Scorn: New H.R. Giger inspired atmospheric game

dmoney1980

Platinum Member
Jan 17, 2008
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Anyone else excited for this game? I’ve been following this title for several years now, which was delayed several times due to funding and other issues. It’s coming out on October 14th on Steam, GoG, even gamepass on day one.

I’m digging the unique style and atmosphere and wanted to share this here in case anyone would want to check it out. A good video preview of the gameplay can be found here:

Heads up though- this is not some fast paced shooter like Doom. It’s probably closer to Hellblade. A slow paced walking puzzle platformer.
 

DigDog

Lifer
Jun 3, 2011
13,443
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a fps which is not a fps.
i suppose if you are really into the visuals, it could do for you but i'm not into these sort of games.
i suspect this is one of those games that winds up having a 7-minute glitchless speedrun within the first week of launch.
 

DigDog

Lifer
Jun 3, 2011
13,443
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so, apparently the review embargo is off, and reviews are everywhere. Despite the best attempts to portray it as good, i can tell it's going to be bad.
playtime is around what, 4 hours?
of which the first 1 you dont even have a weapon.
the puzzles are trivial.
mob AI is pathetic.

basically, HR Giger inspired walking simulator.
No thnx.
 

ibex333

Diamond Member
Mar 26, 2005
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so, apparently the review embargo is off, and reviews are everywhere. Despite the best attempts to portray it as good, i can tell it's going to be bad.
playtime is around what, 4 hours?
of which the first 1 you dont even have a weapon.
the puzzles are trivial.
mob AI is pathetic.

basically, HR Giger inspired walking simulator.
No thnx.


Why the hate, bud? I mean, you didn't even try it. You are ASSUMING. Reviews are generally good. Does a horror game NEED combat to be good?
 

DigDog

Lifer
Jun 3, 2011
13,443
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Why the hate, bud? I mean, you didn't even try it. You are ASSUMING. Reviews are generally good. Does a horror game NEED combat to be good?
it's not the first time i've seen content like this. i'd be happy to be proved wrong, but i am very skeptical.
 
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Igo69

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Apr 26, 2015
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I've seen it recently, looks very creepy. It is not a game I will play but will want to see a full gameplay on youtube.
 

dmoney1980

Platinum Member
Jan 17, 2008
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I understand where you’re coming from DigDog, but your comment about a fps not being a shooter implies that a first person perspective game needs to be shooters. Is Skyrim a shooter? No, and it doesn’t need to be. I’ve read reviews and at this point I’ll wait for it to go on sale. However, let’s not bash the game because it doesn’t play to your expectations.

It’s designed to be a slow-paced puzzle game to the likes of Hellblade, just in first person perspective. That doesn’t make it inherently bad, it’s just not the game for you…and that’s ok too!
 

quikah

Diamond Member
Apr 7, 2003
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Looks interesting, but the price seems high for such a short game. Gamepass spares me that issue. Will definitely check it out.
 

Igo69

Senior member
Apr 26, 2015
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Very nasty lol. Reminds me of these games Penumbra, Amnesia, Soma. Never play these game but really like to watch them on Youtube like a movie.

 

ibex333

Diamond Member
Mar 26, 2005
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So, I started playing Scorn over the weekend, but I had to stop after about 10-20 min into the game. The only thing truly scornful were the damned puzzles. Perhaps I am dumb or something, but I have a Masters degree so I cannot be THAT dumb. Still, shortly after starting the game you end up in a large room that has a device that lets you overlook the whole area and change 3 different rails. There's an elevator that takes you upstairs where you have to rearrange weird "cocoons" on a wall. I spent FOUR hours trying to figure that puzzle out and still couldn't. I am DONE. Never have I played a game where I couldn't solve its puzzles. These puzzles should not be reserved for a "select few" but should be designed such that anyone playing can figure it out. Not the case here, I guess.

No, I don't want a solution, and I will not look up a you-tube video of someone doing it. My intelligence has been insulted, and I am feeling quite scornful.
 

DigDog

Lifer
Jun 3, 2011
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in the last 3/4 days there's bene plenty of independent reviews posted and .. i told you so. Not only are they negative, they are negative for the reasons i complained about.

I suppose $15 is not bad if this is the kind of game that stimulates you.
 
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quikah

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Apr 7, 2003
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in the last 3/4 days there's bene plenty of independent reviews posted and .. i told you so. Not only are they negative, they are negative for the reasons i complained about.

