Scorn Review – A Disgustingly Beautiful Experience with Nightmarish Visuals Inspired By H. R. Giger

H.  R Giger is the twisted mind behind some of the most disturbing biomechanical art in the world. He became especially popular following his designs for the Alien, and he was revolutionary for his deeply unsettling machines that combined human engineering and flesh. And despite him being one of the best artists to come into the entertainment industry, very few games have really taken advantage of the work he has left behind. System shock was an old Sci-fi horror game that took heavy influences from his work, but none quite come close to capturing the nightmarish visuals of being inside an H. R. Giger drawing better than Scorn.

A Wonderfully Disgusting Atmosphere

Games will often always have gorey elements to them. The Dead Space games are a very popular example that comes to mind, with even the artwork featuring a severed arm. But games rarely ever try to actively put individuals into a disgusting and unsettling atmosphere. And as Scorn takes heavy inspiration from the works of H. R. Giger, it really holds no punches when pushing Unreal Engine 4 to its limits in depicting an unsettling and disgusting environment.

The walls are made entirely of flesh, with sparse pickings of metal to be seen. Nearly all of the technology is made of bone or flesh, with even the weapons you use looking like parts of some monster being used as a makeshift weapons. And yet, there is something very beautiful about how they made H. R. Geiger’s art come to life.

What really adds to the disgusting atmosphere is the squelching sound that your character makes when walking on flesh floors and deeply claustrophobic halls that move like blood is flowing through them. As a visual experience, there really is nothing that comes close to it. Even the machinery feels more alive than anything mechanical, as most control modules have you insert your fingers into holes to pull levers.

Slow And Sluggish Combat

In terms of artistic expression and design, nothing really can hold a candle to Scorn. But when you start playing Scorn, you start to realize that a lot of effort went into this game’s artistic personality. Maybe, a little too much. The game is fairly slow; as you shamble your way across hallways, you meet monsters that are equally slow yet powerful.

Ammo is scarce, so you really have to take your time either fighting or trying to get away from them. In a lot of ways, it reminds you of Resident Evil 1 and 2 from the original PS1, where you could shoot down the zombies, but why would you when you just maneuver your way around them?

As a whole, combat is not this game’s strong suit, which is good in a way since the game focuses more on its puzzles. The puzzles aren’t as interesting either, so it really is the story and the art style pulling you along.

Should A Game Be Fun?

Scorn, while being disgustingly beautiful to look at, is also a fairly miserable game to play. You are always unmatched, and you always feel like you can never make it out of the world you are stuck in. The combat is slow and sluggish, and sometimes you just have to take that hit to save ammo and escape. But none of this is by accident. Scorn very much has this experience by design, so it is worth asking, are games meant to be fun?

Finding the answer to that alone is a reason why you might want to experience Scorn.

Conclusion

Scorn is a strange game since it defies many conventions that most games rely on. It isn’t fun in the traditional sense, and its appearance is unsettling from the get-go. However, if none of these things bother you, and you want to play a game that can offer a truly unique experience, why not try out Scorn?