Scorn [Windows]

There are a lot of games that do their best to hold your hand and help you along the way to beating them. Some games even go out of their way to over explain every detail of their story. I find this diminishes any underlying meaning you’re meant to find through gameplay. I’m naturally drawn toward a game that allows you to discover things on your own. That is where Scorn resides.

Story
From the moment you click on “New Game” at the main menu to the completion of the game, there isn’t one bit of explanation. You literally drop into the game after a brief cutscene and already probably have quite a few questions. There is no dialog. There is not on-screen text. There is no HUD. As soon as you begin the game, you’re tasked with just figuring it out the best you can. Some may hate this – especially those newer to video games, but I find it very intriguing. When the world is just given to you with no explanation, it feels like it’s almost begging you to figure things out on your own. Now, that being said, it’s completely up to you as to whether or not you care enough to pull more meaning out of it all, or simply just solve the puzzles and move on.

The next paragraph is going to have some spoilers.

The entire games seems to be centralized around one theme that is entirely metaphorical – child birth or creating human life. There are some very obvious imagery on this the entire way through, but especially toward the end of the game. As you solves the game’s puzzles on your characters quest toward who knows, you discover that there is some sort of wildly bizarre relationship between the world’s mechanisms and life itself. It really gives the vibe as if the ability to give birth has gone away and what’s left is the bizarre actions required to create life in other ways. I truly felt that there were large similarities between the on-screen gore and real-life child birth. And the game doesn’t care about your feelings at all when it comes to pushing that idea on you. This is honestly a game that I’ve been thinking about since beating it.

Gameplay
Scorn plays in a very straight-forward way. It’s part walking simulator and part puzzler with mild action elements strewn about. As stated above, there is no on-screen HUD or assistance in anyway. Pausing the game simply pauses it and allows you to go back to the main menu. Speaking of which, there are auto-saves for the single save file allowed per profile. Traversing the world is simple – you just walk. There is no jumping to get over things. The puzzles aren’t anything wildly difficult, but don’t expect any assistance figuring them out. A lot of times the puzzles will take half the level to solve as well, which is kinda neat to me. Overall, the only negative thing I can say about gameplay was that the combat is unforgiving and honestly a little clunky. Once I got used to it (and figured out you could heal) I had no issues.

Audio/Visual
This game really shines in the audio and visual design department, just like you’d want a horror game to do. Presentation of this game is everything. Ebb Software does a great job making the game feel desolate and gross in every way they possibly can. Visually, there were a lot of moments in the game that gave me the same feelings as Dark Souls. Specifically with the world building. In both games you’re placed in this world that is so old that it has layers to it’s design and that’s such a fascinating concept to me. I really love the idea of finding story elements by discover rather than watching cutscenes.

Achievements
This is a list you love to see. Basically every achievement is just linked to steps along the way to beating the game. There are a few very early ones you can go back to if you miss them, but there is a chapter select for that. Nothing is overly difficult to attain either, as the two potentially missable achievements are just for doing early puzzles.

Pros
– Great gore
– Amazing audio and visual design
– Straight-forward gameplay

Cons
– Great gore
– No hand holding