The reviews have been all over the place. Low of 2/10, high of 9/10. Average of about a 7. There seems to be a review that could fit any perspective you would like on this game.
 
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GodisanAtheist

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Nov 16, 2006
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Sounds like perfect patient gaming material. Wait till its $5 or less, snag it and play it for what its worth. I mean I've paid more for crappy movie rentals that are shorter.
 

quikah

Diamond Member
Apr 7, 2003
4,068
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So, I started playing Scorn over the weekend, but I had to stop after about 10-20 min into the game. The only thing truly scornful were the damned puzzles. Perhaps I am dumb or something, but I have a Masters degree so I cannot be THAT dumb. Still, shortly after starting the game you end up in a large room that has a device that lets you overlook the whole area and change 3 different rails. There's an elevator that takes you upstairs where you have to rearrange weird "cocoons" on a wall. I spent FOUR hours trying to figure that puzzle out and still couldn't. I am DONE. Never have I played a game where I couldn't solve its puzzles. These puzzles should not be reserved for a "select few" but should be designed such that anyone playing can figure it out. Not the case here, I guess.

REALLY? 4 hours? Wow. That took me a whole 10 minutes and I am bad at sliding puzzles. Finding the hole where to stick the next part stumped me for a good 30 minutes. These are the things I hate about puzzle games, trying to find a certain object/place.

Game is bizarre, pretty cool visuals though (if you are into that sort of thing). Pretty gory.
 

Stg-Flame

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Mar 10, 2007
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Sounds like perfect patient gaming material. Wait till its $5 or less, snag it and play it for what its worth. I mean I've paid more for crappy movie rentals that are shorter.
Yeah, I had this on my wishlist and was watching it pretty close but after a few of my Steam friends grabbed it on day one and told me not to pay more than $3, I figured it was the perfect game for the 2025 Steam Winter sale.

Perhaps I am dumb or something, but I have a Masters degree so I cannot be THAT dumb.
You could have a Masters in Marine Biology but not understand a single thing about a diesel engine. Over the many decades I've been gaming, I've noticed that some puzzle games go overboard with the eccentricities "just because". I absolutely love puzzle games but there have been one or two over the years that I had to stop playing simply because I got stuck on one particular puzzle and for whatever reason, the devs thought it would be a good idea to implement a brand new mechanic at that specific spot, yet not mention a single thing about the new mechanic. I guess we're just supposed to figure it out eventually, but when the special mechanic is so obscure that you'd only discover after going mad and simply clicking every single pixel in the room, I get annoyed and usually move on to another game as that's just piss-poor game design.
 
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quikah

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Apr 7, 2003
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You could have a Masters in Marine Biology but not understand a single thing about a diesel engine. Over the many decades I've been gaming, I've noticed that some puzzle games go overboard with the eccentricities "just because". I absolutely love puzzle games but there have been one or two over the years that I had to stop playing simply because I got stuck on one particular puzzle and for whatever reason, the devs thought it would be a good idea to implement a brand new mechanic at that specific spot, yet not mention a single thing about the new mechanic. I guess we're just supposed to figure it out eventually, but when the special mechanic is so obscure that you'd only discover after going mad and simply clicking every single pixel in the room, I get annoyed and usually move on to another game as that's just piss-poor game design.

Just to be fair to the Scorn devs, I want to defend this particular issue. The puzzle in question was not obscure or unique. It is a standard sliding puzzle. Move pieces (around 10) around so the lighted block is in a certain space. The only way it could take you 4hrs without solving is if the game glitched.
 
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rstrohkirch

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May 31, 2005
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I understand where you’re coming from DigDog, but your comment about a fps not being a shooter implies that a first person perspective game needs to be shooters. Is Skyrim a shooter? No, and it doesn’t need to be. I’ve read reviews and at this point I’ll wait for it to go on sale. However, let’s not bash the game because it doesn’t play to your expectations.

It’s designed to be a slow-paced puzzle game to the likes of Hellblade, just in first person perspective. That doesn’t make it inherently bad, it’s just not the game for you…and that’s ok too!

