Scarred by KOEX Studio
Almost 4 years in the past, I reviewed a sport referred to as Noosphere, a horror sport by a solo developer from Singapore whose ambition was sadly let down by tough design and generic storytelling.
Now, we’ve Scarred, a brand new entry from KOEX that, whereas nonetheless closely flawed, represents a step in the best route from its predecessor.
Map of Scars
In an house in Singapore, college students Calvin and Alan are sure to chairs. Their captor believes they’re liable for the disappearance and homicide of his daughter. Are they? Or is one thing extra sinister at play?
Scarred begins off on a powerful foot with well-directed cutscenes and an attention-grabbing story (allegedly primarily based on true occasions). The setting additionally actually units it other than the developer’s earlier sport, as city Singapore isn’t a location we see rather a lot in video video games. I additionally actually recognize that the story offers in far fewer of the generic horror tropes of its predecessor as effectively.
Nonetheless, regardless of these steps ahead, there are fairly just a few points that maintain this sport again from a advice. Foremost of all is definitely enjoying it.
Learn My Scars
Scarred’s gameplay could be very a lot a typical first-person horror sport. There are spooky environments to wander round, gadgets to work together with to fill in backstory, puzzles to resolve as a way to advance, and many others. All the same old bits are right here. That is sometimes disrupted by an encounter with a sinister spirit, however for essentially the most half you’ll spend the sport wandering, clicking, and studying.
Whereas this isn’t dangerous in and of itself, it’s right here that loads of Scarred’s greater issues make themselves recognized. For starters, even after a number of post-launch patches, the sport could be very buggy. I needed to reload the sport a number of occasions to get occasions to set off correctly, and even then they typically felt disjointed and awkward to play.
The sport suffers on a technical stage, as effectively. Unreal is a temperamental engine at the perfect of occasions, and Scarred undoubtedly struggles with this useful resource hog of a sport engine. To cap all of it off, the storytelling is suffering from grammar points and picket voice-acting that actually undercut the sport’s genuinely attention-grabbing story.
Oh, and it’s most likely value realizing the sport makes use of generative AI for character portraits. Some may not be bothered by this – I undoubtedly am – however both approach, it ought to be recognized.
The Verdict:
I genuinely applaud KOEX for delivering a sport that makes a notable enchancment on its earlier work. That is clearly made by somebody with a deep affection for the horror style, and rooting the sport in their very own tradition instantly makes it extra attention-grabbing than loads of the generic Western horror that populates the style.
Nonetheless, on the finish of the day, there are simply so many better-designed and technically strong horror video games on Steam that this one is tough to advocate outdoors of a deep sale. Hopefully, KOEX’s subsequent sport will proceed the upward development and ship one thing that actually impresses.
Scarred is on the market by way of Steam.
Watch the trailer for Scarred beneath:
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