The Surge

 PlayStation 4
User Score
6.6

Mixed or average reviews- based on 357 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 176 out of 357
  2. Mixed: 100 out of 357
  3. Negative: 81 out of 357
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  1. Revenant87
    May 16, 2017
    7
    Lol looks like this is getting torn apart in the reviews atm. Personally i'm enjoying it so far. Its not as good as the Souls games, Bloodborne or Nioh but it moves the formula into a drastically different setting and does a pretty good job of it. The combat is great with the whole limb targeting system being an excellent (and useful, since it gets you items) addition. And much likeLol looks like this is getting torn apart in the reviews atm. Personally i'm enjoying it so far. Its not as good as the Souls games, Bloodborne or Nioh but it moves the formula into a drastically different setting and does a pretty good job of it. The combat is great with the whole limb targeting system being an excellent (and useful, since it gets you items) addition. And much like Bloodborne and the Souls games the environment is sprawling and interconnected with lots of shortcuts that satisyingly open up as you progress. Its also satisfying to progressively add more armor to your character to turn him into a bulky, rusted metal badass.

    One of my main hesitations leading up to the release was that the level and enemy design seemed a bit bland and generic in preview videos, but as i'm playing it, honestly, it kinda just works. Theres a strong Tetsuo-esque body horror vibe to the whole thing and the environment, although not exactly the prettiest or most richly detailed, does have an unsettling atmosphere to it.

    Basically, its not GOTY material by any means, but if you're into the souls formula then this is definitely a worthwhile buy. I'm giving it a 7, but its a high 7 bordering on 8.    … Expand
  2. 9DAN
    May 17, 2017
    5
    I wanted to like this game so bad. And I do like parts of this game, actually. I love its combat with humanoid enemies in the first couple of stages. But Deck 13 have no idea how to make other encounters difficult without terrible gimmicks.

    Was your favorite Souls boss Dragon God or Adjudicator? Cuz apparently those are the only ones that Deck 13 liked! The bosses and most    I wanted to like this game so bad. And I do like parts of this game, actually. I love its combat with humanoid enemies in the first couple of stages. But Deck 13 have no idea how to make other encounters difficult without terrible gimmicks.

    Was your favorite Souls boss Dragon God or Adjudicator? Cuz apparently those are the only ones that Deck 13 liked! The bosses and most non-humanoid creatures in general have horrible, annoying mechanics attached to them (usually invincibility-related) along with spammy, zero recovery movesets that ensure there is only ONE WAY to fight - dash in, dash out. It makes the long, flowing combos they have designed for each weapon completely useless.

    That ducking/jumping mechanic? Worthless. Different weapon types? Doesn't matter, they all play the same when you have such short windows to attack. This isn't even getting into their love of piling on 2-3 enemies at a time when the game gives the player ZERO tools to deal with groups. It's just terrible design. Deck 13 is the kid that your D&D group never lets be DM, so you give them a chance because you feel bad, only for them to turn around and make the game so miserable and unfair for everyone else playing that you never let them try again.

    And they obviously wanted to ape Bloodborne with the high damage and dashes, but completely missed the fact that Bloodborne gives you massive amounts of healing, ranged parries and I-FRAMES DURING DODGE to compensate for the disgustingly OP enemies. What were they thinking?!

    I just honestly don't believe they ever playtested The Surge. Beyond the fact that it becomes an unbearable, horrible slog after the second level, there are tons of bugs (including game-breaking ones), I have had multiple crashes on PS4, and PC users have discovered that wonky debug quicksave and reload were still mapped to Fn keys in the shipped game! DECK 13, GET IT TOGETHER!!

