Scathe, the tried and true DOOM-like shooter in Steam demo
Scathe
A number of interesting games have sprung up from the huge Steam Next Fest catalog over the past week. Now, id Software shooter lovers may be about to discover something of their interest: Scathe, a FPS that takes a lot (too much?) Inspiration from DOOM.Let's see the details of the Steam demo in our Scathe trial .
Welcome to Hell
Scathe, an example of a level We are Scathe, soldier of the legions of Hell, who arose from the earth at the behest of the Divine Creator himself. Like all our fellow humans, our task is to tear apart all the monsters we find in our path.The idea behind the game is obviously very simple from a narrative point of view and not. we believe it will be one of the strengths of the game. The foundation of the game is the gameplay or, in other words, the completion of the levels. The latter are described as labyrinths within which our task is to get to the exit, accumulating as many points as possible and trying not to die.
Each game area promises non-linear paths and tempts, from our point of view, replaying several times to find collectibles, secrets and to discover the best way to get to the end whole but with many points in the pocket.
The demo allowed us to try a level, perhaps the very first , which can be easily completed in three minutes. It is a test, as you can understand, very limited that leaves us with more questions than answers, but still allows us to make some small considerations.
A very small test
Some enemies will explode on us in Scathe First of all, the gameplay is classic and solid. You run, shoot, the weapon has a main fire mode (in our case a classic machine gun, very stable in aim and with infinite ammunition) and a secondary fire mode with very powerful reload (a cluster of rockets). The shootings are fluid and at first glance there don't seem to be any problems whatsoever: without being able to try other weapons it is difficult to say how satisfying it is to shoot demons and how varied it can be.Precisely in this sense, the first doubt: how many weapons will there be? In each level, will we have more than one, or will each "challenge" be based on a specific gun? The doubts don't stop there. It will be important to understand how many levels will be present in the final game and how much the game will entice you to hunt for points. In fact, there is a risk that, within a few hours, the player runs out of content and loses interest in Scathe.
Some flying enemies of Scathe Let's not wrap our heads ahead of time: for now, the idea behind the game is the frenetic exploration of curated and replayable levels, built around the mechanics of bullet hell, with lots of shots flying in all directions. What intrigues us the most, however, is another detail: the coop.
Scathe will allow you to play with up to three other friends online with a drop-in / drop-out system, that is, it will allow you to let other players in at any time, even if we are in the middle of a dungeon. The problem is that the number of lives is shared between the players, so if only one remains and an ally dies, it's game over for everyone. Co-op could be one of the most interesting ways to experience adventure, with the advantage of being counterbalanced by many by sharing lives.
DOOM-like
Scathe's arachnid enemies Up to this point we ignored the elephant in the room, but now we have to admit it. Scathe is a carbon copy of DOOM. The inspiration would have been obvious in any case, but it must be admitted that the game goes far beyond the homage. Watching Scathe is like watching a mid-budget version of an id Software game, especially when it comes to the design of the enemies.For sure this will help players understand from the first second what kind of game they have. front and all those who have not yet quenched their thirst for blood after the adventures of DOOM Eternal could find in Scathe a thirst-quenching drink.
From our point of view, the similarity is too much, especially because, from the technical point of view and graphic details, Scathe obviously cannot compete with the source of inspiration. We really hope the full version demonstrates some originality.
Is Scathe too much like DOOM? Yes. Is that why it is not very funny? No. The demo was really too short to get too out of balance and we have a lot of questions about the number of levels, weapons and variety in general, but the first impact is that of a solid shooter with very clear ideas. The coop could be one of the most interesting components, but we will have to wait for the expected release in 2022 to understand if the premises will be confirmed or denied.
