Scars Above: Sci-Fi action-adventure with a complex story

A sci-fi action-adventure with a complex story awaits players in Scars Above.

Scars Above – the challenging sci-fi third-person shooter developed by Serbian developer Mad Head Games and published by Prime Matter – was unveiled last night at gamescom Opening Night Live with an exciting trailer.

Viewers were able to get a first look at the prologue and some gameplay features of Scars Above. In Focus: The rewarding feeling of successfully confronting and overcoming challenges combined with an engaging and complex story set in a mysterious alien world.

The plot

A colossal and enigmatic extraterrestrial entity appears in Earth orbit and stuns the whole world; mankind calls it “The Metahedron”. The Sentient Contact Assessment and Response Team (SCAR) – made up of scientists and engineers – is dispatched to investigate.

However, things don’t go as planned, and the Metahedron transports the team across space to a mysterious extrasolar planet.

Players take on the role of Dr. Kate Ward – a SCAR member – who wakes up dazed and alone in a strange, hostile environment. Determined to survive, she sets out to find her crew and unravel the mystery behind what happened.

Survive against all odds

Kate is an astronaut and a scientist – not a soldier – but she is resourceful and determined to do whatever it takes to survive. Using a combination of ranged weapons, gadgets, consumables, and melee attacks, you must manage stamina while running, dodging, exploiting weak points, and discovering effective tactics to defeat opponents on the enemy planet.

Combining different elemental attacks is also a good way to survive. Crafting: Items and gadgets provide helpful tools that Kate can use to defend herself against the myriad threats on this exoplanet.

Explore a mysterious exoplanet

Players are immersed in a carefully crafted adventure inspired by sci-fi classics. You explore an alien world with myriad threats, beautiful landscapes and ruins that indicate an ancient but advanced civilization – but which has somehow disappeared.

Various biomes also await, such as swamplands, frozen wastelands, underground caverns, and alien facilities – each with their own challenges, enemies, secrets, and environmental hazards.

An extraordinary research trip

A scientist through and through, Kate uses her scientific expertise to extract information from her surroundings by scanning artifacts, materials, and creatures to learn about their traits, attributes, and weaknesses.

As Kate explores the environment, she performs analysis and gains insights that allow her to craft new gadgets and weapons, and unlock abilities in the Xenobiology and Engineering trees.

Battle against challenging monsters

Spooky enemy designs – with different strategies and tactics – keep the encounters fresh and force players to find creative ways to defeat them.

Scars Above has been in development for some time and will be released in early 2023 for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 4|5 and PC.