Scars Above

Scars Above shows a lot of potential in its third-person shooting, fun elemental reactions, and a good number of creatures to experiment with. The thrill of setting out to discover a new alien world is short-lived, however, due to the weapons and gadgets in your arsenal quickly growing so powerful that nothing poses a threat.

Perhaps if Scars Above had put more work into the areas where our lead heroine has to explore this strange world and analyze it more in order to solve various puzzles, basically letting her be the scientist she is, it could have been vastly better overall, or at least help give it a better identity to help it stand out more.

Some games have been accused of being half-baked, but Scars Above is like raw dough. It has some interesting concepts and weapons, but it never grows into anything resembling a full-fledged gaming experience. Its budget price of $40 is still asking way too much, even for the most diehard third-person shooter enthusiasts. Scars Above may mimic games like Returnal and Dark Souls, but it is highly unlikely to please fans of either game.

Scrappy, fun and with a meaningless sci-fi story, Scars Above is equal parts B-movie horror and sci-fi shooter. Adopting several parts of the Soulslike experience with heaps of its own ideas, Scars Above is low on polish but high on moxy, and could find cult status come sale season.

Scars Above is not a triple-A, big-budget, blockbuster of a game and therefore shouldn’t be reviewed as one. While well-designed and creative, the game isn’t going to appeal to everyone and will feel low-budget compared to many of the games it’s clearly been inspired by. That’s okay, though, as Scars Above knows its audience and has been crafted with sci-fi and Soulslike fans in mind.

Scars Above offers a great shooter experience that's a bit rough around the edges in some areas when it comes to realizing its vision and potential. While these problems are noticeable, I don't feel like it takes too much from the full product while offering a haunting survival horror experience with a unique gimmick that makes players think about the best approach to the way they face the environment around the enemies.