Scars Above Review: Lost In Space

You could argue that there has never been a better time to release a souls-like. With Elden Ring taking the world by storm last year and bringing an audience to the genre the likes of which had never been seen, the souls-like space has more eyes on it than ever before. What that also means, though, is that in a genre where the standard has been set so high, a new entry needs to do something exceptional to stand out, or, at the very least, have a neat gameplay hook that innovates within a space where so many seem content to simply imitate. Scars Above from Mad Head Games does at least manage to succeed on the innovation front and present itself as a worthwhile addition to the genre, albeit one that could have been so much better had certain mechanics been thought through some more.

To Infinity, And Beyond!

To say Scars Above instantly gripped me would be an understatement. It really doesn’t waste any time in getting to the issue at hand, with that issue being an alien structure, referred to as the ‘Metahedron,’ that has mysteriously slipped into Earth’s orbit. Players assume the role of Kate Ward, a scientist who is part of a crew leading an expedition to discover more about the Metahedron. Upon approaching the UFO, Kate and her team find their spacecraft quickly losing control, with Kate shortly thereafter finding herself stranded on what looks to be an alien planet. Adding further to the mystery, it seems that quite a bit of time has passed between the approach to the Metahedron and Kate’s awakening, as she soon stumbles across various audio logs which indicate that despite the incident feeling to her as though it happened in mere moments, that is evidently not the case.

You might read the above and roll your eyes at what is a relatively trope-filled set-up, but I’d argue that tropes don’t have to be a bad thing if pulled off well, as they are here. The voice acting is stellar across the board, which really helps sell Kate’s mission as she tries to uncover just what the hell went on. The art direction is frequently of similar quality, and while it does have some obvious visual inspirations, the most obvious being the Alien franchise and Housemarque’s rogue-like classic, Returnal, it pulls from these tastefully; paying homage rather than shamelessly ripping off.

Really adding to the sense of vulnerability that permeates through the entire narrative is Kate’s profession. She’s a scientist, not a combat specialist, so where other souls-likes thrive on providing players with a power fantasy, Scars Above is quite the opposite. Kate isn’t some chosen one, blessed with extraordinary combat skills and ready for whatever the universe throws at her, which in turn gives the story a very human touch as Kate scrambles to make sense of her surroundings while truly struggling to come to terms with what has happened.

Live Long And Prosper…If You’re Lucky

In terms of gameplay, the scientific nature of Kate’s background bleeds through here also, which gives Scars Above a core gameplay loop that is quite unlike anything the genre has produced before.

In terms of moment-to-moment combat, the majority of your time in battle will play out as a third-person shooter, with melee typically being used as a last resort when enemies get too close for comfort. Truth be told, melee here is more of a spacing tool, something used to buy you time to reload or get additional shots off, rather than a primary means by which you can do damage. Pretty standard so far, right? Well, sort of, but where things get interesting is in the elemental combo-based system that underpins the majority of the gunplay.

One of the perks of being a scientist means Kate can upgrade her own weaponry with various elemental effects such as ice, fire, and electricity. These elements can then be used to apply debuffs to enemies, with elemental combos becoming absolutely integral to taking down even minor enemies. Kiting enemies through water, for example, leaves them primed for an electrical combo as you fire off charged rounds to devastating effect. Find yourself in an area with no natural water source, and you can add to the combo further by applying an ice debuff, which not only slows them down but leaves them soaked once they’ve thawed out.

As you progress through the campaign and enemies get progressively more difficult, you’re forced to constantly think about potential combos on the fly, a mechanic I felt really lent into the idea of Kate being an academic genius more than a walking weapon, using her brains to get by rather than brawn. You’ll constantly have to think outside the box due to the stellar enemy variety and move sets that Kate encounters, and admirably, rarely was I able to settle down into a routine that ever made me feel comfortable. Sure, due to the limited number of elements on offer, the possibilities aren’t endless, but the differing ways in which you’re asked to use them really help keep things feeling fresh.

It’s a combat system you’ll need to master fully, as Scars Above isn’t afraid to turn the difficulty up. Enemies typically move quickly, and in groups. Rarely will you come across isolated foes that present you with a large amount of time to weigh up your options, with the focus instead being on target prioritization and quick decision-making. Thankfully the shooting feels suitably responsive and equipped to deal with the fast-paced nature of the combat – most of the time, at least. I say most of the time because, unfortunately, enemy placement can quite often feel cheap and comes across as though it was designed to elicit jump scares. All too often, enemies will spring out of nowhere, wiping entire health bars out in seconds and forcing you to restart from the previous checkpoint. Being souls-like, this restart, of course, means that all enemies that were defeated until that point will have respawned, so it can be incredibly frustrating to have long stretches of gameplay undone due to amateurish enemy placement.

