DOOM has always had an impact on gaming over the years. Back in 1993, it paved the way forward for others to follow in its example with the likes of Duke Nukem and Shadow Warrior. Then in 2020, DOOM Eternal again paved a new ground-breaking path for others to follow, including 2022’s Shadow Warrior 3, and a whole bunch of indie titles, such as yours truly, Scathe. This brutal Rogue-Like is preparing to take on some of the very best of the genre, and I was lucky enough to take a sneak peek at the game before its release at the end of August.
Prepare to venture through a Hellish Rogue-Like, with bullet-hell elements, gory gameplay featuring explosive weapons, and a couple of neat additions to the formula such as co-op.
What is Scathe?
Scathe is an immense First Person, Bullet Hell Rogue-Like with RPG elements and plenty of explosive action to engage with. You play a supercharged, tough-as-nails Enforcer of Hell known as Scathe, who’s determined to prove himself to the Devine Creator. To prove his worthiness, Scathe will take part in a brutal, blood-soaked venture through the mighty labyrinth that is Hell.
Armed only with whatever weapons, the gear he can find, and his pure brute strength, Scathe must take on the legions of Hell and unleash his almighty fury to survive. But Hell is a vastly complicated maze of many twists, turns, dead-ends, death traps, deadly arenas, lava-filled pits and so much more that could kill him within a split second.
Fight legions of Hell’s most disgusting, and horrifying abominations, as you search for the all-powerful Hellstones and defeat the mighty Guardians that protect them.
Scathe’s venture through the immense labyrinth will be one Hell of a journey.
A scathing good time! 
On the surface level, it's really easy to make the comparison to DOOM and DOOM Eternal, as the look, feel and general tone of Scathe feel very similar to that of ID Software’s masterpieces. But Scathe is much more a straightforward beast, where enemies fire a barrage of projectiles, swarming players in bright glowing orbs of bitter-sweet death, and enemies ferociously charge at you with no remorse.
Scathe is also a little under-prepared compared to the Doom Slayer himself, with only a handful of simple manoeuvres that can help in the many tricky situations that arise. There is an immense degree of self-preservation with not only the onslaught of enemies but the projectiles and many hazards in the environment at one time.
Scathe forces players to duck and take cover as much as possible, or to be two steps ahead when moving through the many tight spaces of the game world. DOOM often presented large arenas, allowing for maximum movement and tactical traversal. Scathe focuses more on situational awareness and avoiding as much fire as possible. But it’s also about the gear you carry and how well you use it.
Scathe’s approach to tactical gameplay which differs largely from the likes of DOOM, does indeed mean the first hour or so was a little tedious. As you’ll be shooting, running, taking cover, and repeating over and over until new weapons/gear becomes available.
What you get at first is a linear trek through multiple corridors, small arenas that pushes an immense antagonising force upon you. And the retaliation is having to do the dance of death where you shoot, avoid orbs and certain enemies which b-line towards you. But after obtaining the first couple of items and weapons, Scathe shines through a little more brightly.
Making mincemeat from the legions of Hell 
While the previous section might bring the best picture to Scathe’s early game, once you obtain a few other weapons and abilities, does the gameplay and combat really open to new, gruesome levels. Scathe gives you a simple arsenal at first, with a heavy machine gun being your best friend for the first few chapters. But soon enough will you get your hand on Scathe’s first of a Super Shotgun, and a powerful lighting gun that electrified everything in my path. Some pretty good, fun weapons to play with, which really did pack a mighty punch against the varied lineup of enemies.
Mixing these weapons with abilities I was able to pick up in the preview also gave a nice level of tactical depth to combat. I was able to freeze a group of enemies with an Ice Spell, allowing me to blast through them, or keep them in line while I took on a bigger opponent. There’s a good number of tactical advantages you can use to survive, as the general pacing is quite relentless, but in a good way.
The roster of enemies is solid enough, with plenty of grunts to disembowel, heavy enemies that require a lot of firepowers, and of course, those annoying suicidal enemies that are fast and come in groups. But generally, the line-up of monstrous foes is good, even if the visual aspects were better than their behaviours.
The world of Scathe is also nicely varied, featuring lots of verticalities, death traps, and small arenas that result in an adventure that flows exceptionally well. Be it with lots of carnage, combat, and platforming to keep things moving. There are some special events and of course, bosses to fight against, but the variety of events didn’t match up to that of the environments or enemies. Roguelikes such as Hades do an exceptional job at the variety in special rooms, and events, making each run feel engaging and unique compared to the last. Scathe felt it lacked that and from what I saw, it felt all too familiar.
But the events I took part in (mainly asking me to kill 60 demons in the arena) did present some good arena designs and hazards to up the challenge overall. Plus, there are some neat platforming sections, secrets to find and of course, some beautiful (for Hell standards) biomes to venture through.
Like a rat in a maze! 
Where I felt Scathe could do better was with the world, or more so moving through the labyrinth itself. Players will be able to venture through and find different exits/access to the next area. These exits have markings on them, giving you an idea of the path you’re taking, yet the overview of the map and sense of progression can be rather confusing. The map is not as helpful as it could have been, with it only filling up as you progress and not giving much info on what each room is. So with dozens of multiple paths to take and backtracking becoming quite essential for finding better weapons/gear, you will most likely venture through areas not knowing if you’ve fully explored them. So you could make long, tedious journeys through the same handful of areas over and over, for nothing.
I get that exploration is a big part of Scathe’s formula, but with rooms being quite large compared to a game like Hades, and enemies respawning upon re-entering a room, the pacing does suffer quite a bit when backtracking. It’s not a straight path towards the goal, or choice of paths, but rather a literal maze of connecting rooms with very little info on what you can expect to find. Key rooms highlighted on the map might be a good idea as you can work your way towards something at least. But often enough you might feel like you’re going in blind.
But Scathe’s saving grace for its problems lies with co-op, and fighting through the legions with a friend or two, really can be spectacular. The gunplay and combat are already solid in single-player, but with a couple of friends, it does mean you can share the pain. It might have been a cool idea to allow players to split up and explore different rooms at the same time. But instead, players will have to share the same pool of lives, so anyone who is lacking in skill and not dodging those pesky orbs will defiantly doom the team!
Overall?
Scathe is certainly looking to be an excellent send-off to the summer period of gaming. While it could have expanded its gameplay choices in key areas, I felt thoroughly engaged with its combat, and aesthetics, and having 4 player co-op will certainly result in some epic dungeon crawling. Scathe is looking promising and we’ll be able to see the full Hellish picture soon enough when it releases on August 31st.
