Scorn's latest patch fixes the worst part of the game

Gigeresque statue rising out of a mist surrounded by biotech

(Image credit: Ebb Software)

On October 27, Ebb Software put out Scorn's first major patch since release, version 1.1.8.0. Among a swathe of quality of life changes, Ebb also tweaked Scorn's checkpoint and save system, fixing the biggest flaw of what is otherwise a fantastic survival horror game.

I love Scorn, I really, really dig it, enough to give it an 80% in my review. This body horror adventure makes the most of its advanced graphics tech, looking like no other game I've played, and it manages to tell an unsettling sci-fi story reminiscent of the mid-20th century masters like Philip K. Dick or Harlan Ellison without any words. And yet it almost burnt through all my goodwill with its horrendous checkpoint system.

Scorn doesn't let you save on demand, instead having rolling checkpoints and chapter/half-chapter hard saves. On release, you could only load a checkpoint on death, meaning that if you quit the game and came back, you could only access the far less forgiving chapter saves to get back into things.

In addition to being pretty user-unfriendly on its own, this system absolutely bit me in the ass when I encountered a progress-blocking bug. I glitched out 3/4s of the way through a particularly climactic chapter with no way of triggering a death and going back to a checkpoint. I had to reload a chapter save (this one didn't have a halfway mark either!) and redo the whole thing from the beginning, leaving one of my last impressions of Scorn a frustrating runback of what was otherwise my favorite part of the game.

Now? No more! The patch allows you to access your latest checkpoint from the load menu. I checked this by hopping back into my endgame save and, wouldn't you know it, my last checkpoint was right before that part I glitched out at in my first run. With this QoL fix secured, I can heartily recommend Scorn for any spooky gaming needs you have this Halloween season.

The patch also includes other bug fixes and QoL changes, and we've got the list in full here:

Fixed Bugs

A player can get stuck in the hurt machine
A player can get stuck in the collision after performing a glory kill
After killing the Boss in Act V, players are unable to pick up the dropped item
A player might die by falling through the floor at certain positions

Fixed Issues

German localization issues
Spanish localization issues
FOV issues on ultrawide screens
Position of the ammo/heal container when a player uses heal
Capsule blockers on a bridge
Act V loading issue
Crash when exiting the game
Occasional NPC freezes
Various collisions causing issues

Updates and Additions

Removed the Continue option after a player finishes the game
Removed the Load and the Quit game options from the death screen
Added safety check for a corrupted save slot
Added Load last checkpoint option
Added Act III-II hard save
Updated checkpoint positions
Updated list of the Kickstarter backers
Updated Credits
Updated FSR 2.0 label in the Options menu
Updated positions of certain assets

Ted has been thinking about PC games and bothering anyone who would listen with his thoughts on them ever since he booted up his sister's copy of Neverwinter Nights on the family computer. He is obsessed with all things CRPG and CRPG-adjacent, but has also covered esports, modding, and rare game collecting. When he's not playing or writing about games, you can find Ted lifting weights on his back porch. You can follow Ted on Bluesky.