Survival horror Cosmic and Lovecraftian horror Horror puzzle Sci-fi and space horror Body horror

Scorn

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Lost in a living world of flesh and machinery, with no words to explain it.

Platforms: PC, Xbox, PlayStation
Stores: Steam, Epic, GOG
Price: Paid
Rated: Mostly Positive on Steam (77% of 20,129 reviews); Metacritic 70 from 72 critics; 4.16 of 5 on the PlayStation Store (2,332 ratings); 3.9 of 5 on GOG (497 reviews)
Length: about 5 hours
Players: 1
Made by: Ebb Software
Released: 2022

On PlayStation: one of the PlayStation horror games.

No. 22 of the parasite horror games · No. 26 of the castle horror games

Visit the game's site Steam Epic Games Store GOG PlayStation Store Xbox

What frightens You are thrown, without a word of explanation, into a nightmarish world of flesh and machinery in the vein of H. R. Giger and Zdzisław Beksiński: tools that are living things you plug your hands into, corridors like the inside of a body, and creatures that are part weapon and part wound.
Content: gore, body horror, mutilation and torture, nudity, sexual themes, intense violence, disturbing imagery.

Scorn is a first-person horror adventure by Ebb Software, published by Kepler Interactive, set in a nightmarish biomechanical world. Alone and without dialogue or cutscenes, you explore interconnected, maze-like regions, work the organic machines with your own hands to solve their puzzles, and fight or avoid grotesque creatures with a small, limited arsenal. A first play takes about five hours.

About Scorn

Scorn was made by Ebb Software and published by Kepler Interactive. It was announced in 2014, after a Kickstarter campaign that failed, and came out on 14 October 2022 for Windows and Xbox Series X|S, then on PlayStation 5 on 3 October 2023. Its look draws on the art of H. R. Giger and Zdzisław Beksiński, and the Deluxe Edition adds the soundtrack by Aethek and Lustmord and a 192-page artbook.

The game is built around the idea of being thrown into the world. You wake in a vast structure of bone, tissue and metal and are told nothing. Every region is a maze of rooms and paths with its own puzzles, usually machines you operate by hand: levers that are tendons, locks that need a living key, carts on rails that must be routed. The makers call this full body awareness: you pick things up with your hands and grab the controls of each machine. All the storytelling happens through what you see, and the game will not help you if you miss something.

Combat is deliberately awkward and rare. Your weapons are organic tools with very little ammunition, so every encounter makes you ask whether it is worth fighting at all, and some of the creatures are easier to avoid. The real enemy is the place: its scale, its wet sounds and the growing sense that your own body is changing.

Critics were split, with a Metacritic score of 70: its art and atmosphere were praised and its combat criticised. Players on Steam rate it higher. It suits players who want to be unsettled by a world, rather than chased through one. It is sold on Steam, the Epic Games Store, GOG (DRM-free), the PlayStation Store and Xbox, where it can also be played through the cloud with Game Pass.

How to play Scorn

Explore each region on foot and look closely at every machine and doorway; nothing is explained.
Operate machines by hand to solve the region's puzzle and open the way forward.
Use your organic weapons sparingly; ammunition is scarce, so avoid fights you do not need.
Heal at the stations you find and manage your small inventory before entering new areas.

Screenshots

Scorn screenshot: a vast grey bone-like palace with spires and statues rising out of purple-grey fog under a pink sky

Scorn screenshot: a first-person hand holds a fleshy organic weapon as a hunched, skinless creature advances down a blood-smeared corridor

Scorn screenshot: bare first-person arms as a bloody, parasite-like arm plugs into a bony device clamped on the wrist, in a green cave

Scorn screenshot: a first-person hand pulls a tendon on a machine of bone and flesh set into a ribbed wall

Scorn screenshot: a giant rotting head with a wrinkled, ribbed skull lies among red tendrils in a murky green chamber

Scorn screenshot: a pale humanoid body with exposed ribs and a glowing red belly lies in a bony cradle among dark red growths

Scorn screenshot: a giant dead clawed biomechanical creature lies among bones and red veins in a misty green chamber

Tips

If you are stuck, go back to rooms you have seen; the solution is usually a machine you passed.
Save ammunition for the creatures that block your path rather than ones you can walk around.
Play with headphones; sounds tell you where creatures are.

Questions

Is Scorn scary?

It is more disturbing than jumpscare-scary: grotesque body horror, an alien world and constant unease, with some tense fights.

Does Scorn have any dialogue?

No. There are no words, cutscenes or text explaining the story; everything is told through the world.

How long is Scorn?

About five hours for a first play, according to DualShockers and Game Rant's review.

Is Scorn on PlayStation?

Yes. It came to PlayStation 5 on 3 October 2023, about a year after the Windows and Xbox Series X|S release.

Is Scorn suitable for younger players?

No. ESRB rates it Mature for blood and gore, intense violence, nudity and sexual themes, and it is rated 18 in Germany. The Steam page warns of mutilation, torture and imagery some players may find disturbing.