Knowledge is power.
I recall seeing trailers for Scars Above late last year, but as its release started to approach, I hadn’t seen a single outlet talking about it. This sci-fi adventure from publisher, Prime Matter, feels seemingly influenced by such titles as Returnal, Metroid Prime, and even Remnant: From the Ashes forming much of its DNA. Still, Scars Above impressed me with its moment-to-moment gameplay, utilizing varying ammo types and gadgets to save humanity, one alien corpse at a time.
Scars Aboves sees you take on the role of Kate Ward, a member of the Sentient Contact Assessment and Response Team, or SCAR for short. While aboard their vessel, the team is investigating an alien object outside of Earth’s atmosphere dubbed the Metahedron. As the team is about to proceed, their ship is pulled into the strange vessel and transported to a strange alien world. As Kate, you’ll attempt to track down your three missing crew members and find a way back home to Earth.
The idea of a science crew investigating potential first contact is a cool and reliable concept, but the early moments here do nothing to really make you invested in its cast whatsoever. And, to be honest, even as the credits rolled, I felt nothing for them. Even as their Commander gives this big speech about the legacy that will live on in this moment, it simply falls on deaf ears as Scars Above does nothing to introduce you to any of these people apart from saying their names. There are brief write-ups in your journal, but that’s about it.
Even Kate is something of a blank slate for much of the game’s opening moments. Her journal entry about herself details her two PhDs in Biology and Mechanical Engineering, but it’s a shame that the game didn’t open up with some sort of group discussion to let us get to know the personalities of the crew. Even as the game goes on, we find out next to nothing about her, which is a shame, since a scientist setting foot on an alien world could have opened up a lot of narrative exposition about how this is affecting her.
One interesting thing about Kate is that leveling her up throughout the game is done via the knowledge she acquires as she scans the bodies of her recent kills, detailing their physiology and basic traits about their behavior. Kate can also investigate various organic life that she will encounter, and that of small knowledge cubes that you’ll find scattered about. Occasionally, Kate can piece together a scene survey or the inner workings of the alien technology she encounters. It’s a solid way to show her capability as a scientist that I really did appreciate.
Eventually, you’ll gain a pulse scan that aids in finding precious resources and additional knowledge cubes hidden across each environment, allowing you to push through a series of skill trees that better equip her for the challenge at hand. These skills trees; Engineering and Xenobiology, allow you to increase the efficiency of her gadgets, her survivability, and even a Gears of War reload system, among several other enhancements. I’ll also mention that you will likely earn each and every upgrade well before you even approach the end of the game.
As Kate begins to explore this strange alien landscape, she’ll be greeted by a holographic projection of one of the inhabitants of this planet, urging her to progress further to discover several answers to questions that are likely forming in the scientist’s mind. This leads Kate to a strange alien artifact called a pillar, which will refresh her consumables, health, and the threats that lurk nearby. Eventually, Kate will reunite with her Vera rifle that she had aboard the ship, a multipurpose gun that can be equipped with variable elemental ammo as Kate will craft the attachments that allow for these alternative fire options, each of which is additionally upgradeable.
However, the first weapon you’ll wield is the Electric Cutter, a giant cleaver that will aid Kate in dealing with close-quarter critters. And, while it is never explained on how it’s possible, Kate will also be able to 3D print weapon upgrades and gadgets with a fully functional 3D printer. Is it in the backpack she has? I couldn’t tell you. Still, it’s nice that I don’t have to find conveniently placed workbenches on this strange alien world that just so happen to be compatible with my current gear.
As I briefly mentioned before, Scars Above feels like the gameplay of Remnant: From the Ashes in a world aesthetically similar to Returnal, with a few scanning and weapon-like systems of Metroid Prime. While Mad Head Games’ inspirations could have been entirely different sources, the fact that Kate knows she is being resurrected at these pillars upon her death is very much in Returnal’s playbook.
Now that said, Kate never once mentions this fact until she has a discussion later on in the game with one of her crew members. It’s something that I had guessed was happening, but it was never once confirmed until that point, especially as you don’t see her endless sea of corpses. In fact, Kate doesn’t really discuss anything with the player, and while a character like Aloy in Horizon Zero Dawn is on the far end of that spectrum, a happy middle ground would have benefited the player with some valuable info as well as getting to know Kate a bit more as well.
The story of what happened to this planet and its inhabitants is really interesting, as they are plagued by the focus of a being intent on sacrificing everything to learn the secrets of the universe. And, as the story goes on, you discover how Kate is able to resurrect at these pillars and why the Metahedron has approached Earth in the first place. While I never cared much for any of Kate’s crew, I was rather drawn to how they introduced Kate to the more alien elements here, especially that of her holographic alien ally. And despite playing as Kate for a bit over 6 hours, I learned more about her alien friend in 10 minutes than any single other character in the game.