It isn’t a deal breaker, as, after all, once you’ve fallen prey to a cheaply placed enemy once, you have the foresight to know when to slow things down following a respawn. Having said that, it does drag down an otherwise excellent combat system that made me appreciate the epic boss battles all the more. These encounters distill the combat down to its purest form and provide awe-inspiring thrill rides as you frequently take on alien monstrosities the size of a house.

Knowledge Is Key

Besides being a third-person shooter, Scars Above also separates itself from its competition with a fairly novel, if somewhat misplaced, take on an RPG progression system.

As genre fans will know, levels are typically gained in a souls-like through the accumulation of experience that is typically gained via combat encounters and defeating enemies in standard RPG fashion. This experience is then usually banked at some form of a checkpoint, where it can be spent on leveling up and/or skills. Die before you bank, and you lose that experience. It’s a formula that has been used over and over since it was popularized by From Software, and for good reason; it just works. It keeps combat feeling meaningful and rewarding, whilst also allowing players to grind out levels should they hit a difficulty wall. Not only does Scars Above do away with the concept of losing experience on death, but bizarrely, it also largely does away with experience being gained through defeating enemies.

Instead, the various biomes which Kate travels through are dotted with little purple cubes, each representing a certain amount of knowledge. Knowledge effectively translates to experience here, with each cube contributing towards a bar that gradually fills up as you gain more. Fill the bar, and you get a point to spend on a respectably sized skill tree, enhancing Kate’s resilience or combat capabilities. If this was a supplement to a wider experience system, it would be fine – after all, many souls-likes contain consumable items that will grant a certain amount of experience once consumed. However, this is the core leveling system in Scars Above, and it contributes to combat feeling pointless a lot of the time. Enemies do drop resources that you can put towards using consumable items, but this isn’t hard to stack up on, and so ultimately, I just found myself running past my foes, scouring the biomes for cubes, before blitzing past enemies in search of the next checkpoint.

There are bottlenecks where the environment is virtually untraversable unless you remove certain enemies, but the fact that in a souls-like, a core mechanic such as combat is made as redundant as it often feels here is a pretty big misstep. Enemies are no longer threats worth conquering and, instead, turn into annoying obstacles that bear little reward in defeat. It’s a huge shame, too, because, as I mentioned before, the art direction, enemy variety, and combat are all excellent, just sadly wasted.

Rich Atmosphere

If I’ve sounded down on Scars Above, it’s because, as I’ve hopefully conveyed, there is so much here that the developers have nailed that has unfortunately been let down by a questionable design choice. That being said, none of the gripes I’ve mentioned so far can take away from the sense of place and atmosphere that is definitely worth experiencing.

Despite not being a graphical powerhouse, Scars Above really nails the sense of isolation, terror, and awe that I would imagine would accompany getting stranded on a hostile alien planet. Environments are suitably alien yet familiar, with exploration being an absolute joy to behold at times. Sound design is similarly great if minimalist, and much like I would suggest when playing any sci-fi game, a good set of headphones is a must to truly experience the alien soundscape on offer.

The one drawback of the technical department is the animations which can feel very last-gen, though it’s easy enough to overlook this issue given the relatively small budget the game was likely given and the success elsewhere. That it’s also a game that runs very well, even pre-launch, with no patching is also admirable, especially given the shambolic state that we continue to see high-profile titles released in.

A Journey Into the Unknown Worth Taking

Scars Above is a valiant attempt at providing a fresh spin on the souls-like genre. Its elemental-based third-person shooting feels genuinely fresh, with its reliance on environmental debuffs and stacking combos representing a genuine innovation within a space that isn’t exactly known for innovating, so it’s just a shame that the progression system feels so at odds with the efforts gone to by the developers in order to make Scars Above stand out. Despite that, the combat is still strong and is supplemented greatly by an atmosphere that, at times, feels truly out of this world. With that in mind, I definitely think souls-like fans and sci-fi fans alike should strap in and prepare for lift-off and join Kate on her journey into the unknown.

Final Verdict: 3.5/5

Available On: PS5 (reviewed) PS4, Xbox Series S/X, Xbox One, PC; Publisher: Prime Matter; Developer: Mad Head Games; Players: 1; Released: 28 February, 2023;