I'm a bit confused by this post. Not by what you posted but by the 3 likes you got. FPS as an acronym for game genre means First Person Shooter. So him saying a FPS that's not an FPS implies you have gun but you really don't use it. It's just for show mostly. When you say FPS what does the S mean to you?
 

quikah

Diamond Member
Apr 7, 2003
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I have gotten to Act IV. There is much more combat than was implied in the negative reviews. The combat however is pretty slow. Only 3 enemy types up to this point. I have a gun, but only 12 bullets, ammo is VERY hard to come by (seen ammo stations 3 times I think). Most of the combat is done melee with a piston gun thing (like a captive bolt pistol). Overall the combat is kind of meh. Health is also a BIG problem. Since the combat is so often in melee range it is very easy to get hit. BTW: you CAN completely miss picking up the gun, so pay attention. There is one enemy that hits SUPER hard, so melee with it would be rough.

Puzzles are of decent difficulty. Take a few tries with some of them but get them eventually. Nothing super complicated or difficult. Most of it is just linear activations, go 1 place, press a button, go to the next place, press a button, etc. Minimal backtracking, nothing huge, for example, just go to the door at the begining of the level that you found the key to.

Narrative is almost non-existent, there is some semblance of a story just told through atmosphere.

Visuals are very good. All the enemies generally look alike, just different growth phases it looks like.

One odd thing, the music it is so subtle that I don't notice it. I think it is there, but sometimes it just seems silent.

Overall I would give it a 6/10. Game is definitely short, wait for a sale. $20 would be a fair price IMO (or just get gamepass).
 

DigDog

Lifer
Jun 3, 2011
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I'm a bit confused by this post. Not by what you posted but by the 3 likes you got. FPS as an acronym for game genre means First Person Shooter. So him saying a FPS that's not an FPS implies you have gun but you really don't use it. It's just for show mostly. When you say FPS what does the S mean to you?
Scorn has been in the public eye for uh .. years. And at first it was touted as a horror shooter; kind like, let's say, Clive Barker Undying.
Now, shooters tend to have some similarities in the gameplay. If you look at diverse shooters, from Metro to Half Life, from Bioshock to FEAR, or Quake and Halo, they all have very strong gameplay elements in common. Scorn doesn't.

Now this isn't necessarily a bad thing, for example we could mention Portal, which is both played in first person, AND you have a gun. And you have movement mechanics similar to many high end competitive shooters, BUT you dont actually shoot. Or, at most, you shoot the geometry of the arena itself, and not moving targets.
But, despite Portal being very good, it's not "a shooter". The gameplay is completely different from Doom or Prey or STALKER.

Now, i'm a big FPS guy so, you give me a FPS and i'm happy with pretty much anything, be it Hard Reset, Singularity, Timesplitters, or what not. I like that particular gameplay they all have in common, despite how different between them they might be.
However, if you give me games like Superhot, or Mirror's Edge, despite them being technically FPS, i wouldn't like them.
It's the "tomato is a fruit" argument.

Now, from what i see, Scorn has more in common with, idk, Monkey Island, if Monkey Island had no humour. You slowly walk around and try to identify what you're looking at, find a puzzle, solve the puzzle, and move forward to another puzzle. Not completely a walking simulator, but more in common with Myst or Riven than with Unreal Tournament.

And instead, the older videos promoting Scorn were very much trying to give an impression of this being a FPS. You wake up, and you are horrified at where you are.
The you find a thing, look at it, and go "IT'S A GUN !!". Cue images of mobs being shot. The another image of you taking the first gun off, and attaching A NEW GUN !! And BAM!, more mobs taking shotgun shells to the face.

But it's not that.
 

quikah

Diamond Member
Apr 7, 2003
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Scorn has been in the public eye for uh .. years. And at first it was touted as a horror shooter; kind like, let's say, Clive Barker Undying.

Eh, I think too many people assumed things about the game that were never true. Even the kickstarter page from ~2016-2017 says "Scorn is an atmospheric first-person horror adventure game set in a nightmarish universe of odd forms and somber tapestry." Scorn Part 1 of 2 : Dasein by Ebb Software GmbH — Kickstarter

The gameplay trailer from 2017 IMO is representative of the game I finished last night (some design changes, and a few more puzzles thrown in):
Scorn Gameplay Trailer - YouTube

BTW: final Act is most Geiger like in designs and has a unique (to the game) boss fight. I enjoyed this Act the most.
 

dmoney1980

Platinum Member
Jan 17, 2008
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I'm a bit confused by this post. Not by what you posted but by the 3 likes you got. FPS as an acronym for game genre means First Person Shooter. So him saying a FPS that's not an FPS implies you have gun but you really don't use it. It's just for show mostly. When you say FPS what does the S mean to you?
I never called it a shooter, just highlighted that the game plays in first person perspective. Also, they never advertised it as a shooter either.