Sure, it’s a nice concept to not have any instructions, but not realizing you can actually heal yourself until you go into the menu and see the controls is annoying as I wish I knew that earlier on. The price, of course, could be your sanity as Scorn tries too hard to make you feel alone and disoriented. Even your character is constantly getting stabbed by this scorpion-like creature wrapped around his abdomen. Some areas are seriously disturbing but fascinating at the same time. What was left behind was his bloody, dismembered arm which served as a key to open a door to the next area. I was keen on discovering what else the game had in store after walking past piles of human bodies and leading a human-like prisoner into a contraption that scooped him up and threw him into a pit. This interplay of the organic and the mechanical are what make Scorn feel so weird to play but so intriguing to explore. When you need health, you just pluck out its swollen glands and stick them onto your body while reloading involves picking out the eggs and sticking them into your gun-which is also alive, by the way. Your limited health and ammo “vessel” is an actual tentacle-like creature that gets injected with blood and eggs (?) at refueling stations. Even hitting a switch involves you sticking your hands into mechanisms that sometimes puncture your skin to activate a door. The true draw of Scorn, of course, is in the ambience it creates through its use of Giger-like environments as the world seems alive yet fused with machinery at the same time. If you are not, then it will feel more like a frustrating tease than a disturbing journey of discovery. Scorn is an atmospheric masterpiece that wants you to be smart, logical, and mindful. Even some switches can’t be activated until you do something else first so you have to make a mental note to go back to an area later. Even if you are savvy and expect the unexpected, Scorn doesn’t offer you a map or directional system so you will have to rely on your own memory to find your bearings. Logic is key in this game so if you don’t pay attention to your surroundings or put two and two together right away, you are bound to get lost. I spent a good hour just wandering the first part of the game wondering if I was going the right way only to find a puzzle that when solved made me have to backtrack to where I just came from to open the way forward. It’s a linear game in how you play it, but how you play it is the initial question. Scorn never tells you what you are doing so you simply have to explore your surroundings and fall upon switches, doors, and puzzles that when solved seemingly open the way forward. Backtracking will force you to fight enemies and waste precious ammo.Combat mechanics are punishing and awkward.Lack of direction leads to frustrating backtracking and feeling lost.Puzzles that will challenge you but reward you with the way forward.
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