Scorn review: Xbox’s horror exclusive fails to elevate its Giger visuals

throughout contempthas been in development for a long time, Serbian developer Ebb Software has been vocal about the inspiration for the horror game’s debut. In crafting its alien horrors, the studio has turned to artists known for their unsettling abilities, such as Zdzislaw Beksinski’s stark surrealism and his HR Giger’s biomechanical grotesque.

Giger’s work, in particular, had been woven into the story before, but never fully focused. contemptThe 1979 film Before One Face Was Embraced alien Take care to settle us in human company. Both ’90s point-and-click adventures, the two Dark Seed games put us in a ‘normal’ world before throwing us headlong into all the Giger designs that are wallpaper in parallel universes.

contemptEven the player character is only vaguely humanoid, as one look at that body in the game’s first-person perspective raises questions. Did tearing away the hard, bony tendrils that buried this object sloughing off the outer layer of skin and exposing muscle tissue? Or do all bodies of this kind look like this? does that mean there’s a mouth beneath the smooth fleshy layer we’d expect?

The internal monologue does not clarify. No journal or lore codex explained. Forget maps, objective markers, collectibles, helpful NPCs, etc. contempt Single-minded with the intent to trap you in a completely alien universe. The first few hours of the game are at their most original and atmospheric, withholding jump scares and overt terror to build terror. You’ll find each environment built to accommodate a strange, violent-looking machine, manipulated via a unique control panel.

None of the machines are terribly complicated once you understand how they work, but there’s no tutorial or text other than a basic menu prompt, so you don’t have to do anything beyond your own observation and experimentation. When rotating the , you should pay attention to the difference in how the small parts move. Puzzles rarely repeat each other because repeating puzzles helps you become familiar with the world. Instead, always move to newer devices with distinct operations to consider.

The first puzzles make up a good chunk of the final eight hours of playtime, and you might be wondering how much combat functionality the game has. You’ll eventually get a health bar and a sort of mashing phallus as a weapon, but the first chittering, dripping flesh shape you’ll encounter seems more territorial than malevolent. contempt Sees you as the main instigator of violence. After all, you are bringing this abandoned machine back to life to once again demonstrate its cruel purpose. Tear up, crush, and shatter whole domesticated creatures that seem to be bred only to die.

Image: Ebb Software/Kepler Interactive

Several contemptmachines seem to consciously overcalculate shock values ​​(one involves shoving fetal creatures into the paste), but they all create gory, explicit text out of unspoken truths. Helps to: Wheels of industry demand a blood toll. Even your weapons regularly collect taxes. That’s because it’s attached to a back-mounted parasite that viciously likes to plunge its limbs into your gut.

there is certainly a risk contempt‘s very specific and violent sensibilities have become obsolete. But the game changes environments as it progresses, gradually overtaking the alien metalwork of an abandoned civilization into pulsating flesh. The effect is like when nature takes back an abandoned building, only this time it’s not the beautiful greenery, but the entwined corpses of countless phallic abominations blocking your path.

For a while, the game hits the middle ground of tolerance, where phallic creatures that try to harm you have enough to make you jump onto docile (yet disgusting) creatures that simply decorate the environment. . But as creature encounters continue to escalate, the game’s design becomes more conventional. Stripping away this strange and terrifying layer of society is also stripping away the game’s sense of early invention and discovery. Aside from that, it seems to be a spread weapon that is just a shotgun.

Image: Ebb Software/Kepler Interactive

for that honor, contempt It never shifts gears into an action-focused shooter. Even in the most crowded sections of enemies, the game maintains a methodical pace that makes you feel stressed about refilling ammo and health. But the fear of the strange and obscure that I have so carefully nurtured is beginning to fade. Certain controls used to be hesitant to interact with his panel, but he’s reloading the Gross Shotgun as smooth as hitting the “reload” button in other games You’ll notice that in no time.

even the decline of contemptThe tension is disappointingly typical. The game doesn’t know where to go to maintain a strong early-time mystique, and even gun parasites that should be killing players devolve into banal practices. It’s a fascinating concept. Anything that gives you power will slowly kill you. In fact, while the controller vibrates, the edges of the screen turn red, just waiting for an interrupt to pass.

By the time Parasite finally prevents us from using machines or changing weapons, the damage has already been done. The extra tension that is inherent never materializes. contempt It’s certainly a moving experience and, at times, a true masterpiece of visual craft.

contempt It was released on October 14th on Windows PC and Xbox Series X via Game Pass. This game was reviewed on PC using a pre-release download code provided by Kepler Interactive. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not affect editorial content, but Vox Media may earn commissions on products purchased via affiliate links.discoverable Additional information on Polygon’s Ethics Policy can be found here.