Microsoft began rolling out some of the third-party support they’ve lined up for the Xbox Series X earlier today, and Ebb Software’s Scorn has certainly slithered its way to the front with haunting imagery reminiscent of H.R. Giger’s designs for the Xenomorph from the Alien franchise.
Featuring statues that cry entrails and a lot of bodily fluids, the new trailer for Scorn is a wild ride into an utterly alien world. But I think it’s best to let the developers themselves fill you in on how they plan to unsettle players with their “nightmare” vision:
Scorn lures players into a claustrophobic underworld populated with misshapen organic forms dripping with unnamed fluids. You will find yourself entirely alone, with only your senses and instincts to guide you through the non-linear nightmare of interconnected spaces. In Scorn, the environment is itself a character, and will do its best to unsettle and unbalance you. Each location has its own puzzles, characters, and story to tell, all of which combine to create a cohesive world. On your journey through the game, new areas, skills, weapons, and items will be unveiled as you attempt to comprehend the unfolding reality of Scorn.
Kowloon Nights, an investment fund for independent developers, is providing support for Scorn, and Community Manager Danika Harrod expanded on Ebb’s influences on the Xbox Wire:
Scorn is a first-person horror adventure game designed around the idea of being thrown into the world. As players explore the dream-like world in a non-linear fashion, they will soon learn that every location has its own story, puzzles, and characters – even the unsettling environment is a character itself. The team has drawn visual inspiration from Swiss painter H.R. Giger and Polish painter Zdzislaw Beksinski. Conceptual inspiration has come from works by unique writers like Franz Kafka and Jorge Luis Borges, horror and sci-fi writers like Thomas Ligotti and J.G. Ballard, and the weird cinema of David Cronenberg and David Lynch.
Scorn will be released for the Xbox Series X during the console’s “launch period” this Fall, and it’s also in the works for the PC through Steam and the Windows Store.
