We Love It's Guide to…
Stranded scientist Kate Ward fights across an alien planet, scanning creatures and combining elemental weapons to survive.
Released 28 Feb 2023
Scan Alien Life
Exploit Elemental Weaknesses
Combine Elements With Terrain
Scars Above is a challenging sci-fi third-person action adventure shooter combining the rewarding feel of overcoming difficulty with a compelling and intricate story, set in a mysterious alien world to explore.
Developed by Mad Head Games · Published by Prime Matter









After a colossal alien structure appears in Earth's orbit, the SCAR investigation team is pulled across space. Dr. Kate Ward awakens alone on a hostile planet and sets out to find her crew and learn what happened.
As a scientist, Kate scans creatures, artifacts, and materials to gather information about the world and its threats. Exploration through distinct alien biomes reveals resources, secrets, and obstacles that can be overcome with elemental attacks.
Combat combines ranged elemental weapons with gadgets, consumables, melee attacks, and dodging. Studying enemy weaknesses and interactions with the environment helps in fights, while collected knowledge unlocks abilities and supports crafting weapons and gadgets.
Players who enjoy Scars Above often single out its elemental combat, where matching weapons and gadgets to enemy weaknesses makes encounters feel tactical, along with its alien atmosphere and focused sci-fi adventure. Some also appreciate its puzzles and compact campaign. Criticism commonly focuses on stiff movement or character animations, repetitive encounters, and difficulty spikes or enemy respawns at checkpoints; opinions on the story and campaign length vary.
| Platforms | Windows |
|---|---|
| Achievements | 45 |
| Age ratings |
|
| Controller support | Xbox |
| Controller required | No |
| DLC / extras | 2 listed on Steam |
| Content notices |
|
| Website | Official website |