Scorn

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Scorn
At least the title name did warn us about the game's nature.
Protagonist(s): Parasite (first protagonist) "Scornguy" (second protagonist) Genre(s): First person shooter Survival horror Rating(s): ESRB: M Platform(s): Microsoft Windows Xbox Series X/S PlayStation 5 Release: PC, Xbox Series X/S October 14, 2022 PS5 October 3, 2023 Engine: Unreal Engine 4 Developer(s): Ebb Software Publisher(s): Kepler Interactive Country: Serbia

Scorn is a first-person survival horror game developed by Serbian studio Ebb Software and published by Kepler Interactive for Microsoft Windows and Xbox Series X/S. Originally scheduled for the October 21, 2022 release, it was suddenly changed to October 14.

On June 29, 2023, the game was announced to be ported to the PlayStation 5 on October 3, 2023.

Scornful Qualities

1. Development hell: The main problem with this game is that it has an extremely troubled development cycle that lasted 8 years since it was announced in November 12, 2014. The developers made a first Kickstarter campaign in December 2014 (which failed miserably), not fully starting production of the game until February 2015 after receiving private funding from an investor, had plans to release the game in two parts (but decided against that in favor of releasing it as a full game instead), started another Kickstarter campaign in 2017 (which is successful than the first one), then spent years in radio silence with very little updates about the development status or release date, which frustrates those who were waiting on this game.
   • Ljubomir Peklar, Ebb Software's CEO and creative director, made a very hostile Kickstarter post on November 9, 2021 in which he announces the game's delay while lashing out at his followers, telling them that if the lack of communication bothered them, they could request a refund so that they can move on.
     • Peklar later apologized for his behavior towards his supporters.
   • On June 12, 2022, the developers finally announced the game's release date of October 21, 2022. However, on September 29 that year, they suddenly changed its release date to October 14. This is the major reason why the game feels rushed and unfinished (explained below).
2. The game is horribly shallow in terms of content despite the aforementioned long development. Many of the locations, items, etc. that were shown in the trailers were cut out in the final game.
3. The level of body horror and grossness felt too extreme and forced, even by horror game standards.
4. Awful combat, with enemies often appearing in narrow hallways, which gives you very little room to avoid their attacks. Not helping any is that your character moves slowly, even when sprinting, and there's no way to dodge easily.
   • Fortunately, you can avoid the enemies if you prefer not to fight them (presumably because even the developers knew how bad the combat is), which makes the combat completely pointless.
     • The only exception are the cyborgs which, by the way, are the only boss fights in the game.
5. Checkpoint starvation: the game is stingy about giving you checkpoints, which results in you repeating long stretches each time you die. Thankfully, a patch has been made to update the checkpoint positions.
6. The first protagonist you play as (who later becomes a parasite) is an extremely cruel and unlikable villain protagonist. It uses the moldman to gain access to the elevator by either cutting off his arm when scooping him out of his pod, or just simply leaving him behind with his arm stuck in a device the opens the elevator door.
   • It also has a nasty habit of torturing the second protagonist that you play as by clawing on his stomach (causing damage in the process), wrapping tendrils on his arm (which prevents him from opening doors) and then eventually disembowels him later in the game.
   • Even worse, the parasite doesn't get any comeuppance whatsoever for its actions (as of right now), which effectively makes it a Karma Houdini.
7. The bolt pistol (which you also use to open doors or solve puzzles) is the worst weapon in the game as it recharges after two uses.
   • Sure, you do get better weapons than that, which are a pistol, a shotgun, and a grenade launcher, but the ammunition you pick up is extremely limited and can only be found in limited-use storage systems that also has health.
8. Game-breaking bugs and glitches, though these have been addressed with patches.
9. Overpriced: The game costs $40 at launch despite the short length (lasting at least 4 hours) and lack of content.
10. Parts of the game actually show exposed female breasts with nipples and even the protagonist's penis (the latter of which is only seen in the end-game scene) despite the ESRB descriptor claiming that the game has "Partial Nudity" when it was released. How did they NOT give it a "Nudity" warning instead back then?!
    • Thankfully, the ESRB eventually changed the "Partial Nudity" descriptor to the "Nudity" warning in July.
11. The story feels unfinished with only ONE ending so far. What's baffling about it is that the developers promised multiple endings before the game came out. And speaking of which...
    • Terrible ending: When the protagonist was about to be carried off by the Shell to a swirling energy field (which gives the players the impression that it leads to freedom), the parasite attacks him and merges itself with him into a disgusting, immobile mound of flesh. Gamers felt that this ending is a huge middle finger to them when they're expecting a good ending.

Good Qualities

1. Despite the gross content mentioned in BQ#3, the game did an excellent job with the unsettling world and art direction. It helps that it's inspired by the works of H. R. Giger (who's best known for creating the Xenomorphs from the Alien franchise) and Zdzisław Beksiński.
2. Beautiful graphics with an upsetting amount of visual detail, thanks to Unreal Engine 4.
3. Fantastic audio with disturbing sound effects and foreboding music.
4. As pointed out in BQ#8, the game is being patched out to make it more stable.
5. DLCs with addition endings, as well as new/cut content for the game are promised, but the developers need to fix the game first.
6. Some, if not all of the puzzles are quite satisfying.
7. The game welcomes the modding community with open arms, with mods that make the experience easier, such as:
   • Fully loaded health/ammunition at the refill station.
   • A more efficient bolt pistol (which allows you to use it six times and has slower cooldown time).
   • Faster launch/saving times.
   • And improved visuals.

Reception

The game received mixed reception from reviewers and gamers alike at launch, praising the graphics, sound, art direction, and puzzles, but disliked the frustrating combat, unforgiving checkpoints, the current bad ending, the short length, and overall lack of content for a high price point.

Jim Sterling gave the game a 2/10, stating, "So much about Scorn feels like a trap. It’s designed to cost you progress, to waste your time, and some might think this burdensome despair is some sort of brilliance on the part of the developers. To someone who values their finite time on Earth, it’s snide crap that shows contempt for its audience at every opportunity. I have nothing but contempt for it in turn."

On Metecritic, Scorn currently has a 70/100 on the PC and a 64/100 on the Xbox Series X/S. User score-wise, the game has a 6.6 and a 6.9 on PC and Xbox Series X/S, respectively. It also sold well, with over 2 million copies sold as of June 2023.

Trivia

• The nameless second protagonist was called "Scornguy", similar to how the protagonist from Doom was called "Doomguy" by fans of that series.
• The Crater Queen (found in the fourth act) is strongly inspired by the "great, soft jelly thing" from the game adaption of I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream.
• The developers stated that the console version of Scorn would be a timed exclusive on the Xbox Series X/S, which lead fans to believe that the game would possibly get ported on the PlayStation 5 later on, which later proven to be true on June 29, 2023 (judging by the cryptic tweets the devs made referring the PlayStation buttons).

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