works to push you away from it rather than pull you deeper into it, making even its relatively brief adventure a difficult one to suggest you give your time to.

Scorn has one of the most beautiful worlds you'll see in a game (if you can see beauty in the grotesque). It's just a shame that world is also home to a frustrating puzzle-heavy adventure filled with aimless wandering.

I have enjoyed some action-adventure horror games out there. Limited ammo and health reserves can be a great tool for upping the tension and a great story helps make it worth seeing things through. Scorn has none of that. It is bland, boring, plays poorly, and excels in no areas.