If we've learnt anything in recent years, it's that a bit of science can come in very handy in life-threatening situations, and in a way, that is the premise behind Scars Above. It's very much a survival game, mixing third-person shooting with puzzle-solving, and brings with it a proper sci-fi vibe that at times feels a bit like being on the mother of all Star Trek away missions.

It's not the longest of games, nor perhaps the most original in theme, but does its mid-tier pricing make it a compelling offering for short-on-time sci-fi fans? Here's our review.

The power of science

Set in an indeterminate time in the nearish future, the action starts on a spaceship which is trying to engineer mankind's first contact with aliens. You play Kate Ward, an astronaut who is primarily a scientist - so, although she moves and shoots pretty well, she isn't in any way superhuman. She does, however, have access to some pretty natty technology at least. So far, so Dead Space.

Kate's spaceship has encountered a mysterious alien tetrahedron, and in an initial on-ship preamble, she crafts an energy-gun that will provide the oomph required to scan the alien artefact. Naturally, things don't go according to plan and she wakes up on an alien planet, with the aforementioned gun still in hand. Thanks to useful kit salvaged from her crashed ship, such as a 3D printer, she soon augments with an incendiary gun and a cryogenic gun, which freezes liquid.

These all prove vital, since she soon encounters exotic and dangerous local alien wildlife, as well as some cleverly conceived, mainly physics-based puzzling for which her scientific background and a data-collecting scanner stand her in good stead. In one early sequence, for example, her route is blocked by water filled with piranha-like worms which kill her more or less instantly if she steps into it. However, once she acquires the freeze-gun, she's able to turn it into traversable ice.

Slow burner

Scars Above is another game which starts slowly. Despite the gorgeous design of the planet (one of the game's strong points), it initially feels a tiny bit generic and lacking in personality - thanks to clichés like a mystical, ghostly guiding stranger and encounters with fellow astronauts who have been mutated.

But as you get deeper into Scars Above, it develops a distinct personality of its own and impresses with a raft of clever ideas. In particular, once you've managed to get over a particular early hurdle in the form of the first proper boss battle - it is fearsomely hard given the offensive and defensive resources you’re given at the time. Annoyingly, as soon as you prevail in that boss battle, you’re given exactly what you needed to overcome that boss with ease.

That said, the game's other boss battles are great, requiring some deeply tactical approaches, plenty of perseverance and often a bit of luck, but providing plenty of satisfaction when you do master them. As Kate explores the alien planet and makes it back to the crashed ship, she amasses a collection of extremely useful and often very cool gadgets to help.

An arsenal of gadgetry

This includes options like incendiary grenades which, when judicially tossed onto ice and ignited with the incendiary gun, can melt the ice and pitch enemies into water. Another gadget effectively operates as armour, while the most inventive one creates a gravity bubble which renders everything entering it near-immobile.

At times, the planet is so cold that Kate has to stave off hypothermia - luckily, she can ignite flammable bushes and warm herself up next to them. Exploration is rewarded with knowledge cubes that essentially provide XP, allowing you to navigate a skill tree that brings an RPG-like element to proceedings. In the survival-game tradition, resources are pretty scarce - they can mainly be harvested from the environment - and Kate's growing collection of gadgets is powered by a central battery, so you have to choose which ones to use wisely.

There's also a hint of the roguelike to Scars Above, as at points on the map, you encounter golden pillars which replenish your health and consumables and operate as respawn points. It isn't a checkpointed game - showing an admirable adherence to survival-game principles - but you can solve puzzles to open up shortcuts through the environment as you doggedly make your way to your next objective.

It's not easy

As the lack of checkpoints would suggest, Scars Above is a challenging game, even in its supposedly easiest of three difficulty modes. At times, you have to think your way forwards, squeezing the absolute maximum from your arsenal of gadgets and resisting the temptation to overuse them in case you should find your battery is flat when you come across a particularly fearsome enemy.

In a way, it benefits from resisting the temptation to be overambitious. The game world, although it rewards exploration, is tight and focused, whereas too many modern games build sprawling open worlds that feel empty and characterless. It has some truly great puzzles, the level and creature design are magnificent, and the way the energy, incendiary and freezeguns play into both the puzzle solving and the attributes of the enemies you encounter feels truly innovative and provides both fun and satisfaction.

The story isn’t Scars Above’s strong point, though - it tries a tiny bit too hard to generate a mystical vibe. And it isn't a particularly long game, although many time-constricted gamers may see that as a good thing and, commendably, it is mid-priced to take that into account.

The result is it's tight, focused, polished, fun and after overcoming its generic start, surprisingly distinctive. If you fancy a properly challenging mix of puzzle-solving and physics-enhanced gunplay, and aren't too fussed about it being shorter than average, you should find Scars Above pretty satisfying.