First test for the development team Mad Head Games that with the support of Plaion in addition to that of Prime Matter port to platforms across the planet Scars Above, a third-person action shooter set in the far reaches of an unknown planet. The formula feels classic and congenial, though there are gaps here and there due to the inexperience of the development team which gives us a title not really suited to the modern world.
Pyramids in space
We are in a modern world, similar to ours but with a slightly more advanced technology (nothing that a few decades can’t fill) and it is in this scenario that an enormous pyramid arrives in the skies of the whole globe, positioned a few kilometers above the surface terrestrial, roughly between the Earth and the Moon. Six months have passed since the advent of this unconventional element, which the SCAR (acronym of Contact Shipping, Analysis and Research) he defined Metaedro: the inverted pyramid is gigantic and it is understood that it is rich in technology, to the point that the external surface is not perfectly flat, on the contrary, it allows a glimpse of movement like blocks connected by an energy network.
our protagonist, Dr Kate Ward, moves inside the SCAR spacecraft, and in the six months of stay on board he made friends with all those sent on this mission, people of all terrestrial ethnic groups. Approaching the Metahedron, Kate and company are literally teleported to another place: the young scientist finds herself on an alien planet and her aim seems to be to head towards the Metahedron that appears on the horizon. Although the plot begins with a banal structure and substantially already seen (Returnal or Dead Space to name a few adventures) this one unfolds in an interesting wayplacing Kate before various situations that we will not reveal to you, after all the plot has a “whodunit” style structure, so we leave you the burden of discovery.
Arma…
In Scars Above, as anticipated, we will be Katea scientist who never expected to experience a Twilight Zone adventure: the game setting is very classiccamera placed on the protagonist’s shoulder, various puzzles to solve to progress in the mission, objects to find, secret ravines that are revealed with the use of weapons and a structure that we could define as a hybrid between a Dark Souls and a Dead Space.
In the game, Kate has lost contact with the SCAR spacecraft of which, however, she will find pieces and elements around the hostile planet she is on: these pieces will help her compose and improve the weapon she owns: the VERAsort multipurpose gun capable of accepting 3D printed modules so as to vary its use from laser pistol to flamethrower to machine gun and so on.
In addition to the possible combinations of firearms, Kate has a handy machete laser, also an instrument used as a weapon, useful both for eliminating melee threats and for making their way through the planet’s vegetation. Scars Above has one active dynamics of the surrounding world, or if for example you shoot an enemy covered in water with fire, he will suffer less damage; vice versa, if you riddle it with electrically based shots it will begin to suffer more damage, and if it is immersed in liquid, the electric current will spread nearby, also affecting the surrounding enemies. This system puts the player in an interesting situation that pushes him to think a lot about the battlefield and how to approach the enemy; Kate is also able to dodge but be careful stamina which will wear out pretty quickly.
The enemies will always be in large numbers and do not have an intelligence to take lightlyon the contrary, they will almost always corner Kate and it will be her care to always hit – or almost – the enemy’s weak point which will present itself on several occasions, for example in the form of an open mouth or a repulsive pustule on the back. There are beacons in the game, pieces of the SCAR that Kate can use to get back on track, reload her weapons, level up by spending the “souls” she gets from enemies (hence the reference to the Souls style) and manage her inventory. The stop at these points will cause enemies in the area to respawnwhich makes it interesting for those interested in compulsive farming of enemies.
…or Tool?
Scars Above is certainly a good debut for a young development teambut unfortunately due to his youth, this sins of pride: the game looks like a huge “I wish but I can’t”, with aesthetic elements typical of an AA game, with super-curated textures for the protagonist and for the key elements of the game, while land, water and enemies seem sketchy and lack the depth that modern games have us used to living. Scars Above looks like an aesthetically dated product, stopped at 2016 as the latest update date, but with mechanics and references to modern games, which makes it an anachronistic product. Surpassing the crashes that we have experienced firsthand, playing on PlayStation 5, we hope that these will be resolved with a corrective patch on day one of the game, while for the rest the title is playable but don’t expect anything exceptional.
