The loading screens blatantly inform players the game is still being worked on, and things are subject to change, and as it stands some gameplay elements work fairly well. Now, I don’t mean to sit here and rag on and complain about a game in early access. It’s laggy, its buggy, and almost any game I played, I was dropped from, due to connectivity errors. What’s worse, is that when you get into the multiplayer, these problems are amplified by the games poor netcode.

However i’ve found constantly moving while you fight to be the most effective, even if you just look like you’re doing a little jig before you’re murdered. Now there are some cool mechanics at play that do aid you when fighting, such as a block ability (lessens blows taken) and a dodge mechanic that, if timed correctly can help you stay alive. Many times I’d get stuck in a loop of being punched, flinching, not having enough time to recover and being punched again until I died an utterly stupid death, in a field, by myself. The problem here in part comes down to hit registration and the fact that the zombies are relentless when attacking. I can’t tell you how many times I’d stumble upon a zombie, take out my hatchet, and proceed to whiff until my face had been crushed into a fine powder. Hand combat in general is stiff, unsatisfying, and needlessly difficult. In the singleplayer mode (really just a practice arena for the multiplayer) controls could use work.

Let’s make one thing clear right off the bat, as an early access game, you can expect a plethora of problems when playing. When I first loaded into the game’s massive mediterranean island (beautiful by the way), I was expecting another clone half baked in its delivery, but, in some instances, I can say I was pleasantly surprised. Survival games, battle royal, looting, shooting, resource management, crafting, and zombies, at this point it’s enough to make you vomit before you can say, ‘Not again!’ Anytime I see a new survival game plastered on the Steam store page, I have a tendency to roll my eyes, and with Scum seemingly doing a little bit of everything listed above, I was skeptical to say the least.

Play scum early access