    TL;DR - I wish The Surge's combat was in a better game - or at least one that actually respected the player. Until it is patched to alleviate the difficulty somehow, just stay away. I regret buying it and you probably will, too. It will likely end up free on PS+ in a year or so anyways like many Focus Home titles.    … Expand
  3. Solid_Snack
    May 19, 2017
    6
    I bought The Surge simply out of curiosity, being a huge fan of Miyazaki's work and most things Sci-Fi, with not much in the way of expectations, and my take away is a mix of mild amusement, boredom and frustration. If the superior games it apes are a surgeon's scalpel, then The Surge is closer to a butter knife. There is some fun to be had but it really is a budget title being sold for aI bought The Surge simply out of curiosity, being a huge fan of Miyazaki's work and most things Sci-Fi, with not much in the way of expectations, and my take away is a mix of mild amusement, boredom and frustration. If the superior games it apes are a surgeon's scalpel, then The Surge is closer to a butter knife. There is some fun to be had but it really is a budget title being sold for a AAA price. I would wait until it hits $39, that seems fair for what is on offer here.… Expand
  4. SuperkenGaming
    May 16, 2017
    7
    The Surge
    Robot Souls
    The Surge is a souls like rpg all about the grind Here you play as either a technician who’s agile and quick or a brute who does more damage but is slower, Each have their own advantages and disadvantages of course, I chose to play as a brute. I was surprised how much I initially enjoyed this game… This game is definitely challenging but not quite at the level    The Surge
    Robot Souls
    The Surge is a souls like rpg all about the grind
    Here you play as either a technician who’s agile and quick or a brute who does more damage but is slower,
    Each have their own advantages and disadvantages of course, I chose to play as a brute.
    I was surprised how much I initially enjoyed this game…
    This game is definitely challenging but not quite at the level of the souls game or nioh…
    The maps are fairly self-contained and compact here…
    This makes it very easy to memorize enemy locations when it comes to the grinding and crafting portion of the game
    the combat with regular enemies is pretty decent and feels fair.. at least when its one on one…
    you can lock onto them and target specific body parts to attempt to saw off certain gear…
    Sometimes you’ll get new gear like weapons…
    but mostly you’ll just get parts along with other scraps to craft armor from schematics you find in the world…
    there’s really no true loot system here…
    The scraps are essentially your souls..
    And like in the soul’s game if you die you have to go recollect them...
    But you are able to bank them in your medbay which is where you go to heal, level up, install new implants for added perks like consumable health, craft new weapons and armor, upgrade them, and refill your consumables…
    Leveling up just requires scraps while crafting and upgrading requires scraps as well as random items you have to pick off of enemies based on luck of course…
    and also like the souls games, going to this room respawns every enemy you’ve killed which is a gift and a curse..
    A gift because you can grind...
    worlds are small and bosses are brutal…
    youre definitely going to grind for levels and upgrades...
    a curse because once you do finally make it to a boss theyre all in your way trying do some damage to you before you even get there…
    But before we get to the bosses..
    There is definitely some cheapness going on outside of them…
    Things don’t really start getting cheap until the 2nd section of the game… here you get a drone friend which is nice… though to use them you have to fill up your energy bar a bit, but by time that happens you’ve usually already killed the enemy.. So it’s pretty useless…
    but this is where enemies start using ranged gun type weapons that you can’t do anything about but take the damage and push forward...
    And there are no health pickups here... youre relient on your implants to replenish your health except for the extremely rare refill stations... and by rare I mean like 1 in a map…
    But still it was fun to push forward, grind, find alternate paths, unlock shortcuts like demons souls so when you do die you can skip giant sections of the map to get right back to where you died
    These cheap moments were annoying and unfair... but I still didn’t mind them.. At least not as much as the boss battles…
    The bosses here aren’t hard by themselves...
    Theyre pretty simple and easy to figure out...
    the difficulty comes in the games design both level and combat…
    For starters.. Enemy attacks go right through solid objects... there is no hiding behind beams…
    That aside, This combat system was not designed for the boss battles... at least not with both classes in mind…
    the 2nd boss in the game is where I stopped…
    And I did so not because it was a tough boss…
