Calum Petrie reviews The Surge…
Having already been reviewed by Dean Abdou I am going to be taking a second look at The Surge on PS4 and going over some finer details. If you have read the previous review of the game you will understand The Surge is an action RPG set in a dystopian future. The game has been created by Deck13 who have previous experience in the same genre with Lords of the Fallen.
The Surge is very similar to Dark Souls in its play style; the basic but effective combat styling is not a million miles apart from something to be found in the Blood/Soul games. The concept has been tweaked enough to add a layer of originality to the game with the armoured and unarmoured limb attacks. Players can decide between the quick ending to the fight or possibly drawing out an encounter to obtain new upgrade materials; this then adds to the player’s approach to exploration as resource management of healing items can dwindle quickly.
The combat can be gruelling and daunting if you do not learn from your previous mistakes, though the game has been designed so that most attacks can be avoided by simply learning the basics to combat and making sure you understand an opening. In short, the game forces you to understand its mechanics and teaches you to play the game it wants to be played. Players will only find death and frustration if they do not learn from the previous attempt and adapt their strategy in the following attempt. Though the game does give a tutorial near that start on all the basic mechanics, I was well into the second area before I fully understood the implant system and the energy gain system. I received an update that allowed me to recover health by using the energy gained from successfully attacking enemies. I did not realise that this power drained when not being used, instead I discovered after 5/6 hours play time that hitting the D-Pad buttons allowed you to cycle through various options for health and drone attacks.
In the previous review the enemies were touched upon, though I wish to take a look at the boss battles within this game. The first few boss encounters will strike fear and dread into a player when they encounter these beastly creations; you will more than likely have to battle the boss machines a few times unless you are an extremely quick learner with cat-like reflexes. The first couple of attempts at a boss battle should be focused on learning attack patterns and knowing when exactly is good for an opening, then you are cocky enough to attack. Though when you do deliver an attack you may well feel scared again as your attacks initially deal little to no damage; this is when some boss battle become like an exam and show you have learned what you are supposed to for the battle. The boss battles also contain some kind of endurance slog which means that you may have to sacrifice that third or fourth attack at the enemy’s weak spot for the chance to retreat enough before the next attack. Players who show patience and wait for the opening are less likely to have broken controllers and lead a less rage-filled play through.
Another similarity between The Surge and the Souls series of games is trade-off that occurs when entering a safe haven. The Souls series will let you rest at a bonfire at the cost of reviving all defeated enemies within the area. The Surge has the same system, but with no actual explanation as to why the enemies reappear after they have been vanquished. The explanation in the Souls series is due to the undead curse and the hollowing of humanity. The Surge does not actually answer that question instead using it as a game mechanic without fleshing out the reasoning.
The ability to recover dropped scrap and the countdown system adds to the adrenaline rush of returning to your previous location in time. Players can add time onto the counter by taking out additional enemies en route to the location of your last death. If players do fail to drop return to the location within the time or die again en route then your scrap is lost to you forever. There is a way around the inconvenience of traversing the areas with huge amounts of currency on the player though – you can return to the op’s stations and bank all your scrap and no longer fear losing everything.
The way players upgrade their characters in this game allows you a lot more freedom to create an ideal play style which is more unique than in some Souls series games. The player can equip armour to the head, arms, legs and torso, and you can mix the armour and have something different on every limb. Players can totally customise the light, medium and heavy armour on their player as long as it does not exceed the power usage of the player level.
The combinations the players can create along with what type of the weapons the player chooses can create a whole range of different play styles where 2 friends may never play the game with the same character loadout.
One of the last things to talk about would be the setting, from a genre defining setting of fantasy horror to the industrial apocalypse. The metal structures and yellow hazard signs are a long way away from the dark mythical forests and grandiose palaces found within Dark Souls. With a massive shift in-game setting came a large chance to reimagine and redesign the tried and tested formula. The gamble has certainly paid off with the dank and sometimes cramped settings playing into an interesting layout of enemy placements and worry around every corner. If players wish to survive unexpected encounters they will have to live on their nerves and have one finger on the back step button at all times.
Final Thoughts
The Surge is not a Dark Souls game, though on the market right now it is the closest thing a player will have to a real Souls series experience. The game is similar enough to be familiar to long-time fans of Dark/Demon Souls and yet different enough in setting and combat mechanics to be fresh and interesting. The introduction of customising armour on every limb allows for a great deal of player choice and fine tuning the characters ability to conserve stamina while trading a little defence. Massive boss battles that reward players with a sense of relief and achievement upon the final strike and proclaiming victory. The scale of the game is bigger than I first assumed and yet contained a story that explains the game’s events much better than the Souls games ever have.
Pros:
+ Interesting take on character customisation system.
+ Combat mechanics that have an originality to gain resources.
+ Not apologising for being a technical game.
Cons:
– Lack of explanation of some game features.
– Camera angle can be frustrating in tight corridors.
– No explanation to undead enemies constantly re-spawning.
Rating: 8/10
Reviewed on PlayStation 4.
Calum Petrie – You can follow me on Twitter – @Cetrie
