The Surge 2

 PlayStation 4
User Score
7.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 194 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 121 out of 194
  2. Mixed: 31 out of 194
  3. Negative: 42 out of 194
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  1. Timenick
    Jul 28, 2023
    8
    The Surge was a good game if you could stand the slow start and the Eurojank, and the second one isnt much different.

    Some things have been added like side quests and zip lines but overall this is the same gameplay experience with the same strengths as the first game. Good level design with a lot of verticality and even some changes and evolvement over the course of the game. A unique    The Surge was a good game if you could stand the slow start and the Eurojank, and the second one isnt much different.

    Some things have been added like side quests and zip lines but overall this is the same gameplay experience with the same strengths as the first game. Good level design with a lot of verticality and even some changes and evolvement over the course of the game. A unique lock-on system that lets you choose between more damage or better loot. A solid leveling and upgrade system and a huge variety of weapons.

    The weapon scaling was removed so you can experiment a lot more. The bosses are a bit better overall. The healing system saw a huge improvement. And the game doesnt start as slow as the first one.

    Sadly the devs did nothing to improve the technical shortcomings of The Surge 1. The game looks better in some areas but worse in others so its roughly the same. And yeah of course there are some bugs and crashes and massive jank sometimes. Making a game with good tech seems impossible for German developers.

    I played the game on PS5 from the start and it has stable 1440p 60fps here but I can only imagine how bad this game must run on a PS4. Dont play this game on PS4, the first one was terrible there and this seems as bad or even worse.

