Scorn

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.