Just looking at Scathe it’s hard to deny modern Doom’s influence. In fact, most of the screenshots can easily be mistaken for Doom or Doom Eternal if you’re not looking closely. Whether developer Damage State Ltd. is intentionally using the Doom aesthetic is really just a guess, but it would be crazy to deny Doom’s influence. Hell, you’re even playing as a character named Scathe who is the “Enforcer of the Legions of Hell.” That’s just a couple of steps away from “Doomslayer” in my opinion. And while Doom is once again spawning clones (I already lived through the first wave of “Doom clones” in the 90s) just like back then, I don’t hate the prospect.
Scathe is a first person shooter. In it you, play as a badass with a gun facing off against the forces of hell. You’ve been “forged from the earth by the Divine Creator himself” as it says on the game’s Steam Store page. You’re tasked with surviving a mass full of demonic forces with nothing but stoic masculinity and an entire arsenal of weapons and magic to dispatch your ghoulish foes. You can even have up to three friends drop into your game to help you defeat the forces of hell. Sign me up!
The preview version of Scathe that I was able to play still feels a little rough around the edges. I’m not sure how much longer Scathe needs to cook in its fiery hellflames before it’s considered “done” but I’m hoping for a few improvements before Scathe hits the market. The gunplay is a little bland, and while Scathe makes some pretty screenshots, all of the animations—from the player to the enemy—needs some work to bring it up to modern standards. Even without these improvements, Scathe is looking to be a pretty capable shooter.
You can check out Scathe yourself right now with the demo available on its Store Page on Steam. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait until later this year to take the mantle of Scathe.
A key was provided to us for the purposes of this preview