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The Scars Above reviews are even more split than Atomic Heart

The Scars Above reviews are out, and Prime Matter's new sci-fi Soulslike foray has split critics even more than FPS game rival, Atomic Heart.

The Scars Above reviews are even more split than Atomic Heart: A brown haired woman wearing a combat jacket and best top surrounded by palm-like foliage looks down at a small pyramid placed in her chest which opens into an alien landscape

With the Scars Above reviews going live ahead of the space game‘s official launch, critics are just as divided as they were about fellow sci-fi game Atomic Heart – if not more so.

Scars Above presents itself as a “challenging sci-fi third-person action adventure shooter” that combines “the rewarding feel of overcoming difficulty with a compelling and intricate story.” That’s a lot to take in, isn’t it?

In short, Prime Matter’s new FPS game is a soulslike shooter where you tear down vicious alien creatures amid the vines of an inhospitable, ever-changing world. While the story remains somewhat of a mystery, what we do know is that you’re thrust into the shoes of Dr. Kate Ward, a member of a specialised team sent to investigate a new orbiting body that appears to be threatening the Earth.

As the squad approaches the so-called Metahedron, Kate and her colleagues are zipped off to a mysterious alien world and forced to fend for themselves as hordes of creepy creatures aim to tear them asunder.

Sounds like probably every sci-fi movie ever, am I right? Yet there’s something quite intriguing about it – especially because some of those monsters look like we probably encountered them aboard the Ishimura in our Dead Space Remake review.

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Unfortunately, that’s kind of where the excitement seems to end. The game’s PC reviews on Metacritic are split down the middle, currently set at 71 (aka ‘mixed’). As a contrast, Atomic Heart sits at 77, allowing it to sneak into ‘positive’ territory.

While Player 2 describes it as a “AA game at its absolute best,” NME claims that it’s “low on polish;” a sentiment echoed by Everyeye.it, who states that the “errors and lightness” found throughout are “due to the youth of the development studio.”

In general, though, the game is praised for its innovative new ideas and fresh take on FromSoftware’s tried and tested soulslike combat, so it’s maybe one to pick up if you’re a lover of all things spacey and… Soulsy?

Our sister site, The Loadout, also did a Scars Above review for PS5, so be sure to give that a glance if you’re planning to play on console. Otherwise, we have a list of the best games like Dark Souls if Scars Above proves too easy – or too challenging.