    I knew its patterns, I knew how to defeat it...
    the problem was, as a brute... maybe this is just a brute problem…
    But as a brute the problem was the timing of this bosses attacks…
    Enemeis will telegraph their attacks..
    Give you some time to get out of the way
    But you’re locked into animations here...
    You’re able to dodge in combat, but only when you’re not attacking…
    And this boss demands quick hits and dodging...
    And this just isn’t possible to do efficiently as a brute…
    don’t get me wrong, I’d definitely get lucky and have a flawless first stage of this battle… but the 2nd stage when you have to attack it from underneath is when things really start to get unfair because your character doesn’t get out of animation fast enough for you to have time to dodge the near insta kill slam this enemies does when you’re underneath..
    Cause theres bad hit detection
    Both from enemies as id randomly lose damage during fights without being touched, and from you as your attacks will do nothing at times especially to bosses…
    Based off of what I saw though, The Surge is still a good game…
    its addictive in the way the souls games are… But at moments it falls into the category of unfair more than it does challenging and that sours the addictive and great moments that are here too I give The Surge a 7/10    … Expand
  5. richp
    Jun 3, 2017
    5
    Punishingly hard and often unfairly so (I say this as someone who has finished the souls series). Difficulty spikes, broken collision detection and cheating enemies remind you of gaming in the 90's.
    There are worse games but this one just isn't much fun despite the setting and the cool limb-targeting.
  6. Mechafan
    May 23, 2017
    7
    Pretty solid game, although it does little to actually stand out.
    First of all it's a Lords of the Fallen continuation with many of the same mechanics as well as flaws - weak story, uninteresting enemies and a convoluted if uninspired level design.
    But I did enjoy it most of the time. It has some unique twists in the way you get new gear, upgrade materials, how you "level up" your stats    Pretty solid game, although it does little to actually stand out.
    First of all it's a Lords of the Fallen continuation with many of the same mechanics as well as flaws - weak story, uninteresting enemies and a convoluted if uninspired level design.
    But I did enjoy it most of the time. It has some unique twists in the way you get new gear, upgrade materials, how you "level up" your stats and the neat body part targeting mechanic during fights (but I do recommend to disable dismemberment slomo, it get old fast).
    I cannot touch the level of polish and attention of Demon Souls or Dark Souls II, not to mention Dark souls 1 or Bloodbourne... but it works. Valiant effort resulting in a decent game. Wait till the price drops a bit and it may be worth your time.    … Expand
  7. Kaioh
    May 17, 2017
    6
    - clunky combat
    - fked up and even worse than in DS2 hitboxes
    - everyone 2 shots you in _any_ armor, sometimes even 1 shot, lol
    - unpredictable robot bosses due to a bad design, clunkyness just making these fights harder than they should be
    - bad enemy placement
    - looooong levels, longer then they should be
    - boring and repetitive "music"
    Overall: ugly DS rip-off from EU
  8. kenmil
    May 22, 2017
    5
    This game tries to copy the Dark Souls/Bloodborne style but fails miserably. The combat is extremely unbalanced, as you deal with one enemy quite easily then face another of the same type ang get one hit killed. Move to the next area where you expect the enemies to be a little harder, and they are easier ! The "story" is borrowed heavily from other games and also lacks any clarity. BugsThis game tries to copy the Dark Souls/Bloodborne style but fails miserably. The combat is extremely unbalanced, as you deal with one enemy quite easily then face another of the same type ang get one hit killed. Move to the next area where you expect the enemies to be a little harder, and they are easier ! The "story" is borrowed heavily from other games and also lacks any clarity. Bugs abound and will frustrate players before they are too far into the game. Just could not recommend this one.… Expand
  9. pongkrit03
    Feb 1, 2018
    5
    To think that I have to rate this game 5/10, which is even lower than the rate I giving to Lord of Fallen (6/10), Deck13, what have you done ?. 20 hours in the game to the final boss, I got mix feeling among satisfaction, frustration and tiredness, not sure which is more than others. While in this genre we have great games like DarkSouls 3, Bloodborne and Nioh, I can't help but to rate TheTo think that I have to rate this game 5/10, which is even lower than the rate I giving to Lord of Fallen (6/10), Deck13, what have you done ?. 20 hours in the game to the final boss, I got mix feeling among satisfaction, frustration and tiredness, not sure which is more than others. While in this genre we have great games like DarkSouls 3, Bloodborne and Nioh, I can't help but to rate The Surge low. Let see why

