Scorn (PC/Xbox) Preview

If you have always held an innate and insatiable urge to scare yourself witless, then I have great news. Scorn is around the corner and it looks like it could be the game to finally deliver the ninth-generation horror experience that we’ve all been waiting patiently for.

The Living, Breathing World of Scorn

The world in which Scorn takes place is a living, breathing mass of machinery and biology. Inspired by the masterful Swiss ‘fantastic realism’ artist, H.R. Giger (creator of Alien’s Xenomorph), the sprawling world of Scorn is the epitome of nightmares and possibly an interpretation of the deep, dark recesses of Hell itself.

The Twisted Creatures of Scorn

Our theory that Scorn transpires across the River Hades is only reinforced by the grotesque abominations that inhabit the disquietingly nightmarish lands. During the ten-minute gameplay trailer, we encountered what looked like tortured and twisted souls, sculpted through a punishing eternity, cast to the underworld.

As a macabre hybrid of man and worm slithers across the floor, a disjointed humanoid stalks the slimy, fleshy corridors; seemingly blinded but insatiably hungry to devour the meat of the lost. As we watched the footage, we couldn’t help wonder what other manner of monstrosity lurked around the next corner.

Arsenal and Upgrades

Just in case the inhabitants of Scorn and the vomit-inducing world weren’t enough to unsettle the player, the weapons are also a collective mass of bone, flesh and sinew. Keeping in with the theme throughout the game only magnifies the unnerving ambience and creeping effect.

Upgrades

The handful of trailers available on the internet leave a lot to speculation and imagination. We are pretty confident, however, on a spider-like creature. With fleshy ports which are used to plug the creature into a machine of flesh and bone, anyone suffering from trypophobia should be well warned (as should those googling the phobia).

It appears that when activated, fleshy pods are inserted into fleshy holes (*shudder*) and this seemingly upgrades ammunition and possibly traits such as speed, health and armor. Furthermore, during these trailers, the main character can be seen changing the front section on his or her weapon. The indication here was a possible Doom Eternal-style combat system, allowing for alternative fire modes and weapon modifications. Well, it worked for Bethesda.

The Scorn Storyline

We are very much in the dark regarding the premise of Scorn. We do know, however, that you’re somehow thrown into this phantasmagorical and unearthly domain but how that transpired is still unclear. Dropping nuggets of information, the developers, Ebb Studios, have stated that the player will be met with puzzles and challenges as they traverse the open-world ‘in a non-linear fashion’. It’s also been made known that Scorn will be as unforgiving as it looks, keeping you on your toes and your eyes open for elements of puzzles or missed areas of the map.

“All the storytelling happens in-game, with no cut-scenes to distract you from the grisly reality of the living, breathing world you’re in. But keep your eyes open — the game won’t show you any sympathy if you miss something important on your uneasy travels. Everything has a reason and purpose — you just need to work out what it is.”

Ebb Software

Summary

The gaming world has needed a game of this ilk since the likes of Outlast and Amnesia: Dark Descent. The design is formulated in a way that casts a constantly hanging cloud of foreboding over the player, and the H.R Giger inspiration is the perfect coupling to the unrelenting feeling of paranoia.

As far as horror titles go, we are confident that Scorn will be the creepiest we have yet seen on the current generation. The details are still scarce, but we are still counting the days down to the October 21, 2022 release date. Scorn will be a available on both the PC and the Xbox Series X|S. Additionally, Game Pass subscribers will be able to download and play for free on the day of release.