SCUM

Scum is an evolving sandbox, and the servers are varied. I've been a nurse in a mobile hospital helping people in PVP zones, I've opened a clothes shop in another server at a player run town, and there are every combination of PVE/PVP/Roleplay/Split map with events and rewards and missions.

The server makes the game, but at its base, its still an awesome sandbox of crafting and survival with updates all of the time. I've never known a game to have so many continuous updates and additions.

If you play single-player then this game might be worth, but I played on server and this game is more annoying than it is fun. The torturous cycle of starting from zero -> looting -> get camped and die to some scum -> start from zero again with literally no reward whatsoever is really bad game design. There's no satisfaction to gain from playing this game.

I rather play dark souls game cuz at least it's satisfying when you finally beat the boss. This game is just not it. Being hard without any reward at the end of it then why even bother, especially for the price.

Bought the game twice, gonna keep it, but if only to ensure this review remains. Devs are idiots far as I can tell with their implementation. Bandaging isnt covered in the tutorial, but its a 3+ step process that I still havent figured out.

I could go on and on, but that alone is a break for me for a 'survival' game. Peace out bitches!

Zombies cannot kick a steel door in, zombies cannot jump 10 foot in the air. hmmmm, what else is fucking garbage about this game. terrible updates.

so much potential. man so much.
i saw the trailer and got so excited. how did i miss this game for so long. then i got in an man. what a pain. all those positive reviews have to be solo players because i got this with my brother and man cooperative play is the most un-intuitive thing in this game.
there no group up before game. that's ok. spawning is random and that's ... kinda ok. its just that the map is soooo big so if you land in z 1 and your friend lands in c4 it will take literal hours just to meet up. the only way around this is to kill yourself over and over until you get close enough so its doesn't take forever. it took me 2 hours just to meet up with my brother and maybe we're just unlucky but i doubt it. and when we finally did meet up there was no indication which... to be frank is dumb. the only way to "group up" is to create a squad and send an invite. ok so we did that and he joined my squad. now what. there's nothing on the map that shows where they are or a way to communicate (i guess there's global chat and things like discord) . there no indication they are online or in the vicinity. not even in world notifications or marks like a circle above their head. nothing. standing right in front of my brother whose in my squad and no way to tell except for him telling me is just weird. im not asking for a lot. just a crumb of something. but the fact that theres nothing is baffling.
crafting is weird to say the least. was annoying to find out that when you search the items drop on the floor which is fine but when you search rocks they show up on the floor and you cant carry any. just 2, one for each pocket. you can craft with items on the floor that are close to you but the game never tells you that. i found out after 5 minutes so that wasnt a real issue. just something to mention.
what was a problem was searching 15 rock piles and trees in a row and it always being empty. i understand its supposed to be random but that's unacceptable. online says "it could be that someone searched before you" yea in a server of 5 people and a map as big as 1000 GTA5s i doubt it.
the character customization was simple but.... nice
i guess my last point will be the server list...... what a mess...
no private servers unless you pay....ok
and no official servers or the game is lying to me. i typed in official and every one that did say scum official a message came up saying that " playing on unofficial servers could lead to blablablabla" so wtf. im at the whim of some randos servers. and if there are official servers there should easily be a tab to click and sort the servers from official to non official.

honestly if they fix the coop and just add little things that most survival games have i can overlook almost eveything else.
i will be keeping an eye on this because i really really want to like this game. if im in the wrong people anyone tell me because even ALL the youtube videos show the same on coop. it just doesn't really work

The game is si hard to start,and any info you have to watch for tutorials on youtube. I loove survival games but this is just not too hard to be any fun...

A very hard core survival game where you have to be mindful of everything... from infection to vitamins and physical needs (you need to pee and poop).

Top notch if you like survival games

If you like realistic zombie games with crafting and base building, then here's a pretty solid game in that regard. It's meant to be a multiplayer experience, but can be played in single player as well. Now with new quest features to add a bit more direction through the game. That being said, it is a bit of a craft your own adventure game, so if you're into games with a clear cut goal and little checkpoints shaking your hand throughout, this might not be for you.

These devs really need to start listening to the player base. This game has progressively gotten worse with every update, the movement overhaul is horrible, the audio is way off now, Bugs pop up faster then they can be reported and the UI ...... after playing ANY other game for more then 10 minutes when you come back to SCUM all you can think is how crappy the interface is and the complete and total lack of QoL features. Yeah I get it, its early access but it been that way for 6 years now and the same bug will be persistent for 7 months before they fix it then a month later on the next hotfix its fucking back. If it isn't turned around it is going to be DOA on 1.0 without workshop support and personal server hosting. BETA tested for 1476 hours ... I am fucking done.