    Pro :
    - Stunning visual effect, great graphic. it is best in this genre.
    - Intuitive body-parted cutting system.
    - Satisfied combat. Awesome execution animation.

    Cons
    - Level designs are too complicated. Many times I was frustrated because I got lost and died. I have to read walkthrough to know where I have to go next.
    - Too much fighting in the tight area. Actually, it is like 90% of the game will forced you to fight in tight space, if not hazard environment.
    - Short of Boss fights, only 5 for main game. The others game in this genre have around 15+. Moreover, Bosses in this game are not creatively designed. None are memorable.
    - Repetitive gameplay. You gonna do the same and the same. Dodge, Attack, Dodge, Attack ... No matter enemies. Blocking is not reliable, drain too much stamina. No parry system. Jump up or duck are useless ( I am surprised they added that though) . Only Dodge works, only way.
    - Story is empty. Nothing here. Worst game story ever. I still enjoyed the story in Lords of Fallen, but this game, meh. Main character keep asking what going on here to every NPC, and get NOTHING, why bother.
    - BGM is bad. espectially in the save hub, we have to listen to this crappy song everytime. At least they should have more songs and allow us to change .
    - No Multiplayer

    In sum, The Surge is still lack of many aspects to become a good game. Sadly, it has potential. Core power system is also creative one but in the end people will use mostly +hp and hp max. It should have been executed better. Dark Souls, Bloodborne and Nioh are obviously better game by sheer margin. I recommend people to buy The Surge after you already play those games first and urge for more soullike. However, buy it on hard sale only, or not bother at all.    … Expand
  10. badgerryan19
    Jun 19, 2017
    6
    Another Dark Souls clone? Yes or No? In the middle I would say. Even though I believe it does enough to stand on its own it just eventually got too boring for me to continue. I will continue it eventually though.
  11. prinex
    Jun 8, 2017
    7
    This game make one thing well - and this is the combat system, which is fun, and the idea of having to "cut" limbs off the enemy in order to farm the schematics and parts - is a fresh idea.

    However: 1 single environment (a company), a minimal number of bosses, the asinine level design that is a nightmare to remember, the lack of multiplayer, and in particular the tendency to add gangs    This game make one thing well - and this is the combat system, which is fun, and the idea of having to "cut" limbs off the enemy in order to farm the schematics and parts - is a fresh idea.

    However: 1 single environment (a company), a minimal number of bosses, the asinine level design that is a nightmare to remember, the lack of multiplayer, and in particular the tendency to add gangs of enemies turn this game in a frustrating experience. And specially towards the end it becomes simply a chore - you just want it to be over, or (like me) you decide to cut it short and play something else.

    The choice of weapons is uninspiring, same as the armor which has "bonuses" like +3 attack speed but at the end it does not really matter. The choice of removing stats from the char (you apply "implants" to your exoskeleton) means that if you missed a critical one no matter how much you grind and level up (and grind you will and a lot) you will have a miserable experience unless you backtrack (no teleport) and navigate the incredibly confusing levels again.

    EDIT 08 Jun: a patch (1.04) was pushed out which makes the game easier - you have higher health, enemies dont' hit that hard, and you get random health recharges every now and then. I was able to complete the game easily after this. I raise my vote to 7 as the patch means developer are listening and acting,    … Expand
  12. VTL
    Feb 29, 2020
    7
    Buen juego de mecanicas souls con un toque de looter que le da un plus de dificultad devido a tener que atacar partes reforzadas de los enemigos para cortarselas y evolucionar el personaje que llevas. La verdad que la version de PS4 yo la he jugado y acabado en 2020 y ahun con parches..... varias veces ha petado el juego, saliendo al menu, el personaje se ha quedado bugueado y he tenidoBuen juego de mecanicas souls con un toque de looter que le da un plus de dificultad devido a tener que atacar partes reforzadas de los enemigos para cortarselas y evolucionar el personaje que llevas. La verdad que la version de PS4 yo la he jugado y acabado en 2020 y ahun con parches..... varias veces ha petado el juego, saliendo al menu, el personaje se ha quedado bugueado y he tenido que "matarlo"... un poco turbio todo, para tener más de 2 años y tener ya una segunda parte... El juego vien pero con una historia que es muy simple y mal contada la verdad. Buena jugavilidad pero lo demas no acompaña mucho. Ahun así un juego correcto y muy disfrutable, quitando los comentados "crashes" en PS4, desconozco las otras versiones.… Expand
  13. destinyfan1
    Jul 5, 2017
    6
    In the beginning it looked like this game was going to be great but after the first half the game is nothing more then a frustration , the camera , way to op enemies that 2 shoot you , is just to insane
    Believe me , I played bloodborne and nioh and they where amazing but this is over the top insanely frustrating, infact i found the bosses even way to easy , way easier then a horde of    In the beginning it looked like this game was going to be great but after the first half the game is nothing more then a frustration , the camera , way to op enemies that 2 shoot you , is just to insane
    Believe me , I played bloodborne and nioh and they where amazing but this is over the top insanely frustrating, infact i found the bosses even way to easy , way easier then a horde of stupid enemies that should be weak
    But there are also good things like the environment what makes you feel like you have no chance beating this game
    The crafting system works aswell as the tech scraps
    Overall its a wait until its the half cheaper game    … Expand
  14. doodlerman
    Oct 14, 2019
    7
    I played Deck 13's LORDS OF THE FALLEN to completion and found it to be a real drag. I certainly wasn't looking forward to this and skipped it almost entirely. I played the demo a few months back and thought, wow, this game is exactly what I thought it would be. I didn't bother completing the demo.

