GAME REVIEW | "Scar-Lead Salvation" Lacks a Decent Challenge
It took me five minutes of playing Compile Heart and Idea Factory’s Scar-Lead Salvation to figure out what was going on. Twenty minutes after that, I realized what exactly this game was going to deliver. And no, despite its name, it does not lead to salvation. Instead, Scar-Lead Salvation shoves you into Repetition Hell, to the point where death by boredom may be a symptom of playing this game.
From what I gathered playing Scar-Lead Salvation, your character has amnesia. She doesn’t know her name or why she’s in an area filled with deadly robots. All she’s got are a couple of guns and some sparkly powers. Oh, and there’s an AI voice there to at least keep her some kind of company. The question is, does the AI want to help or hinder her progress?
Running through the areas, you’ll come across various killer robots. You can shoot them or you can simply punch them. Surprisingly, punching most of them results in one-hit kills, whereas the guns take a bit of time to eliminate the enemies. It leads me to then wonder, what’s the point of having guns then?
As you go from place to place in Scar-Lead Salvation, you’ll find new upgrades such as health expansions and defense powers like lowering enemy damage. However, during my entire play-through, I never once took any hits, as I once again pondered over the point of everything. That’s when I realized the truth: there is no point to this game; it’s only meant to waste one’s valuable time. And boy, do I want my three hours back from playing this.
I don’t know which is worse: that the game is too damn easy or that its presentation is the laziest one can imagine. Every room I walked into was caked with the same white-on-white design, with nary a single creative color in sight. When enemies appeared, they felt more like a nuisance than a threat. Everywhere I went, it was basically shoot, punch, and evade. Anytime I came across new weapons, I basically ignored them, as they were almost all inferior to the upgraded ones I had on hand.
The only thing that Scar-Lead Salvation had going for it was its dialogue. Hearing the woman and the AI banter back-and-forth felt like I was listening to a humorous podcast show about the human mind. Unfortunately, if I wanted to keep on listening to these fun discussions, I had to keep on playing the game. It was one of the rare moments where I’d rather take having to subscribe to a podcast Patreon over having to play a video game that takes the “fun” out of “functionally competent”.
At least it’s easy to control, perhaps the only good thing about its gameplay. Shooting and punching come easily, and jumping and sprinting are fine to do. But when there’s very little usage for half of the movements you’re able to do (even the super-charged attacks), then what’s the point of this game? The answer: none at all.
Maybe the worst part of Scar-Lead Salvation is what happens when you die. I got bored and wanted to see what would happen. You have to go back to the start of the game and either work your way up the floors again or — the more likely picked choice — start at the beginning of your last level. So not only is this game boring, but it torments its players by forcing them to replay every part of the game if they dare try — emphasis on “try” — to lose.
PROS:
- Humorous dialogue
- Good controls
CONS:
- Boring gameplay
- Same levels and enemies
- Lacks a creative bone in its body
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Scar-Lead Salvation is dull, ugly, and lacks anything remotely fun. Note to Compile Heart: stick to the ecchi games. At least I can get a good laugh out of those. Alas, the only reaction I get from Scar-Lead Salvation is the desire to delete it from my console.
FINAL GRADE:
Promotional consideration provided by Idea Factory International. Reviewed on the PS5.