I'm going to make this simple,2 HUGE issues with this game no save points you LOOSE all the gear everything you worked for collected , when i finally get a nice backpack to carry goods , you die and loose everything to start over again no thanks and i cant play on a server with friends to find out i have to rent one WOW i'm done with this game and don't recommend it to no one i really like how they made this game other than the 2 issues i explained, i was hoping for a cool survival game to come out,theres alot of games i play i can invite friends ,to my game play, and or if i die i can run back to my charater to get my loot back ETC waste of money sorry

This game is terrible. no depth to it. chinese have taken it over. Official servers are trash. go play dayz

Pretty disheartning game. figured you wouldnt have to spend 6 hours to just build yourself up then have to completely restart . let alone loot is near impossible to find. will be uninstalling

Mix feelings about the game, the potential is high to be gr8 but after the enthusiasm of this realism, game becomes time eater and cannot have pleasure as game definition should be, time over-consuming before reach the games core enjoyment its not correct. Also lose what you get after a long grind is not fun at all. Most players want mods to brake that lead of development because some people are better creating while others editing... I would recommend the game only if you have no problem losing items that you grinding for weeks or months as the game system is really big disappointment, or you can play single player or pve servers but then the game could keep you few months before it starts to get boring.
Last, game missing a lot of easy things to add but because they focus 2 much of realism developers losing the fact of a game meaning & when i say "easy things to add" i mean it, as development last years becomes slower & slower, i born to a generation of no early access games which was 234723 better...

The game updates are bad and have many problems. I hope that you will at least update the map to be closer. This is the simplest request that you have not done.

Scum is a pretty decent survival game, it has its own twists which makes it interesting to play over other similar games, of which there are many. The metabolism system is very deep and interesting but I don't feel it adds much to gameplay other than you need to be aware of it. There are many rough edges, looting as expected is a chore but the thing I miss is a visual indication I have searched something already, especially in cornfields this can get a tad annoying.

The hunting "mini game" is odd, I have medium awareness and I can hear the animal sounds but there is no real accurate path to find it and more often than not is a waste of time. Lack of animal encounters makes the world feel lifeless, which may be the point, but sounds of invisible animals feel gamey and not fitting, I do have binoculars so if I can hear it I should be able to see it.

Trader quests are meh and the fact that all 4 trader outposts have the exact same quests and all the fame you have won't matter since they will still ask you to gather some pins you lost interest 20h ago.

The main gripe I have with this game is the base building, it's very limited and finicky, often its not clear why a thing doesn't allow you to place it, then suddenly it works. The roofs not liking to touch walls is a major disappointment, means there is only so many ways you can build roofs, other games do this much better and while base building might not be a focus, its available and as such can be criticised, before the odd comment comes along trying to hand wave it away, know that I'm aware, but if it's in the game it can function better.

I'm 60h in so there is likely more stuff to do and say later on, but I feel you need to really want to endure some of the quirks to enjoy this game, I quite like it.

Definitely not what i'd call an easy game. But with that said playing with a few friends it has been a great time. Nice to see this level of depth put into a game.

These are the mechanics I want in a survival game. The environment is actually dangerous. Even the most inviting environment poses real challenges and danger. Without a balanced diet, you can end up weak or diseased. Injuries are more than just a temporary loss of hit points, you have to deal with them or suffer the consequences. A scratch can become an infection and kill you if you are not careful. More serious injuries can force you out of commission while you heal up or risk re-opening wounds. I can't say enough good things about how far this game has come over the years.

As a seasoned community manager in the gaming industry, I've traversed countless virtual landscapes, but few experiences have resonated as profoundly as my journey with SCUM, particularly on the Echelon UA server.

SCUM distinguishes itself with its intricate survival mechanics and immersive gameplay, offering a depth that captivates both new and veteran players.

However, the true essence of this game unfolds within its community, and Echelon UA exemplifies this brilliantly.

Upon joining Echelon UA, I was immediately struck by the camaraderie and willingness of players to share their expertise.

This collaborative environment not only enhanced my gameplay but also honed my skills, transforming me into a formidable PvP contender.

The server's balanced approach to PvP and PvE zones ensures a dynamic and engaging experience, catering to diverse playstyles.

One memorable encounter involved a tense standoff with a rival player over a coveted loot stash.

