Scorn Review (Phranc)
Short, But It Will Certainly Leave A Mark In Your Memory
You know those game that only have simple gameplays, but the artstyle and sound design elevate the experience to a whole new level, or simply put "arty game"? Scorn is one of them, and it's easily the one you can hardly forget. The impactfull art direction and visceral sound effect really set the tone for the game. Of course, this game suffers the same fate as other arty game: gameplay is simple, like really basic. Despite it, I would still recommend Scorn just for its strong personality.
Thing I Like About Scorn:
Art & Animation
I think playing through Scorn is one of those experiences: if it successfully evokes any emotion of you, negative or not, it has already succeeded.
→Art: H.R. Giger is the obvious inspiration. The eerie protrusion, the irregularly-shaped metallic tubes, and the abnormal body postures, all combine together to form an image you cannot help but feel a sudden chill crawling up your spine. It is not fear. It is awe. A natural bewilderment and a sense of curiosity will guide you forward. Now adding sinew and pale skin, Scorn has quickly turn Giger's awesome style into a hauntingly grotesque beauty. This otherworldly design, though disgust at first, is weirdly enticing. You will want to see how far can this madness go on, and I guarantee you, this game will shock you even till the end.
→Animation: I specifically give this feature a spotlight because something about the animation really gets me. Everything our protagonist operates feels visceral in so many level. Just take the weapons for example. To detach a weapon, the protagonist needs to first relinquish the skeletal jaw from the sinew of the parasite on his back, which is already insane for me to describe, then attach the new weapon's writhing tip to the jaw. This whole animation is nothing short of eerie, yet weirdly fascinating.
Things I Dislike About Scorn:
But, at the end of the day, Scorn is still a video game, and we still need to address the gameplay of it.
1. No Hints And Tutorials
Scorn is dialogueless game. Besides unsettling gurgling and growling, there is no speech, no written information, and even no hints on your screen. Thus, it is really easy to get lost or simply just don't know what to do. Believe it or not, for someone like me who enjoys exploring new areas in video game, I still get lost several time in the first major puzzle. This is the first time (and certainly not the last ) the game's artstyle works against gameplay. Because everything is so otherworldly, simple things like levers and pressure plates can be hard to spot amidst the goulish environment.
2. Gameplay
It is a traditional walking simulator with pushing buttons and occasionally shooting things. To be honest, I have no issues of this game being walking sim. The art and animation really carry the weight for this one. However, I cannot say the same for the shooting part. It feels clunky and slow. The fact that you need to first aim before you shoot only makes it worse. You are sluggish when aiming down sight, and you don't have any way to dodge enemies' attack besides running around them. I know this is aligned with lore that the protagonist is a newly-born humanoid thing, but at least give it option to dodge or side-step.
中文小簡評
→強烈建議san值不高及承受度低落的玩家不要嘗試這款,很多場景及畫面太過衝擊性。
→Scorn是款藝術型遊戲,主打美術風格及音效,玩法相對基礎。
→美術受H.R. Giger影響深遠,冷峻的金屬管及詭譎人形融合出極具震撼力的風格,再加上大量的血肉和筋骨,瘋狂指數急劇上升。
→但是這種瘋狂會使人著迷,無論是主角操作機器及武器,在讓你感到噁心之餘也會被勾起一絲好奇,你會很想知道,這趟癲狂的旅程到底有沒有盡頭。
→然而說到底他還是一款遊戲,就玩遊戲的體驗來說不是很好。
→遊戲內完全沒有任何提示、沒有任何教學,甚至連介紹世界觀的文件都沒有,因此很容易迷路或不知道接下來要幹嘛。就連喜歡在遊戲裡亂逛的我都有卡關卡一個小時左右的時候。
→射擊體感真的不好,動作緩慢,舉槍瞄準會讓角色移動速度大幅下降,再加上沒有閃避的功能,很容易中敵人攻擊。