    A few months pass and the game comes out on Playstation Plus for free. I give it another    I played Deck 13's LORDS OF THE FALLEN to completion and found it to be a real drag. I certainly wasn't looking forward to this and skipped it almost entirely. I played the demo a few months back and thought, wow, this game is exactly what I thought it would be. I didn't bother completing the demo.

    A few months pass and the game comes out on Playstation Plus for free. I give it another chance. While I can't say it's great - especially compared to DARK SOULS - it's actually sort of won me over. There are some familiar glitches that were present in LORDS OF THE FALLEN, but all-in-all it's a far less clunky game. The world's enemies are an immense improvement over the their previous game, but, so far, the bosses are equally cumbersome. It's not so much what seems to be intended difficulty, it's the fact that the bosses seem to move at a different frame rate all-together. This was an issue in LORDS, but, fortunately, the bosses are also very cheesable in THE SURGE. It's just a shame that they aren't a strong suit for the game.

    My thoughts may change upon beating this game, but it's at least, undeniably, better than LORDS - and actually worth playing.    … Expand
  15. PaleNielsen
    Mar 25, 2022
    7
    A great first entry into the soulsborne formula. not bad but not great either but if you've played other soulsborne before you can try this as well.
  16. MaxPayneIsGod
    Dec 12, 2021
    7
    Another Soulsborne veteran giving a Soulslike a go.
    The Surge is an OK attempt at a Soulslike in a futuristic setting.
    Very similar progression, similar combat, sort of similar openworld. This is where the AA'ness of this title shines through by showing that it is in fact a early Dark Souls clone developed by a team who doesn't quite know the "Souls" formula as well as they think they    Another Soulsborne veteran giving a Soulslike a go.
    The Surge is an OK attempt at a Soulslike in a futuristic setting.
    Very similar progression, similar combat, sort of similar openworld.
    This is where the AA'ness of this title shines through by showing that it is in fact a early Dark Souls clone developed by a team who doesn't quite know the "Souls" formula as well as they think they do.
    Its just not polished very well and there is a good reason it has such a low player base and completion rate    … Expand
  17. ohnomycocoa
    Apr 19, 2019
    6
    Has some great ideas and is enjoyable enough, however lacks polish and the end game is unbalanced.
  18. MetaRogue
    May 23, 2021
    6
    I really wanted to like The Surge. While I'm not a pro at playing FromSoftwares' roster of 'Pleasure-Through-Pain' titles, I do like them. So when I heard about Deck 13's second attempt at doing a Souls-like, I thought "Why not give it a try?"

    The opening moments in The Surge are by far the strongest in the game: You get an insight into the plight of Warren, a cripple seeking employment    I really wanted to like The Surge. While I'm not a pro at playing FromSoftwares' roster of 'Pleasure-Through-Pain' titles, I do like them. So when I heard about Deck 13's second attempt at doing a Souls-like, I thought "Why not give it a try?"

    The opening moments in The Surge are by far the strongest in the game: You get an insight into the plight of Warren, a cripple seeking employment with CREO and the means to walk again. What happens in the moments after Warren joins CREO is a horrific example of placing too much faith in technology to solve your problems. It's a brilliant, but brutal set up for the start of The Surge.

    The one big problem with The Surge's narrative is that it closely follows the Dark Souls textbook on how to tell stories and convey essential plot beats. In this regard, the story is vastly obscured and I had a vague idea of what was happening and where I needed to go next. It's a deep shame because I was curious about the backstory for The Surge's world and some of the dialogue writing was very well done.