Leveraging strategies and tips gleaned from fellow Echelon UA members, I navigated the confrontation with newfound confidence, culminating in a hard-earned victory.

Such experiences underscore the value of a supportive community in elevating individual player performance.

Echelon UA's commitment to fostering an inclusive and knowledgeable player base sets it apart in the SCUM ecosystem.

For those seeking not just to play, but to thrive and evolve within SCUM, Echelon UA offers an unparalleled platform.

Join us on Echelon UA, where every challenge is met with collective wisdom, and every victory is a shared celebration.

The game is basically a less developed version of Rust but for adults, with Zombies, Mechs and now Dropships. Many elements of the game are similar to Rust but with a lot more detail. The developers still have significantly more to do on the game, such as getting rid of cheaters and refining and expanding gameplay elements but it has tremendous potential.

Personally I've been looking for a game like this for a long time and finally it arrived, it just needs a lot more development time invested into it to make it into the game it deserves to be.

Keep up the good work.

Full transparency, I haven't played for awhile but from what I seen things haven't changed, on a separate account and console account I played DayZ for around 1300 hours, and Rust on console for about 500 hours. Safe to say I'm a fan of survival games and have no problem with the learning curves of those games or this one, and even though this game has been out for long enough to scoff at the fact that it's still early release, I could accept the bugs and not so immersive, zombies, gun-play and exploits, some features like the health aspect of keeping your character healthy and grinding skills is cool and gives the game identity but I digress. That's not my gripe, my gripe is the official servers are a literal joke, all the time I spent playing the game, was either met with crickets cause no one would be on the server and then suddenly the Chinese hackers would come on. This aint a case of "I got killed, so he must be hacking" either. I killed a lot of people who were using ESP and I favor ambush tactics in these games and i'm very patient so with no audio queues or visual indication I'm in a little rat hole if someone swings me when i'm concealed completely, I know for a fact they're using ESP. I also remarked and said "Chinese players" and that isn't with racial connotation, in my experience those players interactions with me would be mostly what I detailed above and always had Chinese characters in their player handle. Not exactly sure if they're all from the Asian region of the world but the accounts with the hacks certainly originate from that region. There has been no answer for this, if you look throughout all the steam reviews recent this is a common complaint, and the same lazy answers are given with some portions of the dev responses to reviews being copy and pasted, this is also lazy and disingenuous. Usually they direct you to an a website you can find servers implying you could find something that suits your purposes, when they should just be accountable to the fact that a huge portion of the community is using some form of ESP. Region locking servers and Ping locking servers would be a viable option. But sadly with the lack of transparency and obvious lack of desire to cull at-least half to a quarter of their very small player base, they just essentially tell the community what they wanna hear and nothing changes. The responses are filled with "We're sorry" and while they acknowledge the problems they're not transparent as to what they're doing to combat this, very vague about it. I don't plan on picking this up again, regardless about what perception I have of the game, what I may have observed wrong. What I've seen in the 160 hours I've played and the reviews I've read I know that the state of this paid game is unacceptable and the passive aggressive or corporate generic responses to the criticisms shows a lack of soul when it comes to the game, because of that lack of soul alone I would strongly advise against throwing your money at it. Buy Rust or DayZ, the mod capability can really enhance and change the experience too. If officials are your thing cheating is also less prevalent DayZ more then Rust and is cleaner for cheaters, but they get a fair share too, but at-least with DayZ you're not getting a zerg of hackers rolling the server uncontested, or them getting a really soft ban and just re buying an alt account to do it all over again.

The crafting system, which is the core of any survival game, is an obfuscated, confusing, inconvenient, counter-intuitive mess. If you like drudgery and grind, by all means, go for it. Having to look up numerous youtube videos just to figure out how to boil water is not my idea of fun. I've had it for years now, but the devs don't seem to be interested in changing the basic systems into something less onerous, so I'm not going to be reinstalling this game ever again.

One of the best games out there, Scum will put you through a roller coaster of emotions in the most stunning map you have ever played.

This game is awesome. One of the first games I got when I first got my pc and it’s always and will always be a game I’ll constantly come back too. I highly recommend it to anyone that loves apocalypse/zombies/survival games

Infested with Chinese hackers. Still a fun game, just be prepared to get dropped out of nowhere at any given time, day or night, without warning. You will be ganked, and you will be killed unfairly. The game is not meant to be played solo. Do no recommend Official servers as they are the hotbed for this behavior. Using Discord is the only suggested method for communication, as players do not use In-game comms. I've lost plenty of characters both in and out of different server types, but have mostly been killed by teams of three. They always know where you are and will speed to your location and one-tap you with rifles. Locks on storage containers are removed instantly, and they can infiltrate your base without any resistance. Totally rad! Devs have too much on the menu to worry about EA cheating 24/7 so be ready to rage quit or swap servers on the regular.

