Only One Chance to Make a Second Impression

Scorn is a short game.  How long it takes to complete varies from person to person but, in terms of hours, the length seems to be somewhere in the mid single digit range.  It's a bit disappointing considering the price tag, and the fact that the game spent over seven years in development.  Even so, there is still greater potential for Scorn in the form of a sequel.

Whenever a dev team is considering a whether or not to make a follow-up to one of their video games, it's a good idea to look at player feedback.  In the case of Scorn, a lot of the criticisms boils down to certain players being disappointed that the game wasn't a run'n'gun style shooter, or a walking sim, or another entry in the survival horror genre.  Scorn is most definitely creepy, but it's more focused on psychological and body horror than anything else.  For some that might lessen its appeal, but I think those focal points (along with the strong visual presentation) are what make the game noteworthy.  Having said all that, there are some aspects of Scorn that could be improved upon in a sequel.

Combat in Scorn is neither good nor bad.  A lot of fights in the game can be avoided with a little patience and some attention placed on character movement within the environment.  Personally, I think it's a nice touch.  Sadly, that design philosophy doesn't extend to the end "boss" encounter.  In fact, what is supposed to be the final climatic battle is a bit tedious (or possibly just underwhelming, depending on how quickly the player can figure out what they need to do).  Pro tip: side strafing is slow, sprinting forward and changing facing with the mouse is a faster and a better way to avoid damage.  I think that having a slight puzzle design to enemies is a good way to make combat more interesting.  Something along the lines of shoot-one-place-to-open-up-a-weak-point is preferable to the overused aim-for-the-head strategy.  Especially since the monsters in Scorn don't really conform to human norms.

As far as locations go, there is a number of places that could be added based on cut content alone.  The artbook for Scorn features concept drawings for a tower and labyrinth areas that never made it into the final game.  There's even an underground crypt-like zone that was supposed to be part of "Polis" (the temple structure players travel to by railcar at the end of the game).  As far as I can tell based on screenshots and trailers a hall of heads was made using in-game assets, but for whatever reason wasn't accessible in the game.  The same sort of thing holds true for some of the more interesting bits of lore.  There are some neat details about the "Homunculi" (those Krang/Utrom looking creatures in jars of red liquid) and three-eyed people (one of which dies after emerging from a pod next to the place where players acquire the door key and ammo/healing storage device) that could be integrated into a sequel.  

Scorn is a bit deceptive when it comes to continuity.  For example the face we see in the background of the main menu is actually that of the prologue character after he was incased in that white sludge at the end of the prologue.  When beginning a new game, the opening cutscene flashes back and forth to the events that led up to this.  For a sequel it might be interesting to take an approach similar to Half-life: Opposing Force or Half-life: Blue Shift...show us some of the same places as before, but from a different point of view under different circumstances.  Personally, I'd like to play as a "Mold Man" (one of those poor wretches encountered near the beginning of the game) who is trying to find refuge for themselves and their kin, but maybe that's just me looking for an excuse to root for the underdogs.  Regardless, I hope that we do get a Scorn sequel someday.  I feel like Kepler Interactive has only scratched the surface of the world that they've created.