The Surge Reviews
The idea of soulslike ready to approach dystopian science fiction was not only intriguing, but potentially winning. The incipit of The Surge clearly shows a great potential: despite some flows in the combat and growth systems, the game still manages to capture the player, awaken his curiosity. Unfortunately, too much of this potential is lost, due to a bad level design, poorly inspired environments, and a distressing lack of contents.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The Surge is a very good surprise because it is more than just a futuristic Dark Souls clon, it's a challenging and fun action RPG with interesting variations on its combat system and a satisfying campaign.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
The Surge is a satisfying sci-fi RPG that pleasantly surprises in more ways than it disappoints. Fans of Dark Souls-style titles will find a lot to like here and the unique combat system keeps it from feeling like a rip-off. It's just a shame that the narrative and world building isn't stronger.
The Surge is a good action-RPG and a real Dark Souls-like, so the game is clearly not open for everyone. It offers interesting systems, but we still regret a lack of diversity in everything (weapons, enemies, environments...).
Review in French | Read full review
The Surge's engaging risk/reward combat system and obsession with gear will compel you to want to fight your way through a cataclysmic sci-fi hell. But the repetitive enemy types, uninspired visual design, and unfortunate lack of polish leaves the game feeling soulless.
Deck 13 serves up a fun alternative to Dark Souls in the Surge, featuring the same type of deliberate combat and punishing difficulty in a more sci-fi package. It's a bit short and could use more diversity in its foes and environs. If you're looking for a different take on the Souls-like genre, however, this one's worth taking a stab, hack, slice or bludgeoning blow at.
Every bit as infuriating, enjoyable and insanely gratifying as an action RPG of this type should be, The Surge is great fun, thanks in no small part to its unique limb-cutting loot system and some tight combat mechanics.
After putting in over 40+ hours into The Surge, I'm happy to admit that this game was a pleasant surprise. I fully expected this to be a failed attempt to capitalize on the Soulsborne series, like some many others. Instead, I played a game with an interesting story, tons of hidden content, a cast crafting system and more than enough combat to keep me swinging away. Deck 13 Interactive should be applauded for what they've managed to pull off and more importantly, it will help to remove the blemish that is Lords of the Fallen.
The promising story, reminiscent of every damn 70s sci-fi movie and one which drew me in almost immediately, really does take a backseat until the latter half of the game.
The Surge is without a doubt one of the best Souls-like titles to be released. Deck 13 has certainly proven that they have listened to the feedback from their previous game, and has crafted an epic sci-fi action RPG. While boss encounters are vastly unique, the journey to their location is the highlight in The Surge. Even so, The Surge still puts up quite a challenge, but rewards players that equip gear and implants that match their play style.
The Surge also has an admirable interest in real-life and a rare anger that manifests in excellent scenes of violence. But as well as being racked with contradictions (not to be mistaken with nuances) its length and the genre conventions into which it so heavily leans dramatically undermine what could have been a potent satire.
The Surge is a far better game than Deck13's first effort, but there's still room for improvement.
The Surge is an action-RPG in which you wield an exoskeleton to face off against a world of robots with combat similar to Dark Souls. While having little storyline or innovation, The Surge can still be a fun journey through a dystopian Earth. The difficulty certainly ramps up quickly, and the graphics and story are nothing to talk about, but if you're looking for a challenge then the Surge could be the next stop.
The Surge won't be greatest game of this year, but you can consider buying it even at full price, if you are a fan of sci-fi and soulslike games. There are few problems which sometimes can be annoying, nonetheless - the game is fun to play.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Though it might not be particularly remarkable or memorable as a whole, the science fiction future setting is a nice departure from the dark fantasy that pervades hardcore action RPGs, and there are some new ideas in combat and advancement that differentiate The Surge from its peers.
While it may not be entirely original, its fresh setting, smart level design, and limb-targeting mechanics manage to make authentically new ideas in a genre growing with imitators.
Like Deck13's previous game Lords of the Fallen, The Surge is defiantly inspired by the Dark Souls series and wears its influence on its sleeve. It gets the general formula right, especially regarding difficulty and combat, and then it adds new ideas to make things feel fresh. The futuristic sci-fi world is a welcome change from dark fantasy, and the limb-targeting function makes combat more exciting, more visceral, and allows access to better gear. Clever.
The Surge is an admirable riff on the Souls formula, with its novel setting and new mechanics making its mechanical and narrative blemishes easier to swallow.
The Surge has great gameplay and wonderful levels to get lost in as you run around throwing limbs about and destroying robots.
Between Lords of the Fallen and now The Surge, it has become increasingly clear that Deck 13 has both the talent and know-how to make a fantastic RPG, but for some reason keeps falling just short of a homerun. While The Surge is a good game, and definitely one of the best currently available in it's genre, things like lack of character creation, no multiplayer or any multiplayer interaction of any kind, and very little in terms of unique elements that only their game possesses are holding them back from being at the top of their class. The gaming industry has raised the standard of Action RPGs since Lords of the Fallen, and although Deck 13 has raised theirs as well, The Surge is likely to struggle in a market with games like: Nioh, Nier: Automata, Bloodborne, Horizon Zero Dawn and Witcher 3. If you don't already own those games, it will be harder to justify the 59.99 price tag for this game, especially when you can get any of those above for much less. If, however, you have already played those games, then The Surge is the next step in your RPG journey.