Creating a unique sci-fi title that is coherent and full of mystery that can be followed can be a challenge, but Prime Matter and Mad Head Games pulled it off with their latest action-adventure game Scars Above. Even back when I played the preview of the game, my first impression was quite positive, and now I’m back to say that the full game definitely lives up to the demo.

Story

A small crew on a mission in space to monitor and explore the meaning behind a strange structure that has arrived over Earth finds themselves in a strange world after a mysterious flash of light. The story follows Kate’s journey on the strange planet that she awakes on and the search for the truth of what happened. Thanks to the help of a hologram, or apparition perhaps, she is able to find her path through the strange world and begin to understand the strange structures found there.

Gameplay

One of the main things they keep upfront throughout the game is the fact that you are playing as a scientist. Every part of the world must be scanned before it can be understood, learned, and utilized. Some things require a more thorough look where you will need to scan the various aspects that build it up and then put all the aspects you scanned together. It isn’t a process that requires any puzzle-solving type of processing, but rather a step-by-step process where Kate voices how each part works and then puts it together as she understands it.

Other than scanning various things, you will also find knowledge cubes around the world. These knowledge cubes provide a random percentage of knowledge points and every time you reach 100% you will gain an ability point. Some of the aspects of the world you scan, most namely the enemies you take down for the first time, you can also earn knowledge points towards ability points.

Once you have an ability point, you can open up the ability skill tree and then use your points to give a boost to Kate in a way that you feel is most effective for you. It is a layed tree where you have to unlock three of the one-point tier to unlock the two-point tier, then once you have three of the two-point tier abilities unlocked you unlock the three-point tier. This continues until the four-point tier. I managed to unlock all abilities and earn two more ability points by the time I reached the end of the game, so it is possible to get it all in one trip.

When it comes to combat in the game, you will be utilizing the use of one weapon that can be changed to different elements. Starting out with electricity, you will find that the elements around your environment also apply to your weapon. By this, I mean that when your enemy is in water, the electricity weapon does more damage to the enemy. After electricity, you will unlock fire, and shortly after glacier. There is a fourth element, but I’ll let you unlock that yourself as you get it later in the game.

Boss fights require a bit more finesse than a standard enemy, of course. Each boss fight is different, but you will need to use the correct element for the boss fight and often times you will be switching between different elements on your weapon. For instance, the first boss has impact spots that need to be hit with the fire shots and then an electric ball will be available to shoot with your electric shots. This element-specific aspect is a main part of the game’s combat.

Along your adventure, you will also come across Fiber. This is a multi-use tool that is the basis to use your extra items. You will unlock more items that Fiber can be used for along the way and you can change them at any time. You will also unlock items that can be used in combat that use a battery, which can also be replenished with Fiber.

Other than finding ammo and Fiber around you to restock yourself, you will find checkpoints in the form of Pillars. These pillars are where the game saves your file on use and you are reloaded to that spot of the game. Even when you activate the pillar, you will see Kate phase out and back in. This replenishes your ammo stash, health, and your general stock. However, when you use a Pillar, all enemies are also revived in the area.

Audio and Visual

Even without bringing the game to hyperrealistic graphics as many games do these days, they do a wonderful job making this world not only mysterious and grotesque at times, but stunningly beautiful in its own creepy, threatening sci-fi way. The characters don’t have a highly detailed art style to them, but they are mixed enough that each character stands out on their own. As for the enemies and bosses, they all look absolutely intense and creepy.

As for the sound effects and music in this game, they did a great job making it all very fitting to the environment. The music didn’t really stand out too much for me, but they did a great job filling the air and making each area stand out with the sound stylings that they went with for each level.

Replayability

Other than wanting to beat the game on a harder difficulty, I don’t see much replayability for the game. A lot of the cool side stuff to do, such as finding knowledge points, can all be done in one playthrough fairly easily. With that said, the only thing that can change the experience would be how hard it is to beat the game.

What It Could Have Done Better

One of the things I addressed in my first impression didn’t seem to be addressed in the game. They still have you use a crafting bench the first time inside the ship, but throughout the game, as you find items that can be used or added to your weapon, you magically have the crafting table with you and can make it right there. This isn’t addressed properly in the game, which is a shame because they did a great job making a lot of things in the game make sense through the lore itself - like how you revive when you die.

Verdict

Scars Above is a sci-fi adventure that is worth taking! The game itself is roughly 6-7 hours long and it is intriguing from start to finish. There are a lot of interesting things to look at throughout the game and the enemies are all different in their own way with their own weaknesses. Even the environment played a big role in the combat of this game and it’s nice to play a story that gives a solid ending. If you enjoy sci-fi action-adventure titles, then this is one you will want to pick up!

Scars Above is available now for PC via Steam, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5.