    Overall a solid sequel. I you like Souls games and dont mind your character clipping through the ground sometimes when doing a finishing move you should play the first game and then this. 8/10    … Expand
  2. Cyrus666
    Apr 11, 2023
    8
    Number of playthroughs: 1.5
    Surge 2 was the last game I felt any enthusiasm to complete. The overall experience was fun. I've played a few games recently (Until Dawn, Bloodstained) but I either completely abandoned them or I finished them out of boredom. But Surge 2 was fun. It's a game in the Soulslike genre and shares some of this genre's characteristics. It's difficult, has few but    Number of playthroughs: 1.5
    Surge 2 was the last game I felt any enthusiasm to complete. The overall experience was fun. I've played a few games recently (Until Dawn, Bloodstained) but I either completely abandoned them or I finished them out of boredom. But Surge 2 was fun. It's a game in the Soulslike genre and shares some of this genre's characteristics. It's difficult, has few but hard bosses, doesn't have save/autosave and you are basically vulnerable from one safe point to another. I had to play the game more than once since I didn't get to play the DLC at the right time and locked myself out of it. So I had to play New Game+ in order to play the DLC. The game has a few flaws and I hope they address this in the next Surge games. 1) the areas kinda get boring. I think this is because the developing team isn't very big so expecting them to create a world as big and beautiful as Elden Ring is too much. 2) I personally have a problem with the core mechanic of getting schematics by curring enemy limbs. So I have to keep respawning enemies and cutting all their limbs in order to get all the blueprints. And the repetition gets really boring. 3) There should be more boss variety. It's not fun fighting variations of the same bosses over and over again or having one of the enemies you've fought over and over now pose as a boss with little changes to the movesets(looking at you Harold).
    I've played the first Surge as well but the game was so boring and the areas were so convoluted and bland that I abandoned it at the final level. Surge 2 addresses many of the first one's problems.
    So overall
    It's a short, compact soulslike set in a futuristic world. I recommend it to everyone when it's on sale    … Expand
  3. DukeJon
    Nov 19, 2022
    7
    I really enjoy soulslike games but there has to be a finely judged difficulty balance otherwise it just becomes frustrating. Liked the clean interface and fluidity of the controls in this game. However if you have to look for online help just to defeat the tutorial boss then there's a problem. By the time got to warden garcia I gave up. Story wasn't interesting enough to make me want to continue.
  4. italoipo
    Oct 3, 2022
    10
    I'm a bit late to the game..but damn after areally long time this game gave me ral joy. great combat and i like the story...the worst part of this game is, that there isn't a minimap or a good map in general. and there are 2,3 enemy / bosses that are a bit too annoying..other then that awesome
  5. Godudu
    Aug 16, 2022
    1
    Not a very good souls-like. Game is hard but in an unfair way. Imagine playing dark souls, but you need to parry every enemy attack otherwise youre screwed. Bosses are forgetable. The whole junk collecting stuff got me interested, that we would find many parts of the enemy and combine them with each other. Bit no, if you want to have any chance of mot hitting yiur head against the wall,Not a very good souls-like. Game is hard but in an unfair way. Imagine playing dark souls, but you need to parry every enemy attack otherwise youre screwed. Bosses are forgetable. The whole junk collecting stuff got me interested, that we would find many parts of the enemy and combine them with each other. Bit no, if you want to have any chance of mot hitting yiur head against the wall, youll need to have a complete set that gives extra bonuses if combined, just like diablo. Wouldnt recommend if your tolerance for unfariness is low.… Expand
  6. PaleNielsen
    Mar 25, 2022
    7
    good game played it on PSNow, if you like the first one you will like this more.
  7. Dwideshrude1
    Mar 23, 2022
    0
    When the first man invented the map, and the compass, the developers of this game would have laughed at them, because they appearantly think theyre uneeded. Oh..but every direction looks exactly the same, so theres no indication of where to go? Too bad. We're lazy devs. Oh you lost your scrap? Good luck finding it. Oh and guess what? Theres a time limit. So you have to "find" your scrapWhen the first man invented the map, and the compass, the developers of this game would have laughed at them, because they appearantly think theyre uneeded. Oh..but every direction looks exactly the same, so theres no indication of where to go? Too bad. We're lazy devs. Oh you lost your scrap? Good luck finding it. Oh and guess what? Theres a time limit. So you have to "find" your scrap without a map, without a compass, because we pranked you and put 2 enemies out of sight in the middle of a dialogue section for a guaranteed death in the middle of god knows where, surrounded by wall b number 3332 that youve seen 3331 times before, so you have zero clue where you are. It is literally the most sad attempt at level design i've seen in my decades of gaming. Truly an absolute slog.… Expand
  8. rompobteryx
    Mar 12, 2022
    8
    So many unfair negative reviews for this little gem of a game. It's not a masterpiece or anything, but it doesn't deserve the 0s and 2s that it's been getting here. The combat is mouthwateringly delicious, but yes you need some time to get used to it, and once it clicks, it's hard to put down. The directional parry, which is a much more sophisticated mechanic than the conventional parry inSo many unfair negative reviews for this little gem of a game. It's not a masterpiece or anything, but it doesn't deserve the 0s and 2s that it's been getting here. The combat is mouthwateringly delicious, but yes you need some time to get used to it, and once it clicks, it's hard to put down. The directional parry, which is a much more sophisticated mechanic than the conventional parry in Souls games, is addictive. Trying to master the directional parry in the middle of a chaotic battle with enemies surrounding you all over, especially for a guy like me who has mediocre gaming skills and reflexes, was extremely satisfying.

    In addition, targeting limbs and dismembering them so you can use them as armor is a dream come true for me. And those slow motion finishing moves are simply incredible. In general, the developers managed to create more diverse looking environments and a much more fluid combat compared to the first game. If you invest enough time and get to like the game, you'll be rewarded with heart-pounding combat against mobs and bosses, which is a fact haters can't take away.

    IMHO a few things could've been better: A bigger world for instance. The game feels a tiny bit small and short, but if you're getting it on Game Pass or PS Now etc, then this is not a real issue. Secondly, there could've been more boss fights because I felt like I needed more challenging boss fights. And finally, the story could've been less cliche, but who plays Soulsborne games for story anyway?

