Scorn isn’t just about solving bizarre puzzles. There’s a true FPS humming under the alien visuals of Scorn — you can sprint, heal yourself, and even upgrade your weapons and get a gun. If you’re curious how Scorn works, we’ll explain some of the most basic features that the game introduces surprisingly late in its runtime. You won’t get healing in the first hour. You won’t encounter your first enemy until three hours in if you’re moving slow. There’s a lot going on in Scorn, and we’ll reveal how this all works, and when you’ll get your hands on your first gun.
Scorn is a perfect FPS for the October season — a goopy, spooky alien adventure through an extremely strange land. Starting in an unfamiliar world with no explanation, no exposition, and no mission objectives, you’re left to figure out what to do next with almost nothing to go on. You’ll never know there’s a full game here — healing, items, guns and monsters to fight. Everything is here to cause problems, and the adventure gets surprisingly difficult the further you progress. This isn’t a walking simulator of a stealth horror game. This is all about puzzles and survival.
More Scorn guides:
Act 1 Walkthrough | Act 2 Walkthrough | Act 3 Walkthrough | Act 4 Walkthrough | Act 5 Walkthrough | How To Skip Enemy Encounters
Three Things You Need To Know
Scorn isn’t just a puzzle game. You can sprint around the open environments, heal yourself with a strange device, and even get yourself a gun. Here’s a quick rundown of how these systems work and when you’ll actually get to use them.
- How To Move Faster: On console, press [LB / L1] to sprint. You can check your control settings on PC. Yes, there is a sprint button.
- How To Heal: In Act 2, you’ll acquire a Key Decoder and a “Heart” — this heart is how you heal. As you progress through the game, you’ll encounter strange blood stations. Interact with the blood stations to refill your healing charges. Hold [RB / R1] to heal.
- Your healing charges are shown in red circles at the top, above your health meter.
- Each charge gives you +2 Health segments.
- How To Upgrade Your Weapon: In Act 3, you’ll need to raise a Gondola Pod up a large shaft, fighting multiple enemies. At the end gauntlet, you’ll turn on a lift that automatically goes up and down. Cross the gap and you’ll get the first ranged weapon — the Handgun.
- Across from the Handgun, you’ll also find an ammo station. This adds ammo to your healing heart. You’ll need to reload before you can use your Handgun for the first time. Like the Healing Stations, you’ll need to find Ammo Stations.
That’s when you’ll be able to heal and upgrade your weapons. One important detail is that stealth works. You don’t have to kill every enemy in the game. Sometimes you’ll encounter an enemy, and your best strategy is to run by it, or retreat and wait for it to hide. You won’t activate enemies if you stay far away. Very, very handy for difficult encounters. Or if you want to save money and health charges.
