Screenshots & trailers
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (OpenCritic) | – | 52 | 22 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 67% | 65 | 43 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | – | 0 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 100% | 97 | 1 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 3 reviews sampled · 0 total reviews in window · weighted 0.2 up / 0 down · computed 5h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (21)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 50
“Scar-Lead Salvation is the perfect example of how NOT to treat the theme of time loops. The narrative turns out to be flat and unstimulating, failing to express the potential of this expedient. The gunplay is repetitive and poorly calibrated, weighing down the shooting phases. The environments lack originality, with rooms that are all the same. The enemies, then, are anonymous and constantly repeat themselves, varying only in color and the weapon they use. The bosses try to break this monotony in some way, but the path to follow to reach them turns out to be tedious, in addition to the fact that they are three in total. Scar-Lead Salvation tries to replicate Returnal, failing miserably.”
read full review ↗ - 40
“Scar-Lead Salvation feels unfinished, with a weak story, dull enemies, and generic environments. While movement and combat have appeal, shallow roguelike elements make its price hard to justify.”
read full review ↗ - 40
“Scar-Lead Salvation has some good ideas, but Compile Heart fails to deliver on them once more. It might have been saved by a smaller budget and clearer goals. Right now, this is just another forgettable album in their lineup that is getting worse and worse.”
read full review ↗ - 45
“A bland, repetitive roguelike that had the potential to be something far greater. Scar-Lead Salvation is disappointing in almost every aspect.”
read full review ↗ - 75
“Scar-Lead Salvation is a mechanically competent third-person shooter with a slightly too low camera angle. Its roguelite elements strike a good balance between forgiveness, offering many ways to restart after a failed run, and meaningful risk, which often leads to interesting decisions about whether to push forward or retreat, or whether to use teleporters or avoid them altogether. At the same time, the game does not strongly encourage switching weapons or skills unless a weapon is lost on death, which makes many of the loot chests feel somewhat redundant. The room layouts are fairly schematic and similar, so repetition does not immediately stand out, but it is still present. Standard enemies also lack variety, and the brief window of invulnerability in Onslaught mode is almost negligible. For players with action shooter experience, the overall difficulty remains fairly moderate. As a result, it only just manages to earn a limited recommendation.”
read full review ↗ - 30
“More akin to playing through a proof of concept than a finished game, Scar-Lead Salvation fails to live up to the pitch of being an anime Returnal.”
read full review ↗ - 40
“Despite an exciting trailer, Scar-lead Salvation is a huge miss for Compile Heart, despite a good premise. You are touring the same boring levels, enemies, and the few guns and passives you pick up don't shake up the repetitive nature of what Scar-lead Salvation is. While the breakable armor could have been an outlet for some impressive fan service, much in the same way it helped Steller Blade, here, it is such a miss that it is laughable.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Scar-Lead Salvation is a good quality roguelike: atmosphere, rhythm, enhancement system, and a well-characterized protagonist, but who stumbles heavily on variety, narrative and technique.”
read full review ↗ - 55
“So where does that leave Scar‑Lead Salvation? It’s a retro-flavored experiment with genuine flashes of fun but drags them down with repetitiveness and narrative fluff. You feel like an old-school shooter in a modern shell, fun when it works, frustrating when it doesn’t. There’s competence and charm here, but not enough depth or polish to sustain it. You’ll enjoy the nostalgia, the immediate gunplay thrills, and the occasional boss crescendo, but you’ll walk away wishing there was more variety, pacing, and story payoff to back it up.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“The best thing I can say about Scar-Lead Salvation is that it is a competent Returnal clone with some decent controls. Sadly, it is bogged down by a cheap presentation and obscenely repetitive gameplay loop, even for a roguelike. I kept playing it to see if something interesting would eventually happen, but nope. It was a neverending barrage of repetitive rooms, simple combat, a ton of expository dialogue, and the occasional jiggle physics. If anything, it actually made me want to play Returnal instead.”
read full review ↗ - 40
“Scar-Lead Salvation had the potential to be a really good game. Its core gameplay is fun, the first patch greatly improved the difficulty and bosses, both the character dialogue and story are interesting, the anime aesthetics are visually pleasing, and there are some fun customization options to play with! In theory this game should have everything going for it; however, it is greatly held back by extremely repetitive gameplay.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Scar-Lead Salvation is a solid experience with great gunplay. It can have some failings with the longer hallways or the risky narrative storytelling, but overall a fun time.”
read full review ↗
Gamesource Italia
Capsule Computers
GamesCreed
GameGrin
Gaming-Village
TheSixthAxis
Analog Stick Gaming
CrazyGameCommunity.it
Rectify Gaming
WayTooManyGames
Netto’s Game Room
The Outerhaven Productions…and 9 more tracked reviews.