    Shortly, I can't wait for the third installment of The Surge series.    … Expand
  9. heringer
    Feb 24, 2022
    8
    The Surge 2 are a good game, they perfectioned good stuffs that we saw in The Surge 1, like combat, weapons and equipment.
    The story are less rase, but not too involved and the most of character suffer with lack charism.
    For players that want a mediun platinum / 100% is a good choice.
  10. mysiak
    Nov 21, 2021
    1
    I was expecting fun scifi RPG with hack&slash elements. But oh boy, this is the most frustrating game I've ever played. I did die so many times (even during "tutorial"!), that I stopped counting. There is no map, so you have no idea where are you and where should you go. At every "wrong" turn waits at least one enemy which kills you after 3-4 hits. RPG elements and limb targeting systemI was expecting fun scifi RPG with hack&slash elements. But oh boy, this is the most frustrating game I've ever played. I did die so many times (even during "tutorial"!), that I stopped counting. There is no map, so you have no idea where are you and where should you go. At every "wrong" turn waits at least one enemy which kills you after 3-4 hits. RPG elements and limb targeting system are great, but after I killed the same enemies in the same area more than 50 times (after which I got killed yet again so I could replay the same area), I just deleted the game. I guess that "souls genre" isn't for me, lesson learned. Shame that there was no demo, I wouldn't waste my money and time on this torture.

    "Story/easy mode" would make this game 8 out of 10, but as developers decided to punish gamers for every "wrong" button press, it barely makes 1 of 10.    … Expand
  11. Centrifikal
    Oct 26, 2021
    9
    I decided to try this game as I have with all souls games and soul likes that I can find. I did not play the first game so I can't give a comparison of the two. This game caught me by surprise. The combat is deep and satisfying. Not as deep as Nioh, if you have played then you know what I mean. Still it has many possible combos and cutting limb mechanics that can make it complex as you goI decided to try this game as I have with all souls games and soul likes that I can find. I did not play the first game so I can't give a comparison of the two. This game caught me by surprise. The combat is deep and satisfying. Not as deep as Nioh, if you have played then you know what I mean. Still it has many possible combos and cutting limb mechanics that can make it complex as you go into a fight. I did not have any problems with the bosses. The only problem I noticed was with targeting. Many times I could not get the game to target the right part in the heat of combat. Still this did not impact my experience to negatively. I enjoyed the setting and the style and moving from zone to zone. I disagree with the average score. This game is a solid 9 for me. The combat and style outshine anything I found negative and I recommend this game.… Expand
  12. Sodomizer1
    Oct 14, 2021
    0
    Shame on you, and on this steaming pile of **** Shove up Warden Garcia into your ass, you pathetic human beings, thinking it will be fun to anyone to be **** up by him, with 0 gear, 0 weapons and 0 option/drones/injections. Die in hell
  13. MetaRogue
    Jun 4, 2021
    6
    After 30 hours with The Surge, I had had enough of being given the run-around with all of it's 'harder-than-Dark Souls' nonsense. I came to The Surge 2 with hopes that Deck 13 had corrected these issues and balanced other aspects of the original game. In short: They hadn't.

    I got just over 3 hours into The Surge 2 when I thought "You know what? I've had enough of this nonsense". It's    After 30 hours with The Surge, I had had enough of being given the run-around with all of it's 'harder-than-Dark Souls' nonsense. I came to The Surge 2 with hopes that Deck 13 had corrected these issues and balanced other aspects of the original game. In short: They hadn't.

    I got just over 3 hours into The Surge 2 when I thought "You know what? I've had enough of this nonsense". It's not that I can't handle playing difficult games, it's simply a case that I can't be bothered wasting my time playing a game that's difficult for the sake of being difficult. When I play videogames, I play them for fun - not because I feel the need to prove something, to myself or to others. I'm not averse to playing videogames that test my skills and reactions, but I draw the line when they overstep the bounds of what is reasonable and accessible.

    The Surge 2 is undoubtedly a better game than the original. In my limited time with it, I noticed the improvements Deck 13 had made. The combat is smoother, the environmental variety of Jericho City is superior to the drab locales of the CREO factory featured in the original game, and every time you level up your Rig, you get skill points to spend on improving your Health, Stamina and Energy.

