By Chris Jackson
PLATFORM: PC, PS5, XBOX SERIES (REVIEWED) | RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
As the space-faring SCAR (Sentient Contact Assessment and Response) team prepares to make contact with the Metahedron, a colossal structure that’s been discovered somewhere out in space, the mysterious object thrusts their ship towards a nearby planet. Finding herself alone on the surface with no way to contact her crew-mates (if they’re even still alive), team member Kate Ward is suddenly swarmed by visions of alien entities, all seemingly under the instruction of a gigantic Cloverfield-esque monstrosity. The mystery deepens when she finds the contents of her ship neatly arranged in a shelter, despite the ship crashing less than an hour ago…
As a mid-priced budget game from a small Serbian studio who have only recently branched out from their mobile game origins into the world of fully-fledged PC / console titles, Scars Above does suffer from some of the more common Eurojank pitfalls of stilted animations, dodgy dialogue, glacial facial expressions, and ideas that don’t quite fulfil their lofty ambitions. Having said that, it can be a supremely handsome game at times, with stunning scenery and some truly terrifying creature design, and the music – seemingly pillaged straight from the Mass Effect sci-fi synth playbook – is top notch. Most importantly of all, it plays very well indeed – despite maybe not always making the absolute most of its ideas, the ease at which some of the game’s mechanics fit together and compliment each other is mightily impressive.
The four elemental weapons that are available throughout the game all cause reactions in their targets, allowing you to do things like shoot electric bullets at enemies in water to deal extra damage, as well as helping you get through otherwise impassable obstacles like freezing a path across killer worm-infested pools. In combat, shooting different body parts does varying levels of damage and can sometimes provoke additional enemy behaviours and attacks. Colour-coded weak points indicate the most appropriate ammo type to use, which is very handy indeed but also means that a well-placed shot with the right weapon can take almost any enemy down in no time at all, taking any real feeling of challenge away from defeating even the most fearsome bosses. Elsewhere, there are a few puzzles to solve, a handful of stat upgrades that can be unlocked by collecting alien cubes and scanning your environment, a variety of gadgets that give you the opportunity to replenish some health or ammo, and there’s a (possibly slightly unwelcome, depending on your own tastes) stamina bar to keep an eye on as well. Coming across a bit like “Dark Souls in space with guns” (which sounds pretty great), Scars Above certainly takes plenty of inspiration from Miyazaki’s masterpiece. It might not reach those heights, but it’s still an enjoyable – if mildly frustrating at times – ten or so hours’ worth of sci-fi alien shenanigans.
