In order to pay homage to the times this game takes me back to, I am going to do this review in a Game Pro style, so let's begin.
The Surge
Developed by: Deck13 Interactive
Published by: Focus Home Interactive
Released on: May 16, 2017
Graphics (4.5/5)
The graphics on The Surge are nothing to flip about, but at the same time they are good enough to give us this industrious feeling that will be the first thing that will remind a lot of gamers about some games of the past. Think about places like the facility in Dino Crisis, the Heimdal in Carrier, the island city in Blue Stinger and even some awesome wastelands in Half Life 2. Another nice thing is that the indoor places look spooky enough for this game to be as scary as a survival horror at some places.
Sounds (4/5)
The music and sound effects are decent and do their job (the country music that is heard on safe zones (med day) is so good that it has gotten stuck in my head and I don't even like country music. What the game needed to be perfect in terms of sound is some more dramatic music to enhance the mood and keep us in our toes.
Before going to the next category I will share the med bay song with you all.
Game play in The Surge will be familiar to anybody who has played Dark Souls or any similar game. You have to go through various zones, finding safe places and defeating tough enemies to advance while getting stronger yourself. It also borrows the npc side-quest thing where you get npcs to join you in your safe zone with some of them having things for you to do. Now, what differentiates this game from Dark Souls and what makes it so old school oriented is that maps are a lot deeper, so just hacking and slashing won't take you anywhere if you don't know where you are going and since this game has 0% hand holding this means that you really have to think things through before advancing. The only reason why it gets a (3) as its score on gameplay is because it doesn't have an online component or a character creation option, both been things that are always fun in these types of games.
Fun Factor (4/5)
The Surge is a really fun game with all its complex exploration and places to find, but I have to admit that while I am delighted with how old school it is, some people may not agree with me since it lacks some of the elements that many see as a given in any game that is similar to Dark Souls. Not counting the side quests you can screw up in one playthrough, replay value doesn't seem to be much considering that no online component means no pvp, which is something that really extends the life of any Souls/Borne game.
Challenge (5/5)
With no hand holding at all, the challenge in this game is spot on without been too frustrating for anyone. It is not that hard when fighting after you get used to the enemy patterns, but it still keeps you in your toes, because sometimes a simple mistake can be fatal. Another challenging aspect is that the maps in the game are not linear at all and it takes a lot of planning and experimenting with your surroundings before you can confidently explore a place without been paranoid about enemies and traps waiting for you on every corner.
The Surge is not a perfect game, but it is one of those imperfect experiences that are fun enough for us to look past its rough edges and enjoy it like we do any of the popular games out there. If you consider yourself to be a hardcore and/or old school oriented gamer then this is a must buy, if not then research a little before deciding on it.
(+) Great atmosphere, really good on exploration
(+) Nice challenge and rpg elements
(-) Lacks an online component and create a character option.
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