"Scourge: Outbreak" is a remake of the critically panned "The Scourge Project: Episodes 1 & 2". It's quite interesting how the developers have invested so much into the game, given that its not logical to remake a game that was dismissed. Sadly, the end result didn't do much to change their critics' minds. For people that actually bought the original game, they get this remake for free. Also, for newcomers; if you purchase this remake, you get the original for free too.
You can choose a character from the four members of Echo Squad to play as. You and your team are hired by the Tarn Initiative in order infiltrate the Nogari Corporation with the aim of retrieving a meteorite fragment which is the source of their Ambrosia energy technology. Echo Squad's ship crashes and they learn they have been betrayed by Alpha Squad who were sent alongside them. After infiltrating the base, they discover an alien race called Scourge. Although you play the majority of the game without much plot, there are major developments during the final stages.
Since all the game takes place inside the Nogari facility, there's not that much scenery to look at. There's a few sections where you will briefly pop outside and sections where the Scourge have taken over, but mostly, you will be looking at the same stuff.
In terms of game-play, it plays out much like all third-person cover-based shooters. You proceed from one area to another, shooting down soldiers and aliens, popping in and out of cover, rinse and repeat.
You can carry two guns and store two grenades in addition to using your Ambrosia powers which comprise of a shield or a blast attack. This needs to be recharged at certain locations so has limited use. There are a variety of weapons to pick up: the usual pistols, shotguns, machine-guns, sniper, and some more powerful energy-based weaponry.
In each area, there are plenty of enemies to shoot, and a high frequency of reinforcements. In addition to this, each enemy has a surprisingly large amount of health, so the gun-fights will go on for a long time. It can feel quite tiring and quite frustrating to fire so many bullets. When you are used to one head-shot killing an enemy, the game can feel broken. Most of the time it does feel like you are doing something wrong. It also seems that the majority of enemies carry a grenade, so you can get to certain sections where you are constantly leaping backwards and forwards without having much chance to shoot back.
When you kill enemies, you are rewarded with XP. You get bonuses for head-shots, long-range kills, if the enemy was in cover etc., but levelling up doesn't seem to have much impact on the game.
If you do get knocked down, your allies should come over to revive you. If your team members are left in a fallen state without being revived, they will die, and you will have to restart from the last check-point. There are no limits on how often you can be revived, but its not a good idea to just go charging in; it is a cover-based shooter after-all.
Sections of the game can really drag on and are easy to fail, so you may find yourself doing them several times. If enemies didn't take so long to kill, and the Ambrosia powers could charge by themselves, then I think the combat would have been better for it.
Overall, Scourge: Outbreak is not a bad game, it just doesn't do anything special to distinguish it from other games in the genre. It is worth noting that it retails on Steam for only £5.59, so the developers are marketing it as a cheap indie game, and it's definitely brilliant value for that price.