    While I've just noted the positives, I can't say that I'd classify The Surge 2 as 'fun'. The damage scaling in the game is just ridiculously bad - most common enemies will hand you your hide in seconds. This seriously hurt my progression through the game because I was simply tired of constantly being on edge every time I went into combat against the numerous denizens of Jericho City. On top of that, most enemies have an ace up their sleeve that will seriously undermine you in some way - this is more an unfair tactic than it is a 'challenge' to overcome.

    Story-wise, The Surge 2 is simply more sci-fi stuff mixed with weird, messed up Dark Souls type nonsense that we've all come to expect from the genre over the years.

    In summation, The Surge 2 is an improvement over it's predecessor in some ways, but in many ways it features more of the same problems that deeply affected my time with the first game. In the 3 hours that I spent with The Surge 2, I couldn't help thinking of all the other better, more fun games in my personal games library that I could be playing instead of yet another gruellingly difficult Souls-like game that is deliberately designed to annoy me, frustrate me, and make me want to rage-quit.

    I think there needs to be a discussion about game design philosophy and about game developers competing in a particular genre - that making a game harder or more difficult doesn't necessarily make it 'better' than other games. I honestly hope that game developers reach this realisation sooner than later, so they can avoid saturating the industry with games that only a small, select group of people will gravitate towards.

    Because at the end of the day, games are created purely for escapism - from stress and the vast multitude of life's problems.    … Expand
  14. misak192
    Mar 12, 2021
    4
    I thought i would love this game but it was the exact opposite.

    The game doesn't explain much, you need to find out the hard way, constantly dying. You try to loot and get xp but then you die far from the checkpoint so you try to get it but all enemies respawn so you need to start again and when you die you lose your previous hard gained metal. There is no map so you keep running    I thought i would love this game but it was the exact opposite.

    The game doesn't explain much, you need to find out the hard way, constantly dying. You try to loot and get xp but then you die far from the checkpoint so you try to get it but all enemies respawn so you need to start again and when you die you lose your previous hard gained metal.

    There is no map so you keep running around as there are so many shortcuts so it is easy to miss some paths to go further, then you die so you need to start again. There are lots of doors and teleports that you cannot access at the beginning of the game, some guides say "write down where there are because you want to get back to them once you have to tools to open them", terrible, especially without proper map.

    There is a stronger person just at the beginning of the game that will keep you killing over and over as the game doesn't really tell you how to kill him.

    Very frustrating experience, I wanted to spend some time playing this game, i hate not finishing games, but after 5 hours i had enough and deleted the game. Haven't even seen proper boss (Little someone? is his name) that must be hell can imagine that even now.    … Expand
  15. Awanka
    Feb 23, 2021
    6
    It's a decent sci-fi Dark Souls, but the game balance goes off the rails in the second half as it's easy to make builds that trivialize the difficulty.
  16. Samyar91
    Jan 12, 2021
    10
    The surge 2 is must play game for souls fan or for the one who is looking for meaningful challenge game...I love everything about this game..the graphic..the atmosphere..the world design..and I loved the story as well..good job for making such a great game
  17. amralchalati
    Dec 30, 2020
    10
    I played this game on PSN and I don't know why I didn't play it earlier as it has a huge jump from the first one that didn't resonate on me. The game is really good and very fun to play, the graphics are really good. I didn't expect a great game story, but man the game mechanic is really fun!
  18. sarcastor
    Dec 23, 2020
    2
    i thought the original surge was a terrible and boring game. i thought maybe they would fix the problems with the sequel. nope i was terribly wrong. everything wrong with the first is still in the second. clunky action sequences, horrible controls, repetitive game play, bland game design, generic bad guys, and unending respawning of bad guys. hey if you get killed by a bad guy, don'ti thought the original surge was a terrible and boring game. i thought maybe they would fix the problems with the sequel. nope i was terribly wrong. everything wrong with the first is still in the second. clunky action sequences, horrible controls, repetitive game play, bland game design, generic bad guys, and unending respawning of bad guys. hey if you get killed by a bad guy, don't worry you will have to face them again after you die.… Expand
  19. Inhanzt
    Dec 21, 2020
    3
    Barely playable souls like. Gear upgrades require an awful lock on system that doesn't work. Most enemies are far stronger than your guy, and ignore stagger and stamina at their leasuire. Just cranking damage numbers up isn't the way to make a game hard. The heal system is terrible; you start with no heals by default.

