Scars Above

By building the experience around its main protagonist, Scars Above creates impressive symmetry between its story, combat and systems. This results in a standout sci-fi soulslike that’ll accommodate genre aficionados and newcomers alike. It has a few blemishes but they do little to sour the experience.

A very competent action game that puts a large focus on exploration and a satisfying science-fiction story. Great first showing from a brand new game dev team from Serbia.

Scars Above mixes gameplay mechanics from vastly different genres to create something refreshingly unique and fun to play.

Combining classic sci-fi elements with an intriguing story, Scars Above presents a great combat and exploration experience, where the satisfaction of overcoming its challenges represents very well the feeling of surviving on a hostile alien planet.

Scars Above is not a triple-A, big-budget, blockbuster of a game and therefore shouldn’t be reviewed as one. While well-designed and creative, the game isn’t going to appeal to everyone and will feel low-budget compared to many of the games it’s clearly been inspired by. That’s okay, though, as Scars Above knows its audience and has been crafted with sci-fi and Soulslike fans in mind...If you fancy tackling some big bosses – but with a gun that fires various elemental attacks in a world that wouldn’t be out of place in Mass Effect or Returnal, then Scars Above may be an excellent way to spend your time.

Scars Above is exactly what you’d hope it would be - a reasonably priced and hugely entertaining third-person sci-fi action-adventure shooter. The team at Mad Head Games have crafted an exceptional game that I’m certain will delight those who pick it up. The developers were clever in their approach - very much aware of what Scars Above could and couldn’t achieve. It isn’t a game that’s dragged down by having ideas beyond its station. It perfectly mixes enjoyable combat with an intriguing world and a compelling story. Add in the immersion of the DualSense controller if you choose to pick the game up on PlayStation 5 and you’re in for a real treat. Scars Above isn’t revolutionary, but it executes what it does very well. When I hit the credits, I was sad that the game had drawn to an end - and that’s all you can really ask for.

Scars Above is a well-crafted third-person shooter with plenty of options to take on the punishing alien world you find yourself in.

Scars Above remind us how a high budget and piles of content don’t necessarily make a great game. Yet, simplicity and balance between all the elements may raise the fun factor to its limits. Initially unoriginal but more intriguing as you progress through the game, this one truly is a short but sweet experience that brings back "fun“ to the “interactive fun“ - something we don’t see on the market that often anymore.

Scars Above is a good, fairly classic action-adventure game with fun gameplay and an interesting story. It takes design ideas from Returnal and, with that, offers its own unique approach. a short game that marks a good debut for this indie studio.

Despite not being perfect, Scars Above can satisfy those players that look for a challenging experience in a science fiction environment. Technically average, we talk about a long game with an important sense of progression and a great variety of weapons, although most of the combats are based in elemental weaknesses.

While some things work beautifully for the game considering its inspirations, Scars Above fails to catch up them due to its limitations in design and gameplay. It’s an ambitious game, for sure, and while its combat is fun and story strings you along, you will wish that it was more polished and more of a challenge.

Scars Above is a great addition to the library of single player adventures and it tells an engaging sci-fi story that interrogates ideas of genetic manipulation, free will, and sacrifice. While it loses momentum a little towards the end, it serves as a fantastic advertisement for smaller budget games and is well worth picking up.

Scars Above's exploration gameplay is rewarding, if a little trite and it's characters mostly forgettable – but some inventive combat saves it mediocrity. A decently fun, if not overly groundbreaking, sci-fi action adventure.

Scars Above has its ups and downs but offers fun gameplay with interesting mechanics in an alien world that is equal parts beautiful and dangerous. There’s a good mystery to be solved, even if it’s a bit too straightforward. And while there are a few snags regarding the script, I very much appreciate the scientific approach with Kate.

An interesting concoction of genre traits and structures makes Scars Above one of the more engaging action-adventure game attempts even if it does suffer from some combat woes.

Despite its flaws, Scars Above's engaging combat and expansive toolkit keep it interesting for its entire 10-hour campaign. Though its world is gray and the story leading you through its levels is a let down, the moment-to-moment gameplay makes the journey worth taking. This space adventure isn't the final frontier of third-person action games, but it manages to offer roughly the same thrills as a pretty good SyFy Original movie. It isn't the cutting edge, but it's sharp in its own right.

While Scars Above’s exploration and progression leaves a lot to be desired, third-person action fans will still enjoy their time blasting bosses within some visually-striking biomes.

Scars Above is a valiant attempt at providing a fresh spin on the Souls-like genre. Its elemental-based third-person shooting feels genuinely fresh, with its reliance on environmental debuffs and stacking combos representing a genuine innovation within a space that isn’t exactly known for innovating, so it’s just a shame that the progression system feels so at odds with the efforts gone to by the developers in order to make Scars Above stand out.

Scars Above doesn’t do anything particularly impressive, but if you like sci-fi and third-person shooters, it can be an interesting choice.

A good example of a game that would have needed a thorough review to reduce its true quality. Some ingredients are fine, but the whole thing falls short of what one would expect from a "space" adventure like this. It's not terrible, but it is forgettable, unfortunately.