    On the combat front, The Surge's combat system is a near perfect 10 out of 10. Executing weapon combos feels satisfying and blitzing enemies who once blitzed you just feels fantastic. Where The Surge distinguishes itself is how you fight enemies and how you acquire new weapons, armour and resources. While in combat, you can target specific areas or limbs of most enemies to either deal more damage (against unarmoured limbs) or generate more Energy (by dealing less damage, but striking the enemy more often). In the heat of battle you can freely and quickly change the specific limb that you're targeting to interrupt enemy attacks or generate more Energy when needed. Once your Energy meter is filled enough, you can do a finisher on an enemy's body part to gain new armour schematics and weapons. To get more resources to upgrade your armour and weapons, you simply must target the corresponding limbs from which the armour piece/weapon came from. In this regard, The Surge introduces a new concept to not only Souls-likes, but games in general.

    Unfortunately this is where my praise for The Surge ends. What I REALLY DON'T LIKE about The Surge is just how unnecessarily difficult it can be at times. In the early hours, I expected the usual fare of learning from my mistakes and through trial-and-error until I improved. At this point of the game, I didn't mind the difficulty curve, especially in the game's first two sections. However, the further I got, the more I didn't like how Deck 13 implemented certain difficulty spikes that felt outrageously unfair, as if someone had suddenly turned the dial up from 4 to 11. These difficulty spikes manifest themselves in the form of certain enemy types, most notably the scorpion-like quadrupeds who can cleave your health by 70% simply by leaping at you from a distance of 30 to 40 metres (and who are also heavily armoured, meaning that you're attacks do diddly squat against them) and the other enemies who can kill you in one or two shots. What's even more frustrating is that these levels of damage dealt against you completely ignore your health and armour stats.

    In the second half of the game, things go from manageable to just downright punishing. Security troops possess an EMP dart that stun locks you and their equipped weapons deal massive damage - when you're doing your best and you get ganged up on by three or more security troops, you simply don't stand a chance. Then there are the boss fights.

    Boss fights in The Surge can truly push you to the brink of your composure. The problem is that the boss fights are poorly designed given the fact that The Surge relies on close quarters combat. The bigger bosses are a fitting example of how their design contradicts the game's combat - they require you to get in close at exactly the right time, but at the same time you run the risk of getting absolutely destroyed in a split second. When I say "This isn't fair" I mean it's a level of unfairness that makes Dark Souls' level of difficulty look reasonable by comparison.

    In the end, I can't recommend The Surge. It's a thing that ticks me off immensely because I actually love the game's combat system.

    To be honest, I'm sick and tired of up and coming developers simply cashing in on FromSoftwares' successful gameplay formula by dressing their game up in a 'different' skin. What annoys me even more is that they then go and try to compete with FromSoftware by making their game MORE DIFFICULT than Dark Souls. This often tarnishes the overall enjoyment level of their game and is more of a detrimental trait than an admirable one.

    It's a real shame for Deck 13 because they could have crafted a great game that pays homage to it's inspirations whilst being more fun due to its greater degree of accessibility. Instead they tried to walk the path of being 'Darker than Dark Souls' and ended up walking the plank to failure and unlikability.    … Expand
  19. HTGamer
    Apr 8, 2019
    5
    The Surge is a clone of the Dark Souls/Bloodborne games, but it pales in comparison to both Nioh (the best clone so far) and the original games.

    The game's world is near-future sci-fi, with AIs gone wrong, drones and mechs turned hostile, and humans gone insane due to digital implants. Actually this is the least inspired aspect of the whole game, and the story isn't anything good. There    The Surge is a clone of the Dark Souls/Bloodborne games, but it pales in comparison to both Nioh (the best clone so far) and the original games.

    The game's world is near-future sci-fi, with AIs gone wrong, drones and mechs turned hostile, and humans gone insane due to digital implants. Actually this is the least inspired aspect of the whole game, and the story isn't anything good. There is no trace of the mystery and abstract lore found on FROM Software's games.

    Combat is based on the Souls template, with 5 differences: there is no parry and critical strike, no backstab, you can't move while guarding, no invincibility frames during dodges, and no online MP features whatsoever. Plus the game is severely unbalanced, enemies deal tons of damage even by the Souls games' standards. Mere mobs can kill you in a few hits, let alone bosses which can nearly one-shot you. However this game brings 2 new things to the genre. First is the ability to target specific limbs on enemies and chop them off, so you can get materials for crafting purposes. Second is the drones you can get later in the game to assist you in various ways. But overall this game's combat is inferior to the Souls games.