Kate, armed with her Vera rifle will attempt to find a way back home as she explores a few different alien landscapes, scraping together materials to craft handy gadgets and upgrade her rifle to apply attachments that offer up shock, ice, and fire capabilities. While there is a fourth upgrade to the rifle, I’ll refrain from talking about it simply due to the fact you get it near the end of the adventure.
What is impressive about how the Vera rifle works is that each attachment or additional upgrade can not only affect enemies in different ways, as many of the bigger threats have tell-tale colors to indicate weak parts on their body, but each element type can also be used to affect the environment, making encounters more about situational creativity than I had initially assumed.
This comes in the form of a few mechanics, all of which are immensely enjoyable and became an obsession for me in the end. Kate’s Vera rifle can be upgraded to allow for additional fire modes other than its initial shock ammo. Within the game’s opening hour, you’ll craft upgrades for fire and ice. With the shock attachment, you can electrocute hostiles surrounded or covered in water, whereas, with the ice attachment, you can freeze enemies that are wet, either from being within bodies of water or out in the rain, and even use the ice to cover worm-infested waters, making them save to traverse.
However, it’s the fire-based outlet of the Vera that really impressed me with something I would love to see Mad Head Games expand upon in a potential sequel. In a later biome, Kate will have to explore a frozen environment, burning plants to stave off hypothermia as she presses on. However, it’s the frozen bodies of water where you can use the fire attachment to break open the ice, forming large holes that can swallow up enemies and see them instantly freeze to death as the hole freezes back up. The first time I tried this, I was sold.
This mechanic comes back up later on in the game’s best boss encounter, a large mechanical monster that requires you to drown it in the cold waters as you shoot away at canisters that are invulnerable until you trap it in the frozen ice. This battle continues later on as well, offering another fun mechanic that made this whole exchange to be deeply satisfying. While the other bosses don’t reach that same high, they still nonetheless are fun encounters that illustrate how good this team is at making engaging battles.
To aid Kate, she will find materials that will allow her to craft gadgets that serve a variety of purposes. From creating decoys to distract enemies, a shield to absorb hits, a gravity bomb that slows down anything inside it, to even stopping time itself. I rarely found a gadget that I didn’t have a need for as each of them really aids in taking down the challenging threats you’ll encounter.
Kate will also have to solve a series of puzzles that range from manipulating a series of dice to rotating parts of an alien key to unlock the door in front of her. While most of these puzzles have their solution nearby, you’ll rarely find that these take any more than a few minutes at most to solve. There is a power cell puzzle based on navigating a maze-like environment that is not the best example of what this game can offer, but I did like the puzzle where you freeze a platform that is rotating around to create a bridge, even with how simple its idea was, I still enjoyed using my weapons and powers being used to solve what was in front of me.
The Vera rifle's versatility as well as using the gadgets in a fight really felt fun during each combat encounter. The game doesn’t do anything revolutionary and you’ll likely walk away from it feeling like you’ve played this before, but I still enjoyed what Scars Above does with its familiar components, especially the environmental aspects of electrocuting waves of enemies in the water or seeing a massive brute of a monster freeze to death in the icy waters. And since the game runs an average playthrough of about 6-7 hours, you won’t feel like anything it is doing is too repetitive.
Scars Above’s environments and monster elements are all extremely serviceable if a bit unoriginal at times. However, it’s Scars Above’s human element where it simply falls flat. Kate and her crew just don’t look great, with facial expressions and animations that feel extremely low-budget in their execution. When Kate is just existing in the game’s world outside of any sort of dialogue, her face is in constant boredom mode, lacking any sort of life to the model. I also wasn’t too fond of Kate’s design, coming off more as some sort of Lara Croft knock-off.
While Scars Above doesn’t end up being terribly original in its entirety, its use of familiar influences still results in a very enjoyable experience that I had a lot of fun with. While I certainly wish its cast was even remotely interesting, I still found Scars Above to be a really impressive first step in a potential new franchise, offering engaging weaponry that impresses with its simplicity and versatility. I think if a sequel could bring with it a more distinct identity and a compelling reason to engage with its cast, then Scars Above could be that next great sci-fi adventure to keep an eye out for.
The following Launch Trailer for Scars Above does feature some out of context spoilers for the game.
Developer - Mad Head Games. Publisher - Prime Matter. Released - February 28th, 2023. Available On - Xbox One/Series X/S, PlayStation 4/5, and Windows. Rated - (T) Blood and Gore, Violence. Platform Reviewed - Xbox Series X. Review Access - A review code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.
Jeff is the original founder of Analog Stick Gaming. His favorite games include The Witcher III, the Mass Effect Trilogy, Hi-Fi Rush, Stellar Blade, Hellbade: Senua’s Sacrifice, and the Legend of Heroes series, especially Trails of Cold Steel III & IV.