Scathe mini-review

Scathe strives to provide the blistering action of yesteryear’s first-person shooters like Doom, Quake, and Hexen, while offering updated visuals. You assume the role of the game’s eponymous warrior, roused by a seemingly benevolent deity to help take out his malevolent twin. For better or worse, explosions of pulpy viscera are favored over exposition. While you’ll hear a few admonishments and praises from the gods throughout the frag fest, Scathe undoubtedly favors fast action.

In execution, this means a steady output of infinite firepower from your standard issue machine gun. You’ll eventually pick up additional weapons and eventually earn a multitude of magical abilities. But before you have access to new firearms like a shotgun, flame thrower, lightning gun, and even a blade-firing bow, you’ll encounter piles of unusable ammunition.

But that’s hardly the only odd design decision from indie developer Damage State’s inaugural title. The game’s hub world layouts and compulsory collection of runes aren’t explained to the player. Instead, you’ll have to stumble upon the map screen and figure out the game’s confusing glyph-based notation system on your own. Occasionally, running and gunning through the temples will offer a rather linear trek through winding corridors. Other zones are more labyrinthine, requiring players to kill a specific number of demons for advancement. I was always a bit uncertain about what Scathe expected from me.

But if you’re able to overlook the game’s uncommunicative disposition, Scathe’s gunplay is nearly redeeming. The game slowly staggers different enemy types, so it’s always clear how you should approach each demon. Basic Mindless shamble in place, so they’re not much of a threat, but Seekers will run at you with blade arms outstretched with malevolent intent. Razorbacks are armed with huge cannons and like their airborne counterpart known as Reapers, they unload streams of bullets. If you don’t evade their incoming salvos, or get caught in a crossfire, Scathe will forfeit one of his infinite lives. Yet, some enemies can be bullet sponges. But it’s consistently gratifying to pop out around a corner, reposition your sights on an opponent and let loose with the ammo.

Every one of your weapons has a potent secondary mode and you can damage-dash short distances, yet Scathe can sporadically feel unfair. The game likes to spawn hordes of bouncing explosive enemies directly in front of you, which is often perilous. You’ll probably curse how overpowered the game’s pop-up turrets feel, especially when they fire through the gate from another part of the level. And undoubtedly, when a foe’s effective range outreaches your basic gun, aggravation will emerge. But that’s probably why Scathe only pushes you back to the last checkpoint when you are fragged a specific number of times.

Level aesthetics channel the Doom School of Architectural Design, with a lot of imposingly tall walls and corridors that can stretch into the horizontal or coil with a sense of meandering menace. But there’s a notable lack of safeguarding. Hazards like lava or blood pools dot many levels and it’s entirely possible to fall off a walkway and be killed instantly. In a few places, I inadvertently fell right through the environment. On the upside, the game runs solidly on the Steam Deck, at least until you confront a throng of enemies.

Scathe boasts multiple endings. But to see the best one, you’ll have to track down every last rune. These are hidden in enemy-filled nooks or might require some precise first-person platforming to obtain. Undoubtedly, there are some players masochistic enough to tackle this task. But for many, tedium and frustration might set in long before even half of them are secured. Scathe isn’t bad,  but several odd design decisions prohibit the game realizing its full potential.

Scathe was played on PC with review code provided by the publisher.