    Graphics are just OK artistically, nothing beautiful, but they work. Frame rate is locked at 30 fps (a huge improvement over the developer's previous game Lords of the Fallen and the Souls games which run poorly). On PS4 Pro you can choose between 1080p at 60 fps or 1620p at 30 fps. Sound FX, voices and OST are meh.

    Overall The Surge is a repetitive game paying tribute to the Dark Souls series. It needs more work to be in the same league. Whether the upcoming sequel will achieve that remains to be seen.    … Expand
  20. SplitMind
    Feb 18, 2020
    6
    I debated on giving this game three or four stars. I settled on three because although I appreciate a more accessible take on Dark Souls, the game could have executed it much better.

    It wasn't until the first boss that a key flaw in the game became most noticeable - the hitboxes. The hitboxes mean that an enemy can hit you even though you can see their attack missed you, sometimes by an    I debated on giving this game three or four stars. I settled on three because although I appreciate a more accessible take on Dark Souls, the game could have executed it much better.

    It wasn't until the first boss that a key flaw in the game became most noticeable - the hitboxes. The hitboxes mean that an enemy can hit you even though you can see their attack missed you, sometimes by an inch, sometimes more. This becomes most apparent at the first boss because its movements are so sudden and jerky that it gets very difficult (but not impossible) to evade. However this marred my experience a lot because the combat became cheap rather than challenging. Hitboxes are crucial to get right in a game like this where you can get killed in one hit; you don't want that one hit being a glitch or a fluke

    Other than that there is a fair bit to enjoy in this game. Chopping off enemy limbs to loot them is a nice concept but the novelty does wear off a bit; the same goes for loot system itself which gets very grindy.

    The graphics are fairly decent but the game doesn't capitalise on them as much as it could, with some overly dark environments and homogenous enemy designs.

    Overall it's not the worst game considering its current price, but it doesn't make me eager for the sequel either. Get it if you've exhausted all other similar games, but with upcoming releases like Nioh 2 it's going to be hard to recommend this game or its sequel.    … Expand
  21. superpyro296
    Jun 4, 2023
    6
    I tried The Surge and wanted to share my impressions. I stopped playing this game once I reached the first boss for many reasons:
    1. I found too much glitches, pop-ins or weird textures and that distracted me significantly
    2. Combat can get repetitive 3. Game is just not poiished enough But, on a positive note, I still had good time with this game but I preferred to move to other    I tried The Surge and wanted to share my impressions. I stopped playing this game once I reached the first boss for many reasons:
    1. I found too much glitches, pop-ins or weird textures and that distracted me significantly
    2. Combat can get repetitive
    3. Game is just not poiished enough

    But, on a positive note, I still had good time with this game but I preferred to move to other games. I don't think this game is bad. I even find that they had great ideas but the implementation was average...My Ps5 also warned me that this game can have unexpected behavior if used with the ps5 so maybe it explains some of the graphical problems. When I started the game, I've been able to correct the blue lines bug by disabling lens flare for those who want to try this game on PS5. But even with this correction, you will find some problems in the graphics.    … Expand
  22. Berik
    Feb 20, 2019
    7
    The Surge is (apparently) a souls like game, which i have never played. Therefore this was my first try at such a game.

    Visually the game looks good, with an interesting style of futuristic technology and large facilities. The music picks up at interesting moments and adds extra tension. Combat takes a moment to get used to and to get good at but becomes fun in the end. However, the    The Surge is (apparently) a souls like game, which i have never played. Therefore this was my first try at such a game.

    Visually the game looks good, with an interesting style of futuristic technology and large facilities. The music picks up at interesting moments and adds extra tension. Combat takes a moment to get used to and to get good at but becomes fun in the end.

    However, the game has some strong shortcomings. The story is weak and told in a way i'm left wondering if the developer wants me to be interested. The main character is basically a random NPC with one character trait: He used to be in a wheelchair. That's it.

    The Boss fights are quite frustrating, though i guess that is supposed to be the point. Still i did not enjoy the wrestling match with the camera to actually see what's happening on screen.