Despite all its interesting ideas, Scars Above fails to overcome its flaws and remains a mediocre experience, and with a vague ending, we can hope that the next installment, if any, can address all the shortcomings and fulfill its potential.

A “Souls with guns” type of game (think Returnal), but more forgiving than most representatives of the genre. It looks barely decent and its level design is obsolete (invisible walls!), but it turned out to be quite enjoyable, although in short sessions only. A couple of original ideas make Scars Above distinct enough and ultimately it’s a shame it is so modest. It would definitely benefit from a bigger budget and more boldness on the part of the developers.

Technically and playfully conservative third-person shooter - everything works properly here, but if you expect highlights or surprises, you will be disappointed.

Scars Above is a messy experience with some excellent sci-fi writing. I became lost several times due to the lack of direction and found the enemy placement haphazard and frustrating. The game fails in too many ways as a third-person shooter but does pass as an adventure with light puzzle-solving. Ultimately, it feels like a mixing pot of systems that don’t work together, but that challenge may be enough for some players to see through to the end.

There’s not a lot of negative things I have to say about Mad Head Games’ Scars Above, but I don’t have a lot of positive things to say either. It’s an aggressively average experience brought down by performance issues and lack of important accessibility features. Even where color is present, this game drowns in dullness.

As a TPS with soulsike elements and a sci-fi setting, Scars Above fails to be a worthy heir to Returnal due to several limitations that make the game very different to shine, especially from a technical point of view.

Impressive visuals, tense environments, and a main character you can believe in will keep your attention through the more unsatisfying and sluggish moments. [Issue#26, p.94]

Scars Above is a solid first effort by Mad Head Games, albeit flawed. The game has soulslike gameplay elements, yet with three difficulty levels it is still accessible to the mainstream crowd. The story doesn’t bring anything new to the sci-fi genre, but it doesn't disappoint either. If you are looking for a game to kill time between big releases, Scars Above is a good candidate.

Scars Above is a game that struggles to flesh out some of its ideas. Combat can become a fun tangle of status effects but it withholds the arsenal for so long. Environments and enemies can look generic but there are some moments of beauty as the game speeds along. The cast lacks a personality but rewarding scientists for discovery does twist progression in a neat way. It's a shame so much of this doesn't hit harder. Only the atmosphere is truly done well.

The controls can be a little fiddly, which annoys during crucial boss fights, but it isn’t enough to ruin Scars Above and after a good old play through you’ll find yourself warming to the fight-die-repeat Soulslike dynamic. A decent but not amazing game with few surprises.

We somewhat enjoyed Scars Above, but we wanted to like it a lot more than we did. It has some interesting ideas and a solid story, but the gameplay unfortunately feels a tad too basic. And then there are the bugs. They might not be all that common, but when you do encounter them, they frustrate. Hopefully they’ll be quashed quickly after launch. In any case, pick up Scars Above, manage your expectations, and chances are you’ll have an enjoyable time with it overall. Just be aware that it’s more akin to a B-movie than a main feature.

Scars Above offers a space adventure that mixes several genres with an asymmetric result that does not work as well as it should.

Scars Above offers a rather condensed third-person shooter adventure. While I was surprised at how quickly I breezed through the game, considering the other titles it was borrowing ideas from, it was still an interesting journey. I wouldn’t say there’s anything refreshing about the game, but there’s enough there for those wanting a jaunt through an alien world.

Scars Above is a competent enough game that efficiently gets you through its six-hour runtime. It won’t make you forget its influences, but if you can find this one on sale, you could definitely do a lot worse.

Scars Above bears all the hallmarks of a game that was overscoped and steadily scaled back as development went on, with many of its more intriguing ideas sidelined as the story progresses. [Issue#383, p.117]

Scars Above is an interesting toe in the water for many different genres but as you start to descend, you realise how shallow that puddle really is. An interesting world and decent elemental mechanics are held back by poor exploration and an unwillingness to push the boat out.

Perhaps if Scars Above had put more work into the areas where our lead heroine has to explore this strange world and analyze it more in order to solve various puzzles, basically letting her be the scientist she is, it could have been vastly better overall, or at least help give it a better identity to help it stand out more. Instead, Scars Above settles for being a generic third-person action game that rarely, if ever, takes any sort of risks. While it may not fall prey to anything that feels egregiously bad and at least has decent combat, you’ll likely walk away from the mystery of the Metahedron feeling more bored than satisfied.

Scars Above is a fine game, but not a very memorable one, especially in a period when sci-fi survival horror is becoming a crowded field. Much like the planet you explore, Scars Above is devoid of life.

Scars Above is a journey into a mysterious planet that lacks polish, depth, and balance, preventing it from being a memorable third-person shooter.

Scars Above is a more appealing prospect than it is a final product — an interesting premise that's ultimately lost amidst repetitive gameplay and mundane design. Some aspects of it are genuinely intriguing, if underexplored, but simply reaching for the stars alone is no guarantee of ever actually leaving orbit, let alone getting off the ground — and recommending this experience over any other is a bit rich, even for the lower asking price.