The Surge Reviews

Decent soulslike if you are feeling the itch and don't have one to play.

it's cool but it is the game that made me see that i REALLY dislike Souls-Like games, i just dont have a desire to keep playing the same fight 200 times.. and dying over 1 tiny flaw or incorrect gear or lack of heal, ect. personally, there are too many games to play, so i never finished it even though i want to, i just keep getting a bigger stack of 100s of other games i find more fun to play all the way through. the story is some dope stuff about how corporations and technology are messed up... but there are a lot of instances where i personally feel the game could be more fun, and again, this is during fight scenes, lol. also, i dislike this... collection of weapons stuff than you cant get a unique weapon ... unless you meet certain requirements, at least give a guy a hint on how to get a unique weapon in-game. love this for the story, not a big fan of the gameplay though... i'm stuck on trying to Max those Western Trials. i didnt give up because i lost or lack motivation, i gave up because i could be doing anything else, so i decided to just love life more, this game taught me that.... lol. Iron Maus! i like how the map connects but too much backtracking too....especially considering you die while running back and forth, lmao

This is more a rant than a thoroughgoing review, so take it as it is: Did the concept of "shortcuts" or "checkpoints" murder and cannibalize the parents of someone who made this game? Like I don't think there are many of us who play Demon's Souls or the original Dark Souls and say "these games are absurdly generous with bonfires and elevators to get back to bonfires that you can activate two thirds of the way through the level, I want less of that." Maybe I'm wrong! If you want to have to backtrack for 20 minutes through a level every time you die, or just want to level up or upgrade a weapon, then hell yeah, do it. You'll love this game. This game just seems very much designed to enable dumbass redditors to say "well ackshully, if you had found this one pixel 63% of the way through the level you'd be able to backtrack to 42% of the way through the level..." It's doubly frustrating because there are cool things about this game. I kinda want to like it, all in all. But god, they make it so hard to with shit like this. Also when you press circle on the controller to exit out of a menu, sometimes it decides to interpret that as *also* pressing circle on your controller again to use one of your (limited) healing items if you linger a quarter second too long? Just how the hell does this pass through beta testing. Shame-tier. I'm just gonna replay Elden Ring now, or maybe a Nioh game.

Level design can be painful most of the time, but overall very nice game with awesome graphics and combat mechanics.

The gameplay is quite smooth and feels nice. The story isn't anything mindblowing, but it is pretty enjoyable. Plenty to play.

Soulslike of a different generation, taking mostly inspiration from harsh mechanics found in Dark Souls 1. Back in 2017 I did my first run on XBOX, now my second on Steam Deck. After playing many soulslikes, it's more clear to me now what The Surge does well and what not: + Sci-fi horror set in the near future. – Flat NPCs and sidequests that take away immersion. + Character build variety through collecting and printing exoskeleton parts. + Easy to change build. + Challenging combat with targeting limbs. – Messy hit boxes. + Humanoid enemies feel well balanced for 1v1 – Fighting multiple enemies messes things up, but the placement forces this at times. – One robotic enemy type make me ragequit like no other game. – Low enemy variety. + Circular level design with tons of shortcuts. – Shortcuts often create more confusion and create boring walk backs. + Cool bosses with unique designs. – Very annoying timer before reclaiming scrap (souls). A solid 6/10. Great attempt but lacks refinement. Play the sequel for a much smoother experience, but this one is still cool (if you have the patience and dedication).

It's alright. Balancing is a bit weird, as the difficulty does not seem to curve, but rather stairstep -- where it repeatedly smashes the player against a wall, until a certain point is reached (either through grinding, upgrading, or determination) after which the difficulty stays flat for a while again. I would prefer if the story was told a bit more straightforward. As it stands, NPCs are purposefully vague about stuff everyone in-lore should know about until very late into the game. But then again, this is the type of game where story is often ignored anyway.

Amazing and underrated game. This is a souls-like game with sci-fi elements which works very well for this game. Especially the part gathering system which is very unique and engaging even in NG+ and beyond. Overall, this game is worth buying.

This game is a bit of a mixed bag. If you are a souls player who is more interested in boss fights and less interested in the exploration and level design, this one may not be for you. Generally, I'm just there for the boss fights, but in this game, there's a strategy to fighting almost every single enemy or group of enemies, which makes things more interesting. I also think the leveling system and methods of getting stronger are interesting. Also just how farming for items and materials works are pretty interesting. Also the combat feels great. So, honestly, it's hard to complain. This game actually has so much going for it, beyond being just a soulslike. But I would also say be warry of it if you do not like soulslikes and don't like difficulty. Though thusfar I do think it's easier than almost every other soulslike I've played, but I'm probably just over half-way through. And mind you, I'm not saying it's not difficult.

At first when I played this game I got frustrated and put it down for a few years. I eventually decided to finish it out, and I am extremely happy that I did. over the course of my playthrough, I had ups and many downs. I felt a few enemies and fights towards the end felt unfair. However, after persevering, I managed to beat the game. I had to clap afterwards for the amazing game and ending that I experienced. some people may deride this game, but I found great fun in both the combat and slicing off limbs to loot gear, and the surprisingly engaging lore and depth. I look forward to attempting the second game in the future.