    I picked this game up for 10 euros so i got a pretty good deal on it, but the game seems to not fully utilise the potential it could have had. It's a good game, i give it a 7/10.    … Expand
  23. Milidante
    Sep 25, 2019
    5
    1. Boring combat
    2.trash level design with no specific signiture in its locations so you lost many time in the game
    3.useless shortcuts. (Developers just want to copy from souls but the **** it up)
    4. The most important thing is that its not playable on basic ps4. The fps is under than 25
  24. Talomustkill
    Apr 26, 2019
    7
    Gráficos decentes, la jugabilidad me encanto lo de apuntar a la extremidad que quiero hacer daño o armadura que deseo craftear, creo que es lo mas entretenido que tiene el juego, los jefes son... meh! y los niveles están bastante raros, hay que explorar bastante para aprenderte sus conexiones.
  25. GoldValentinev
    Mar 26, 2020
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I am disappointed it was Very good until Cerberus boss i try like 50 times, is this a game to sell to be like i play in ultra hard mode???So many hour on waste is not fun anymore i will not buy the surge 2 now im done great game but very unsatisfied if you cant beat it and waste your hours...… Expand
  26. OtisMoses
    May 27, 2020
    7
    Definitely a Souls-clone... it's pretty much what you would expect from a German game. Not perfect but it's alright.
    I hated the first three hours of the game, then started to like it. The combat and loot system is fairly amazing and the level design is on Dark Souls level, even if you're walking through a big factory most of the time. It has some flaws for sure, but it's a good challenge    Definitely a Souls-clone... it's pretty much what you would expect from a German game. Not perfect but it's alright.
    I hated the first three hours of the game, then started to like it. The combat and loot system is fairly amazing and the level design is on Dark Souls level, even if you're walking through a big factory most of the time. It has some flaws for sure, but it's a good challenge and since it's only about 20- 30 hours, you can surely give it a try.    … Expand
  27. churros
    Jul 19, 2020
    5
    Pros:
    + good level design
    + stamina based combat

    Cons:
    - abismal frame rate
    - unnacurated hitboxes
    - ugly weapons and armor design
    - boring story and dialog
  28. FRIST_008
    May 8, 2023
    7
    Космический соулс лайк, который основан на гринде конечностей врагов, чтобы собрать 10 одинаковых рук и сделать из них супер руку врага и пойти ей всех херячить=) Вы при это киборг и у вас ещё есть торс, вторая рука, ноги, голова.

    После унылых солсов и великолепного бладборна, это как глоток свежего воздуха, потому если вы нормально относитесь к соулсам, то вам точно понравится более    Космический соулс лайк, который основан на гринде конечностей врагов, чтобы собрать 10 одинаковых рук и сделать из них супер руку врага и пойти ей всех херячить=) Вы при это киборг и у вас ещё есть торс, вторая рука, ноги, голова.

    После унылых солсов и великолепного бладборна, это как глоток свежего воздуха, потому если вы нормально относитесь к соулсам, то вам точно понравится более целенаправленное избиение мобов до босса. Ведь вам теперь не просто надо убить мобов, а "НЕ УБИТЬ ПОКА НЕ ОТРУБИЛ ВОН ТУ НОГУ", что добавляет челенджа, крутого челенджа.

    Сюжета тут как соулс лайке кстати. Кот плакал.    … Expand
  29. JoseManuel10_
    Aug 9, 2023
    5
    The Surge is a 2017 action role-playing video game developed by Deck13 Interactive and published by Focus Home Interactive.

Awards & Rankings

50
#50 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2017
33
#33 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
73

Mixed or average reviews - based on 57 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 57
  2. Mixed: 32 out of 57
  3. Negative: 0 out of 57
  1. Playstation Official Magazine Australia
    Jul 7, 2017
    70
    Deck13 has stepped up to take a lash at Souls’ patented sadism. Some swings are short of the target, but the bulk have landed where they should. [July 2017, p80]
  2. CD-Action
    Jun 30, 2017
    80
    When it came to rating the game, I was torn between 7+ and 8. There are some technical issues here, the bosses are disappointingly bland and both enemies and environments could use some more variety. I made my final decision when I played the wonderful song from the game and started to look through the screenshots I captured. I instantly remembered how much fun I had with The Surge’s great combat system and felt the need to start New Game+. And I don’t even consider Dark Souls the best thing since medieval torture devices. [07/2017, p.54]
  3. Playstation Official Magazine UK
    Jun 24, 2017
    70
    Lacks the finesse and charisma of its inspiration, and the exhilaration of nippier titles such as Bloodborne. A decent action RPG that finds itself in with a tough crowd. [July 2016, p.83]
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