Developer: Deck 13 Interactive
Publisher: Focus Home Interactive
Platform: PC, Xbox One, PS4
Tested on: PS4
The Surge 2 – Review
It has been slightly over two years since the first Surge game hit the (digital) shelves. We were quite amazed by the game’s souls-like gameplay while providing a lot of original mechanics for the genre. While many mechanics stayed true to the franchise that started it all, Dark Souls, The Surge implemented a fun gear system where you could obtain craft recipes by dismembering your opponents. This made the game extra brutal, and with the cyberpunk/Sci-Fi aesthetics the game was rocking, we immediately fell in love with this Souls-like title. Now, with the second game being released, we couldn’t contain our excitement to dismember some new foes.
Story
In the sequel of The Surge, we are taken to Jericho City, which has been enwalled to prevent a strange illness from spreading. The Defrag is what is occurring at the moment, turning everyone into raging lunatics, or so we think. The story quickly takes the backseat in the game the moment you start playing. You’ll sometimes see visions of a little girl, and you’ll find some clues the further you progress, but we feel like the story is only a means to an end. There is little to no progress if you tend to grind a lot before you proceed in terms of story value.
Graphics
Graphically not that much has changed. The game is presented to you in somewhat enclosed areas, that have a reasonable amount of clutter in them. It has to be said that the character design certainly trumps the environmental assets, as they look a bit bland and unfinished. Destructible items just fall apart in a rather illogical sense and this ruins somewhat of the immersion. The facial features of the characters look a bit cheap and don’t do the series justice. Then again, just like in the Dark Souls series, the gameplay has a lot more value than the graphical prowess. All these sentiments aside, the game still looks good, it just doesn’t push the PlayStation 4 to its limits at any point during the gameplay.
Sound
The game’s music is of an atmospheric nature, which means that it will remain in the background for the most part. There is some present, but you’ll barely notice it (or have no time to pay attention to it). The game relies mostly on its sound effects, which tend to be rather satisfying sounds of metal clashing against metal, and blades chopping through flesh. There’s a bit of voice acting present, but the dialogues in this title are very limited.
Gameplay
The Surge 2 is an Action RPG in the same spirit of the Dark Souls series. This means that the game will be tough as nails, and you’ll spend a lot of time memorizing the attack patterns (and locations) of your enemies, all while grinding for scraps in order to level up and create new gear. The game does use original mechanics that you can gain crafting recipes by dismembering your opponents, at least if you rip off an armored piece while executing him. Little victories will feel like giant progress, which is also what drives this game forward as the game’s difficulty keeps increasing over time.
Compared to the first game, there will be no classes to select from. Every character will begin in the same fashion, and it’s more than likely that you’ll come across the same weapons and armor pieces at the beginning of the game. This makes the game somewhat more linear and less diverse than the first installment, but the many mods and upgrade options will service the playstyle of many players. There are more than enough options to please everyone, but you’ll have to do some grinding in order to level up, to get new gear, and to be able to upgrade the pieces you fancy a lot. The way you gain experience and currency is the same as in the Dark Souls series. You’ll obtain scraps by killing enemies, which you can then turn in to level up or to create and upgrade items. Unlike the Dark Souls series, however, you can turn in your scrap and bank it, safeguarding it. You’ll have to return to the med bay to do so, which will of course cause all enemies to respawn when accessing it.
The game handles quite smoothly, perhaps even smoother than the early Dark Souls titles. You’ll be able to dodge easily, and you can time your attacks perfectly. Some hit detection errors still occur, but the glitches that seemed to be present in the first game were nearly all ironed out in this release.
Conclusion
The Surge 2 is a great successor of the first game, and we secretly hope this isn’t the last we’ll see of the series. The game is filled with quality content, albeit for those who like to have a bit of a grind mixed in their gameplay. The game may not look super impressive at all times, there’s no getting enough of chopping off limbs of your opponents to get a bit of shiny new gear. If you love a Souls-like experience, this one is certainly worth your time.
The Surge 2 – Review,
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[…] Deck 13 and Focus Home Interactive are overjoyed that their Action/RPG The Surge 2 has received overwhelmingly positive feedback. To celebrate they released a trailer to showcase some of the feedback they received. The Surge 2 was released September 24, 2019. The game paints a very grim picture of the future, you’re dropped into whatever is left of Jericho, a once-great city but now nothing more than the rotting carcass of its former self. In this sci-fi action RPG, you’ll be hacking your way through crazed techno-cultists, nanomachines, and monstrosities. Every battle is a fight for your life and you’ll have to use every trick in your book to survive. But with risk also comes reward in the form a character development. You can find our review right here. […]
[…] our review here and watch the trailer down […]