If you were to sit and nitpick each minor part, The Surge 2 wouldn’t hold up to the scrutiny. Yet if you play it as a whole, it’s a brutally beautiful romp in the mold of what we’ve come to expect from this type of game.
It’s not easy to start with. It’s the difference being jumping in a plane in Saints Row to playing Flight Simulator, the Mario Karts to the F1’s. But hey, if that’s your bag and you feel like you’ve rinsed the Dirt games, or you’re looking for somewhere to start, then this would be it.
Strong emphasis of racing/destruction, with a plethora of cars to tweak and modify to your heart’s content, the only gripes are down to musical preference and patience with loading times.
Damsel gets a middling recommendation. If you’re looking for something you can file under “slightly difficult to get used to, eternity to master” then this would be in that rather specific category. As I said at the start, this won’t look out of place on the Switch or Steam library, as those two are bread and butter for this kind of game. Whereas on the supposed powerhouse that is the Xbox, it just seems like a waste of potential. Granted, this is only an indie title, so there isn’t going to be mass dollar behind it. It’s just that the end result on the Microsoft flagship is a bit of a damp squib.
Clunky controls, terrible on-screen litter and the slow pace just kill any semblance of enjoyment for me. Even the nonsensical plot and voice acting don’t make me want to play this again.
It’s beautiful, it’s got a manic soundtrack to keep the adrenaline pumping, and it is a faithful throwback to the days of arcade past.
Whatever your constitution, The Blackout Club gets a strong recommendation from me. It’s got a tense feel to it, some cultist shenanigans going on, and especially off the back of the latest Stranger Things series, it’s something a bit different in the horror ranks.
If you’re into your steampunk with a side of apocalypse, then you’re covered. If you’re a WarCraft alumni who fancies a bit of a twist in the not-technical-zombies mold, this will inject some fresh life into the RTS catalogue.
It’s a fun, satirical little romp that has enough going on to keep veterans going, and hopefully invest newcomers in something different. There’s some neat little trophies that require slightly divergent means, but that just adds to the length and fun. They’re optional, but it adds to the humour and tone somewhat.
As a console game, it’s a waste of everyone’s time to play a terrible knock off of a timeless classic (of which there are much better versions of out there).