I had the pleasure of playing an Early Access preview of S.C.A.R. (Simulating Carnage And Rockets) by Savage Studios, and it was a brief but promising look at a game to be. The game wears it’s 90’s shareware F.P.S. inspiration on its sleeves; you can expect fast movement, high enemy count, key hunting, and plenty of gibbing. S.C.A.R. seems most inspired by Quake with its quick action and platforming, and Serious Sam with its hoards of enemies perfect for circle-strafing.
Movement is the most developed aspect of the current build. On top of double jumping and dashing, you use a grappling hook that gives the game a greater emphasis on verticality than most FPS games in this style. Bunnyhopping is buttery smooth, allowing you to jump circles around enemies. The weapon selections are varied and get fun with their unique abilities. Shooter staples such as pistols, shotguns, rocket launchers, and snipers feature in the chaos. Each weapon has a unique ability that builds up from combat, and the bar for these new modes carries over to all weapons in your arsenal. The pistol becomes fully automatic, the shotgun shoots grenades, the rocket launcher shoots a cluster of rockets, and the sniper shoots red hot rebar bolts; all of these come in handy for massive waves of enemies. The ragdolling and gibbing enemies give weight to every attack.
The game’s presentation does an excellent job of complementing the gameplay’s chaos. The title screen is a stunning painting of a ruined city overrun by monsters, with a lone shotgun holding fist with “SCAR” carved into its knuckles, it really sets you up for the chaos. The first episode mainly focuses on a futuristic industrial area, being hunted by mechanical mutated aliens hellbent on ripping apart your limbs. The varied enemy design lets the player know which threats to deal with first. Enemies gush blood with every shot, making sure you always know when you’re bullets are connecting. The only exception being the flying robot drone enemies, I wish there were some sparks to show if you’re hitting or not.
The music takes after the recent wave of Djent inspired metal licks you hear in many old school revival FPS games. I would describe it as Dad-Djent, like as in Dad-Rock; A much more accessible version of an existing genre. I’m taking this time to be a metal snob since I first played this game wearing a Scythelord t-shirt, this game targets my tastes, and thus, I am permitting such snobbery.
S.C.A.R. gives the play a considerable amount of modifiers in the options menu. You can change blood, head bob, ragdolling, pirate hats; it gives you a lot to play with. One experience from this game that stood out to me was the sounds the player character made. Our hero gasped first time jumping, and I eventually realized it was audio from the edit of a Macho Man Randy Savage promo with only the breaths. After bunnyhopping, I swear I heard the signature “YEAH” of Savage. If the developer decides to rerecord these sounds, please have the VA recreate the sounds of Macho Man, it would never grow old.
If I were to make a wishlist for this game, most of it would just ask for more of what already works. I want more enemies, more levels, more weapons, and more new challenges. Little nitpicky things like texturing the grappling hook and adding will most likely appear in the next build. Also, difficulty settings would be a welcome addition, but now I’m getting greedy. I cannot wait to see S.C.A.R. become an exciting and polished piece. The gameplay is already robust, and now it’s mostly a matter of expanding upon the already great foundation. It has a lot to make any F.P.S. lover happy. The team at Savage Studios clearly has a deep love for these games and it shines in this preview.
Check Out the S.C.A.R. Steam Early Access Trailer:
To find out more about S.C.A.R. and to wish list the game, head over to Steam Early Access.
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Current student at Chapman University studying Film Producing and Game Development. Lover of film and video games. Aspiring game developer who loves Strategy, FPS and Action games, new and old. Favorites are Dark Souls, Doom, Half Life, Civilization, and Super Mario World.
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