Scar-Lead Salvation Review – Familiar Form, Forgettable Execution

Scar-Lead Salvation Review

The roguelike genre has evolved to the point where it now spans a variety of sub-genres, each embracing the same core ethos while delivering vastly different experiences. Following its success in the indie space, triple-A developers began experimenting with the formula, leading to standout releases like God of War: Valhalla and the sci-fi adventure Returnal. The latter is a clear inspiration for Scar-Lead Salvation, but can it capture the same frantic energy that made Returnal a cult classic?

You play as Willow, a young woman who awakens in a hostile military facility with no memory of her past. Guided only by the disembodied voice of a mysterious AI, you must navigate an ever-shifting environment in search of answers and a way out. Narrative context is drip-fed throughout each run, slowly revealing details about the facility and your place within it. This approach helps bring the story to the forefront, a rarity in the roguelike genre where plot often takes a backseat. However, while Scar-Lead Salvation clearly wants to emphasize its narrative, it rarely manages to truly engage. Its heavy reliance on exposition, without meaningful progression or emotional stakes, causes the story to fade into background noise as you focus more on survival than significance.

Here We Go Again!

The facility alters with each run, changing the room layout and its contents. Most rooms include several enemies, which you must dispose of to progress. Other rooms include small obstacles, often with time-based lasers in order to obtain some precious loot. Different coloured crates are located in most rooms, giving you items to support you on your journey. Weapons and health items will aid you on your path to freedom; however, additional upgrades can also be found to improve your performance. Whether you want to focus on increased health, evasion or attack, the more of these you collect, the more it improves, allowing you to alter your build with each run. While this gives options, it lacks the nuances that other titles in the genre include. It’s a basic system that needs more layers to create an addictive cycle.

Enemy types vary in their appearance and attack patterns. Some fly through the sky emitting clusters of projectiles, while others will spread a range of bullets across the floor. This leads to enjoyable bullet-hell segments where you must avoid hazards as you unload your weapon at your enemy. Foes evolve as you progress with the same type of robot, harnessing more powerful weaponry that cranks up the challenge. Unfortunately, it takes a long time to hit any sort of difficulty. Most rooms are a breeze due to the wealth of cover and simple attack patterns.

Time For Some Action

With the ability to dash through projectiles, melee attacks and equip two weapons, you truly are a force to be reckoned with. While jumping is a bit floaty, movement is generally apt, allowing you to get in and out of the action with ease. You can parry through enemy attacks to close the distance and also unleash your Exo Force when your meter is full. This instigates Onslaught Mode, where you become invincible and can decimate anything in your way.

Weapons do feel different, with shotguns being powerful but with a lower capacity to damage at range and assault rifles having a high firing rate. You can upgrade these if you come across a terminal using the currency you gain from defeating enemies. I never really noticed much of a difference when increasing the level of the weapon, which was disappointing. This meant that I had to rely on finding a better weapon rather than upgrading.

The game’s structure is its biggest drawback. Each floor feels nearly identical, which undermines any real sense of progression. While things do shift slightly after a boss encounter, the changes are mostly superficial, minor tweaks in aesthetics or layout rather than meaningful evolution in design. As a result, it begins to feel repetitive far too quickly. When paired with its mediocre combat, the experience starts to lose momentum before it ever truly hits its stride.

That Familiar Feeling

Visually, the game adopts a clean, consistent anime-inspired style. While it alters significantly from its main inspirations, it ultimately lacks a strong sense of identity. Enemy designs are fairly conventional, though boss encounters show flashes of creativity and flair. It’s a shame the game doesn’t lean more into this artistic potential; there are moments of striking design, but they’re isolated.

Scar-Lead Salvation is a roguelike third-person shooter that ultimately misses the mark. While mechanically competent, it lacks the ambition needed to elevate the experience. Its roguelike elements are too basic, causing each run to blur into the next with little variation. There are flashes of creativity, but they’re not enough to sustain momentum. In the end, the game fails to deliver that essential, just one more run thrill that defines the genre.

***PS5 code provided by the publisher***