    Story is obtrusive and boring.
  20. Rikkimaru
    Dec 6, 2020
    10
    Very adctin game! Better than the surge 1. I like it a lot! Recommended, I have More than 300, games from PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4, Nintendo switch, and the Surge 2 is one of best of them.
  21. BallzyDan
    Oct 6, 2020
    0
    God awful that trash that succeeds in sucking worse than its predecessor. Explain the combat! I should not be stuck on the third enemy in the game- as a terribly difficult boss battle. No dodge, no jump, just stand there and block unblockable attacks, yay! No fun to be had here
  22. Milidante
    Sep 16, 2020
    8
    So much bettee than first game but this frenchise has so much potential and could even better. I hope deck13 continue to develop surge and lord of fallen games. I see a bright future for them if they start to pay more attention to graphics,musics and story. Gameplay of surge 2 is awsome but other than there is no shining point.
  23. upallnighter
    Sep 15, 2020
    1
    TEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrible
  24. Beowulff78
    Aug 7, 2020
    2
    What a frustrating gaming experience. I've played the Souls franchise numerous times and loved it, but this game is a poor imitation.
  25. bobbodu2873e1
    Jul 22, 2020
    7
    Almost unbearably clunky, but not as much as it's predecessor. Thankfully it has simple and fun mechanics of limb targeting and parrying. The point is that the game gets easier as you get clunkier, its way more easy to defend and dodge than parry or do that sekiro type parryattack thing they did, timed with parry or wtv, I never even bothered. The levels are Absolutely LABORYNTHINAN! IfAlmost unbearably clunky, but not as much as it's predecessor. Thankfully it has simple and fun mechanics of limb targeting and parrying. The point is that the game gets easier as you get clunkier, its way more easy to defend and dodge than parry or do that sekiro type parryattack thing they did, timed with parry or wtv, I never even bothered. The levels are Absolutely LABORYNTHINAN! If you like that kind of exploration, look no further, I personally didnt even remember half of the metroidvania passageways there appeared and disappeared during the course of the story progression. That is pure torture for a completionist like me to never being able to remember all the little side tracks and alleyis before they get demolished and lost for good, what year is it..? Well anyway I farmed to be the strongest bulkiest astronaut ever and beat the final boss and I want to just explore a world eventually at my own pace and this game does never allow it so.. its kind of a disappointment… Expand
  26. Danrose654
    Jul 3, 2020
    9
    Really enjoyed the game
    Always fun targeting body parts for gear
    Dark souls is all about the boss fight but this game seems to be in reverse
    It's more about the journey, ie getting parts for gear set on your way to the bosses. Bosses are forgettable apart from a couple
  27. ale12
    Jun 12, 2020
    10
    Juego muy decente, si te gustan los desafios, hacer bloqueos (parrys),los buenos souls, pues nada te recomiendo. Es un aire nuevo a la ambientación de los souls y nada, juego muy decente.
  28. monks99
    Jun 11, 2020
    9
    Amazing combat!! A huge upgrade from the first game. I hope there is a surge 3!
  29. drosan
    Jun 10, 2020
    2
    Game disappoints especially hard if you've played The Surge before; the second game of this installment is not even remotely good. All the good points about it come straight out of the first game, most of the new features introduced are poor implemented mess or just lame attempt to appeal to the wider public with some generic mechanics.

    However I would forgive the game for all this -    Game disappoints especially hard if you've played The Surge before; the second game of this installment is not even remotely good. All the good points about it come straight out of the first game, most of the new features introduced are poor implemented mess or just lame attempt to appeal to the wider public with some generic mechanics.

    However I would forgive the game for all this - tons of NPCs, "regular" quests, a "city hub" with vendors and quest givers, everything that wasn't present previously and made it "chamber". After all we still have amazing animations and fast but strategic combat system, and it is gameplay that matters.

