Scorn

The perfect organism?

Once more I'm back to look through another recently unveiled game and see if I'm liking what I'm seeing so far. Although this particular game is rather unique to note as this isn't this game's unveiling, nor is it a big budget that we've already heard a great deal about. That is to say, we've heard whispers through the years but the pertinent reveals, such as a potential release date, is still very much in the dark for the public. The game in question is 'Scorn', and I have to say that as intrigued as the game does make me, I'm getting a little sick of the 'all tease, no delivery' approach that this game's marketing has taken. Although I'm getting ahead of myself a little, let me introduce this game to you as best I can.

Scorn is first-person horror title developed by Ebb Software with a huge emphasis on stylist environments and atmosphere. In fact, the game is based heavily on the works of H. R. Giger and Zdzisław Beksińsk; and whilst I may not know much about that latter gentleman, Giger's work is very familiar, just as it should be familiar to everyone, being the influence behind legendary horror flick: Alien. And you can see the same sort of identity plastered over everybit of Scorn's artwork, and indeed, this particular trailer. The whole bio-organic-mechanical aesthetic shines so brightly in every corner of this game to the point where it looks just like a Ridley Scott set, and to the point where it over-shines literally everything else about this game.

There's a reason why I haven't touched on anything regarding 'story' or 'themes' in this blog, and that's because in the several years that this game has been teased, none of that has ever been referenced at by the developers in the slightest. They've focused entirely on ensuring the look of the game is right, and there's nothing wrong with that, just as long as the rest of the game doesn't get completely lost in the effort. This is a similar fate that befell 'Agony' from a while back. It was another highly visual title which told it's audience nothing about the experience apart from the fact that it would revolve a decent into hell, thus justifying all the grotesque, demonic and psycho-sexual imagery that the trailers all revelled in. The aesthetics were great and everyone knew that, but no one had any idea what the actual game would look or play like and that was because the game itself turned out be rather lame and lackluster, taking all the potential that the trailers built up and wasting it. That's something it's so easy to forget when creating an art-house experience, that the demands of the medium still need to be met. (In this instance: that the game still needs to be good.)

One developer who I feel is great at treading this line is From Software with their Souls games. All of these games boast highly thematic visual styles, sophisticated storytelling and all manner of aspects that could easily smother marketing, but the team know to balance as much artistic indulgence as they can with that which audiences want; gameplay. Dark Souls is a franchise built upon the bedrock of themes like decay, stagnancy and renewal, but they are also great, sound games that built an entire genre on the backs of their gameplay. That's something that 'Scorn' really needs, maybe not ideas strong enough to build a genre around, but at least gameplay ideas familiar enough to get excited about. Right now, I'm just seeing a very pretty looking tour through a disconcerting metal/flesh hellscape, whereas I should be seeing a game.

All that being said, the trailer for Scorn was, just as every trailer in the Inside Xbox event, intended to showcase the fidelity of the Series X hardware and to that I will admit it all looked good. It's hard to really critique the realism of imagery as vastly wild and imaginary as Giger paintings, but I'll give the developers enough credit to say that their environments look more real than the sets I've seen in the Alien films, so there's an achievement I guess. For those that look for a visual treat out of their games (and who don't mind mild gross out) I'd imagine that this trailer must be a nectar for you, and with everything this game showcases I fully understand such a yearning. But at the end of the day you could tell me that this was the trailer for the latest Blumhouse movie and I'd never know. (Although I suppose you could argue that given Blumhouse's usual quality, that's not exactly a criticism.)

"But wait" I hear you cry, "hasn't Scorn received an actual gameplay trailer in the past?" Indeed it has, my intrepid historian, and it dropped as recently as a full three years ago. (There's a title that knows how to keep it's audience on their toes; they've got no clue when the next substantial trailer will drop) I've watched through this before and I glanced over it again to see if my opinion was any different, but still I find myself largely underwhelmed. Don't get me wrong, it means the world to actually see how a game like this will function, but that's just it; I don't think the gameplay from this trailer really resembles the vision of the team at all. (Which might explain why we haven't see anything else of it's like since.) That pre-alpha footage mostly just followed the usual game's exploration and 'look at how gross this monster is' pattern, before showing us an actual encounter with gunplay. And it's weird.

Now a title that calls itself as a horror game is well within it's rights to have a combat system, in fact I'd prefer it if they do (it makes the gameplay feel like there's more at stake) but it just feels a little off when that's all the gameplay shows; everything else lacks any semblance of horror to it beyond mildly disconcerting imagery. There's no control over the sounds the player hears, no building sense of foreboding, no creeping terrors in the dark; just a gunfight with a flesh-firearm. Even the mysterious nature of the environments falls short because the world looks so outlandish and beyond the realms of reality that it's hard to relate to these surroundings on any level that makes the horror feel 'real'. Now of course, all this I'm basing from a trailer, it could be that the full game has all of these, or completely innovates on horror games in an as-of-so-far unseen manner, but I can't comment on what might be the case when I have to take into account all that is the case; and right now, Scorn just doesn't seem scary or even sufficiently unsettling for what is ostensibly a 'horror' title. (Aside from that frighteningly long and obfuscating reload animation, that'll get a few cheese deaths if it makes it to the final game.)

So am I being a little unfair towards Scorn? Probably. The game looks stunning in the visual department, but I'm a staunch opponent of style over substance so that plain just will not fly with me, at least not alone. The fact that Scorn showed up in an Xbox event that prioritised visuals doesn't surprise me, but it does disappoint me. I get it, the developers want to show off all they have achieved with this game, but perhaps it's time for a different, more informative, approach in the future. Besides how I may have made it seem, I'm nowhere near ready to write off 'Scorn' just yet, I absolutely love their style and pray they can do it justice; but after the mess that was 'Agony' I'm cautious and will continue to be unless given good reason to be otherwise. (So please give me that reason, Ebb Software. Please!)