130hrs of trying this game.
Combat is worse than 2005 games, with terrible animations and hits not registering.
Resources almost non-existent except metal scraps, weapons rare except kitchen knife and crafting doesn't matter.
Empty world and cannot interact with 95% of it. Tons of stuff lying around but it's all scenery.
And then the zombies or puppets, again really bad animations, missing SFX, hits from out of nowhere and my hits don't connect, and 1 puppet can kill you easy if you forgot to equip a weapon. There's no out running them either, these puppets are fast af.
Also locked content behind timers, this can be ignored in SP.
So much SFX missing or not working.
Official and community servers constant disconnects.

In summary, just a terrible zombie game that makes little sense and unintuitive to play, horrible movement, combat, SFX and animations.

Devs have no clue game gets worse and once you've gone past your refund window they care even less. Just save your money.

In-depth, captivating.
Still has its issues, but it is being actively worked upon.

Even though the game is full of bugs, it is still being developed and the development house releases patches regularly, based on my experience on this game it has the potential to be the best survival game. There is a lot to learn about the game and well worth purchasing and playing. watch this game as it will be great

After 4.3 K hours I can state with certainity - they're ruining the game more and more with each new update.

Backing up game files DOES NOT backup save data. The game has now deleted my singleplayer data 5 times with the last save being around 60 hours of work.

The game is realistic, fun and addictive. Don't listen to the players who have thousands of hours and yet still complain.

Playing this for the first time solo (single player - no dedicated server). As an avid sandbox survival game player, I really like some of the detail in this game. Gathering for building and the tools you have at your disposal for inventory are nice.

One major thing I would suggest: There are virtually no animals to hunt. I understand they were nearly removed because of issues with servers? It would be nice if we could reintroduce the original population when playing solo/single player. I set the animal spawn chance to 20 - what ever that means - but it doesn't seem to have increased sightings.

It's fun. The POIs get pretty boring, very fast, they're not as interesting (you'll see the same building interior literally everywhere, it feels like there's no reason to explore, there's not much 'story') as 7D2D by virtue of this being heavily PvP focused, and the extremely sparse resources around the map. The 'zombies' are not very diverse beyond the exploding ones, which are mostly just annoying. Doesn't feel like there's a whole lot to do. The incredible food/drink/wound system, while tedious is by far the most well designed thing I've ever seen in a video game. The modular vehicle system is great, too.

It feels torn between PvE and PvP, with each aspect (e.g. hordes/resource scarcity/the stat system/movement speed ((travel times early game)).) making the other side feel worse.


Can't comment much on PvP.

A fun and interesting game with a lot of potential... but for the love of god PLEASE UPDATE THE PUBLIC BRANCH FOR THE DEDICATED SERVER!!!!

https://steamdb.info/app/911460/depots/

My group of friends would very much like to be able to play together without having to pay a 3rd party to do something I can do myself. I look forward to updating my review once this has been resolved.



Edit: Let's respond!

"We're sorry that the lack of this feature has soured you opinion of SCUM. The truth of the matter is, that as we're approaching the full release of the game, our focus simply lies elsewhere. There are still many things we want to add to the game, before the 1.0 release. (new content, features, reworks)"

"Even after we did that, there will be a polishing phase where we will mainly shift our focus towards optimisation. Only after the full release, will we be able to consider such features."

- You have an up to date server build for a dozen third party server hosts, but go on.

What you can do for now is to contact the server admins to teleport you next to your friends so you can play together."

- You're joking right? You've entirely missed the point here.

Difficult for beginners but survival experts will love it :D

Interestingly complex concepts with a super fun narrative. Its design theory is extra realistic which makes for a brutal learning curve. Once you get a grip, the potential becomes clear and exciting. This game is in development, so its full of flaws and need-be reworks but!, the concept is solid and I cant wait to see how it evolves into the future. Fon't duck it up;))

This is the first time I feel ripped off in a game I have this many hours in. They continue to make the game worse and worse with each update, breaking more things than they fix and removing features that worked flawlessly. The only this this studio seems concerned with is washed up celebrity DLCs.

Save your money, do NOT buy this garbage.

