The Surge

[Ross Scott]

Genre: RPG

Year released: 2017

Ross's rating: Unrated

Link to game: http://store.steampowered.com/app/378540/The_Surge/

Free to play: No

GaaS: Unknown

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[Mico Selva]

I tried the demo and it seemed much more tedious to play than Dark Souls. In DS you die fast, but you can also kill fast, while in The Surge I needed to approach every enemy cautiously and each combat took relatively long to play out. I did like the limb-cutting, though.

The story/setting is interesting so I will probably give it another try some day.

[hotride]

I've watched Seraphim17s playthrough of this game on YouTube. If you are looking for in-depth combat I would not go anywhere near The Surge. If you are looking for other qualities (visuals, story, RPG elements) likely the poor combat implementation will deter you from enjoying those. IMO the game takes the worse from souls games and doesn't add anything good.

 

Here is Seraphim17s review:

 

 

[Eshanas]

The Surge piqued my interest but it was executed horribly. I hope the Devs do go on to make a sequel or another game in the same vein because there's a lot of potential here.

[Gun]

Tedious version of Dark Souls

[philmanz]

the opening cinematic might give you nightmares...

 

...or the combat system will.

[TheMG42]

More like "The Scourge".

 

Unintuitive level design. Too many "Where the hell do I go?" moments that killed the pacing of the game.

 

Clunky, poorly executed combat mechanics make the game a more tedious and arduous version of Dark Souls.

 

The premise of the game is rather interesting, but it's combat and level design kind of nullify that positive element.

 

Overall rating: Pass

[Arseniy Yavorśkyi]

The Surge successfully copies the Souls formula, and this time with a personality of its own! it's a huge improvement over this developer's previous game, Lords of the Fallen (which, I should point out, is still a decent game in it's own right).

 

Pros:

- intense tactical & reactive combat.

- fantastic hub-based level design with clever shortcuts, reminiscent of the original Dark Souls.

- interesting story, setting, and sci-fi concepts.

- dismemberment of enemies as a looting mechanic.

- soul-crushing difficulty really makes you feel like you achieve something when you overcome it.

- great visual style.

- good graphics, solid performance.

 

Cons:

- some weapons and attacks are significantly more useful than others.

- late-game enemies are so powerful that you have to fill most of the implant slots with health boosts, otherwise the game gets frustrating.

- bland characters, especially the protagonist.

- the game does a poor job of explaining how to defeat certain difficult enemies.

- the ending is not particularly satisfying, considering the absolute hell we have to go through to get there.

 

overall, The Surge is a great game as long as you can get over some of its quirks and don't have wrong expectations. I absolutely recommend it, unless you are a 'casual' gamer that doesn't like to be challenged.

[Balin79]

Dark souls in a dystopian future. Introduces a unique way of collecting items from enemy body parts. Lots of fun weapons, a variety of power ups, interesting story that doesn't require a bunch of reading. Enemy types become repetitive. I would recommend lords of the fallen first but still highly recommended.

[Arseniy Yavorśkyi]

okay… after witnessing Ross play Dark Souls, I think it's safe to take The Surge off the list. to play this (or any other Souls-like), the player has to put in the minimum effort required to get a grasp at the combat system. if the player doesn't do that, he won't have a good time with the game.

[Fascist_Grapefruit]

I liked it, you can dismember people to salvage their stuff. Also, the plot is that Amazon accidentally invented a cosmic horror which I find very realistic.

Combat has improved since Lord of The Fallen, but it's still mostly centered about stunlocking people to death. Still had fun though.

I was born in a prison with no hope of escape