Scorn Preview: Gross But in a Good Way

gamerant.com:

Scorn is gross, but that feels by design. Inspired by the work of H.R. Giger, developer Ebb Software has designed Scorn to be a game that gives players an uneasy feeling throughout. From the mechanics to the visuals to the puzzle solutions, there is a lot about Scorn that feels uniquely unnerving, but for fans of the sci-fi/horror genre, it offers something unexpected.

After playing the 45-minute prologue of Scorn, it’s clear that Ebb Software is not trying to make an explicitly horror game. Elements that typify the genre like jump scares, funhouse-style gags, and violent combat are not a key part of Scorn, or at least in its opening moments. The developers made it a point to say that Scorn bucks those typical horror trends in favor of a more puzzle-focused experience.

And the puzzles inScorn are complex enough to require players to think, but well communicated through the game’s design. Because the game has a very minimalist HUD (usually only an interact icon is on-screen when necessary), Scorn players will need to search their surroundings for solutions. In that 45-minute chunk, there wasn’t any puzzle that was confusing, but they are involved enough that players will need to find the first step in the order of operations. For example, an alien “crane” can’t grab an item before it is first lined up perfectly using a different terminal. Some of the puzzles were clever in terms of their mechanics and at least one was downright shocking when its conclusion becomes clear.

Because there was such a small sample size it’s impossible to say whether Scorn can maintain the pace of engaging puzzles throughout. What was presented in the prologue did a lot to teach some basic ideas – mostly that there is usually a terminal to start a