Played Scars Above: Lots of potential, but little innovation

Ellen Ripley may not be the protagonist of Scars Above, but she is certainly a role model for the main character of the action-adventure, which is due to be released in early 2023. In the role of scientist Kate Ward we have to assert ourselves in the sci-fi shooter on a foreign planet, survive against the ill-tempered fauna and unravel the mystery surrounding the plot.

Anyone familiar with the setting and genre will quickly picture Selene going through a similar journey in Returnal. Apart from the premise, the two games differ very clearly in important points. There will be no rogue-like mechanics and bullet hell interludes in Scars Above. Instead, what we saw in our preview was solid gameplay with seemingly little innovation, but a good implementation of tried-and-true mechanics common to the genre.

Game mechanics focus

According to game director Ivan Zorkić, developers Mad Head Games focus on three areas: mystery, research and survival. The term mystery hides several levels of the story, which are gradually revealed as the game progresses and is said to contain an amazing depth and twists.

Scars Above Preview: Action-Adventure With Lots Of Potential But Little Innovation (2)

Source: Prime Matter

Research is the exploration of the world, which is scanning objects and living beings and completing our code. Survival does not refer to any survival elements, but to the combat mechanics including shooter gameplay.

Abandoned in the wilderness, Kate and her equipment are not doing well at first. How exactly she will get out of the misery is not yet clear, but we know roughly how she got in there: She was sent as part of a research troop to examine an extraterrestrial object in Earth orbit that suddenly turned its orbits there.

The Sentient Contact Assessment and Response Team (or SCAR team for short) is made up of scientists who include Kate. However, the mission fails and the heroine is teleported a fair bit across the universe. Kate Ward wakes up all alone on a planet where no one knows where it is.

As an astrobiologist, Kate knows how the environment works. So we quickly find our way around in their skin and soon set out to find our missing colleagues. Scattered crates containing gadgets that can be misused as weapons will help you get closer to your goal. But it turns out after a short time that something is wrong on this planet. As we played, we stumbled across dialogue that hinted that the story might not just be about extraterrestrials, but also about time travel.

In the ruins and shelters we find audio logs that indicate that parts of the SCAR team have already had to assert themselves in the alien world for years, a fact that confuses the protagonist (and of course us too). Luckily for us, useful resources go hand in hand with the twisted timelines: workbenches, blueprints, ammunition and weapons find a grateful buyer in us, after all we have to fend off some cattle.

Scars Above Preview: Action-Adventure With Lots Of Potential But Little Innovation (3)

Source: Prime Matter

The area we roamed can best be compared to a swampy jungle. The forest is not only dark and damp, but is also inhabited by all sorts of unpleasant people. Knee-high insects crawl towards you from undergrowth overgrown with ferns, which you should better kill quickly before more siblings appear.

We can scan and loot dead enemies. The beasts don’t have lootable bags with them, but luckily Kate is able to extract helpful materials from the body parts. It’s not yet clear what the enemy variety will be like in the final game, but we’ve really liked the designs we’ve seen so far.

Let’s continue on page 2!