    Nope, this aspect of the game that I had my hopes on went to drain with the new "cinematic" camera that cannot be turned off at all. Expect variable camera angles, variable camera distance, and the lightning that makes most of the screen extremely dark or blazing light (either way you can't see lots of it).

    Camera in this game has a journey separate from yours. It changes slowly depending on yours and your targets position; there are times when it points at the wall behind you and your foe (!!!) just because it thinks it is a good time to rotate graciously to give you some good cinema-style angle far above and from the side. Obviously it is not good to stop seeing anything in a fast paced action game even for half second because that's what get you killed.

    Camera probably is the only thing that has fun and creativity in this game: from displaying a wall behind you full screen to going Onimusha Warlords style 20 meters above you so you can never tell the distance to your foes, it never stops to amuse and enrage you. Old "Resident Evil" games probably had camera with less deviations that the Surge 2.

    Oh, and don't let tooltips for buttons confuse you to think that you don't have to hold them to get some response with the removal of "progress circles" - they still do require this, but you don't know how long you have to press it now and boy oh boy expect to fail a lot of inputs because of it. If you pressed the button longer than it needs to be to get action 1 but not long enough to get action 2 you will get _absolutely no response_. None. Nada. Zip. Zilch.

    There are ofc fancy circled menus if you hold your "old" switch stuff buttons just so you can mess up every single action, not just to use items but to select them.

    Oh and visuals are harshly worse because of extremely bad and slow mipmapping realization, after exiting any menu you can enjoy super low res textures for several seconds at least. Even with PS4 pro.

    Overall this is a poorly implemented and poorly designed game, especially in comparison to The Surge 1, that had it better in every regard possible.    … Expand
  30. elric19
    Apr 14, 2020
    6
    So the game has now crashed for the 10th time within 15 hours of playing and i decided to review this game. There is not much change in comparison to the first game and with half a year after release one could expect to have some major bugs fixed (maybe im just unlucky) anyway its my experience. The camera in combination with the aiming for bodyparts is sometimes a pain, especially nearSo the game has now crashed for the 10th time within 15 hours of playing and i decided to review this game. There is not much change in comparison to the first game and with half a year after release one could expect to have some major bugs fixed (maybe im just unlucky) anyway its my experience. The camera in combination with the aiming for bodyparts is sometimes a pain, especially near walls the camera like to flip around making it impossible to dodge or react properly. I played the first game which had some major flaws and not too much playing time but i wasnt craving a second part that soon (i dont know anybody who was either) so another year of developing with bugfixing and stuff wouldve been appreciated.
    Besides, the new graffitifeature and the revenge enemies are coming really close to plagiate dark souls.
    Actually its hard to hate the game since it looks sharp and the story is ok and some major flaws from surge 1 have been removed but to me this game couldve waited another year. I cannot bring myself to give more than 6 since some really really poor minded people here give 10 points even though the game is far from perfect    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

53
#53 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 49 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 33 out of 49
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 49
  3. Negative: 1 out of 49
  1. Worth Playing
    Dec 4, 2019
    80
    All in all, The Surge 2 is a great game to pick up if you're looking for a more arcade-like take on the Dark Souls formula. It's a fun and engaging game with a solid combat system and enjoyable mechanics, and it's only dragged down by a mediocre story and lackluster environments. With the excellent improvements from The Surge to The Surge 2, the franchise is well on its way to standing tall in the Soulsborne genre. It's well worth playing if you're an aficionado of this genre and don't mind dying a few times.
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  2. Playstation Official Magazine UK
    Oct 22, 2019
    70
    The core combat loop delivers a unique and very satisfying soulsborne, and the push to an open world is a win. But technical problems and a lack of enemy variety hold The Surge 2 back from greatness . [Issue#168, p.80]
  3. GameGrin
    Oct 21, 2019
    80
    The Surge 2 is a sequel done right. With fluid combat, creative level design, and solid performance you would be hard pressed to not enjoy this title.
    Read full review
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