Most recent update broke stamina system, an actual child can jump more then the grown ass adults in this game. Game is super broken now

seems like 1 out of 10 containers might have loot which is useless in the beginning if you find some and theres no cross hairs with the bow so aiming it is impossible. could be a good game in the future but you are pretty much playing dayz with more running and less loot. i know its still new and in the works but at this stage with lack of tutorials and useful loot id wait until a later date. has great potential though..

The game is good - it's the players that made it bad. Cheats everywhere, unfriendly players.

The SCUM community is AMAZING. The potential of SCUM is INSANE.

However, every recent update just gets worse and worse.

PUPPET SPAWNER is broken. It used to spawn puppets in a location before you got there so you would roll up on a location and clear the puppets and loot it. Now they spawn in around you randomly, literally appearing out of thin air. This is totally immersion breaking thus not fun.

BUNKERS used to be so much fun to loot. You had to sneak around the mechs to get in then you could go stealth or heavy to clear and loot. Most of them have been replaced by "abandoned bunkers" which I respectfully hate. Their only option is stealth and to get into any rooms with loot you must play a keypad guessing-game that will break your stealth 1/2 of the time, angering the immortal Brenner. Yup. A character in a realistic survival game, wearing minimal armor, that can't be killed by bullets. Right.

MODULAR VEHICLES are great for customisation but make it so much harder to get a working vehicle when starting out. I don't mind searching for a vehicle but its just too frustrating running around for tens of hours and every one you come across is missing a bunch of critical components that are difficult to find and take forever to transport on-foot. Admittedly this may be a skill issue but I still hate it.

There are more core issues but that's enough.

Each update also comes with really egregious bugs; things that should have been obvious with only minimal play-testing. The updates also routinely break existing systems. It's like they have never heard of regression testing. Which is quite sad for modern software devs. This level of buggery really makes me question what is going on in their studio ...

After the first few bad updates I thought that they would get back on track because they have such a solid foundation to build on. But at this point it is clear that the devs are not listening to ANY criticism from the community. They are head-down locked-in on some path and will not deviate.

My only hope for the future of this game is that it will be released with modding support so that the amazing SCUM community can realise its true potential.

Too many people messing up servers to make this enjoyable long term. It was fun for a few months but I probably won't go back to it.

Pretty fun. Lots of stuff to dive into.

Personally, a quick-tip or guide video will definitely help newbies. SCUM is pretty unique and getting better with each update. Overwhelming at first, but once you get your foot in the door, it really picks up. MP is better if you have a squad. Solo-ing in MP is a recipe for a bad time (unless you're lucky and find a cool squad to join up with).

My hours says it all doesn't it? Great game, yes it's been worked on for a long time but the content keeps coming and it keeps getting better

Best true survival game on steam still so much to come im still loving it after all these years and its still not finished so excited defo recommend to others

Solid single player survival experience. Continuously updated and supported by the devs, SCUM has grown a ton in the time since I first purchased it.

The map is large, even flying straight across it take a few minutes. MP and SP game parameters can be customized to adapt the gaming experience to your desires.

The biggest con that comes to mind is loading in to a naked character following a major update. Character skill and stat progress are retained, but everything else is gone.

honestly really fun, its like a dayZ on steroids and doesnt need to rely on mods to function

Game's audio in the car is a little buggy. As in car audio went in and out as well as the radio when played. Also the players inventory was a little confusing to get use to but after a small while kinda understand it.

More fun with another person/friend.

I've played for 7 hours, so just scratching the surface. I've enjoyed the current time spent but will need a squad to get anything major done. Two thumbs up so far.

If you want your sanity to be intact, stay away!!! Furthermore, there are many activities and possibilities to spend your time on, depending on the server you'll join. Driving / fixing a car or bike. Flying a plane. Building structures all around. Shooting bad zombies, random creatures, or just the newbie next doors... modify your weapons to your liking. Craft a raft and explore the seas (care of some sharp teeth underwater). Loot, and loot and loot!! Did i mention loot?!? Other than that, BEAUTIFUL graphics all around, runs pretty well on my 6600 gpu. Beware of glitches and random despawns of items from time to time. Friendly advice, when driving into a city wait for it to load first, or else you may turn your vehicle into a rocket ship... The devs are doing a very good job on fixing those things though with regular updates and patches. There is no pay to win (at the time writing this). Doesn't matter if you have 5 mins or 5k hours in the game, you can go down pretty much at the same speed... I had some fun in the game with my friends, also made some new ones! For me that's the game I love to hate!! <3