Scars Above

Scars Above is currently 90% off on Fanatical — down to $2.99 from $29.99.

At 90% off, this is one of the deepest discounts Scars Above reaches on Fanatical — near its typical floor.

That works out to $27 off the Fanatical list price of $29.99.

This deal is for the PC version. Click View Deal to open the official Fanatical page — prices and regional availability are confirmed at checkout, not by GamesCreed.

Before you buy, read our buying guide or compare more fanatical deals on GamesCreed.

How it plays

Scars Above puts you in the boots of Dr. Kate Ward, a SCAR team scientist who wakes up stranded on an alien planet after the mysterious Metahedron drags her crew across space. This is a third-person shooter, but the framing matters: Kate isn’t a soldier, and the game leans into that. Combat mixes ranged weapons with melee and elemental effects, and you’re expected to actually think about what you’re facing rather than just spraying bullets, since certain attacks work better against certain enemies and hazards. Stamina management, dodging, and picking apart enemy weak points give the fighting a rhythm closer to a survival encounter than a straightforward shooter. Outside combat, Kate’s scientific background comes through in a scanning system: you examine creatures, materials, and artifacts to learn their properties, and that knowledge feeds into crafting and two ability trees (Xenobiology and Engineering) that shape how you fight and survive as you go. The world itself is broken into distinct biomes, from marshland to frozen wastes to underground alien facilities, each with its own dangers and secrets to dig through.

Who it’s for

If you like games that make you earn your progress, this one’s aimed at you. It’s built around overcoming difficulty, with boss fights designed to force new tactics rather than just more firepower. Fans of atmospheric sci-fi exploration, the kind of thing that draws on classic genre touchstones, will likely get pulled into piecing together what happened to the vanished civilization on this planet. It also rewards players who enjoy a bit of systems-tinkering: scanning, crafting, and skill trees give you real reasons to explore rather than just push forward. On the flip side, if you want a power-fantasy shooter where you mow through enemies without much friction, or you’re not in the mood for a game that expects patience and trial-and-error against tough encounters, this probably isn’t the pick.

Is it worth it?

For the player who wants a challenging, story-driven sci-fi adventure with some crafting and progression depth, Scars Above delivers a fairly complete package: exploration, combat variety, and a mystery worth following through to the end. It’s not a sprawling open-world epic, so temper expectations there, but the biome variety and the scanning/crafting loop give it more to chew on than a straight shooter. This is exactly the kind of mid-sized, narrative-focused game that’s smart to pick up on sale rather than at full price. If you’ve had it on your wishlist waiting for a discount, a sale is a good moment to finally dive into Kate’s story without paying premium price for a game that’s been out a while.

Quick facts

Genre: Action, Adventure. Developer: Mad Head Games. Publisher: Prime Matter. Platform: PC (Steam). Released: February 28, 2023.