The Surge 2 is the latest installment in the RPG franchise by Deck13 and Focus Home Interactive. This game was on my Watchlist for a long time because I played the first game and I really liked the setting and the Soulsborne formula but in a totally different setting. If you are new to the franchise, then you should know that The Surge is a hardcore RPG that wants you to take down ruthless enemies and make your own character powerful while doing so. The Surge 2 is the sequel to the original title and this is our review of the game. Our review was made on Xbox One.
Right after booting up The Surge 2, you are presented with the character creation screen something which was much needed to make it a proper RPG the first time around. In the original game, you play as a pre-set character however this time around, you can create your own custom character with numerous options. Despite having a lot of options including character background, these are all visual options and they don’t provide any sort of bonuses to the character in certain stats but still, it is a decent addition to the game.
After creating your character, you are thrown in the middle of a Detention Center in Jericho City where the game is based. To give you a little history lesson, The Surge 2 continuous right where the first ends. I will not give out too many details here about the story to make this review a spoiler fest but the plane that crashes down in Jericho City gets hit by the rocket launched at the end of the first game. The game starts right after that. Back to the Detention Center. The first level works out as a tutorial and afterward, you are thrown in the Jericho City where you are on your own to explore.
As soon as you step out of the Detention Center, the game gives you a clear view of the city and to be honest, I was a little disappointed at first. The game tried to give that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild intro where we get a clear look of the entire area but this time around, it was not very good. I will say here that visuals are not the strongest suit of The Surge 2. The game looks okay in wide-open areas but when it comes to close areas which in the case of The Surge 2, are a lot, the game looks pretty weak.
The lighting feels off-balance in many areas where your character would be over-illuminated and in certain areas it would look just dull. However, this only happens in areas which are inside buildings with too much light or when you are using your rig’s flashlight to look around in dark areas. Visually, I am not really impressed with The Surge 2 overall but in some places, the game looks very well. So it is a little bit on both sides of the spectrum when it comes to visuals. The enemies look amazing, however. The character design is really good apart from the humanoids. Most of them look silly.
Coming to the audio, The Surge 2 is really well-designed in the sound design. Footsteps, cluttering of weapons, hitting sounds, jumping, movement, everything is spot on. I don’t remember a single moment when I thought during my review that this is sound was weird or this could have been better. Similar to the first game, there is no music here as well. Except for the menu music or in certain instances where we are near speakers and music is playing. Other than that, there is very minimalistic soundtrack playing and it is actually a good thing as you can easily hear the footsteps of enemies around you.
Coming to the world of The Surge 2, Jericho City is very well-designed and each of the districts is distinct and will offer some really unique challenges to you. Some of the areas are open and provide easy approach around but most of the areas are tight and cluttered. However, it is a massive improvement over the first game and I respect Deck13 in this manner. Being even a little better is good rather than going back in steps. Some areas are a real treat to explore and look at as they provide a completely different environment than what we have normally seen in the franchise.
However, there is one major flaw that still bothers me. The world most of the time feels empty. There are a lot more NPCs this time around to interact with and get some side-quests from but the world is still empty and bland when compared to other RPGs on this generation. There is not enough activity in the world. Most of the enemies are simply standing and waiting for their doom while some of them just patrol around like robots. They don’t feel alive and the world at times feels really empty to really immerse the player in it.
There is a story hidden in all this as well. There is no in-your-face narrative here and most of the times, you will just wonder as to why are you slaying everyone around yourself who are just minding their own business and standing at their marked locations. After leaving the Detention Center, you are instructed to arrive at the bottom of the giant octopus and then from there, you are instructed to move to another area. This continues until the end and there’s not much to learn about what happened to the city and what became of the original CREO facility. Although, you can find some audio logs lying around here and there which will tell you a little bit of what happened in that area of the city.
Now, coming to the main thing that really matters in an RPG and that is gameplay. Even in gameplay, combat is the most important here and for me, it is a love and hate affair. Sometimes I love the combat system and sometimes I start hating it. It is not too bad but it is not too good either. Some mechanics are really solid but some mechanics are extremely poor which really annoy me sometimes. To start with, tackling a single enemy is amazing. You lock onto them, find their weak spot, keep hitting that while dodging and avoiding their attacks and then chop off the weak spot in a brutal finishing move.
This is extremely satisfying. For most parts, if you are not chopping down your enemies, you are not playing The Surge 2 right. The Surge 2 wants you to chop off parts of your enemies because it will only unlock more weapons and armor pieces when you chop off their body parts. If you need an armor bit for your leg, chop off your enemy’s leg. If you need armor for your arm, chop off some arms and if you need some head protection, well you understand what I am trying to say here. The Surge 2 is the ultimate chopping simulator.
As you progress in the main story, you will unlock many other helpful features as well such as a sidekick drone which will provide you a powerful ranged attack solution. You can find more weapons for your drone in the world and then equip them to make your drone more capable in different scenarios. It can be equipped with lasers, machine guns, Molotov cocktails, and many other unique attachments. Finding ammo for these attachments is not a big problem as well because enemies will drop ammo for you sometimes and you can easily use the ammo for your drone if you have it in your inventory. As you continue to level up, spend attributes to increase your health and stamina and equip better weapons and armor, you will be able to take down enemies more effectively but the combat system fails where you are surrounded by enemies.
One of the main issues here is the camera. Once locked onto 1 enemy, it will stay focused on that enemy which means all other enemies are out of your focus and you are in for a nightmare if some of those enemies get behind you and you are surrounded. In such a situation, you will most probably die unless you jump like a crazy person and escape. You cannot expect to take down multiple enemies if you are surrounded. Another major problem is the camera during combat.
Once locked, it will follow the enemy until they are dead. If you are near a ledge and hit an enemy to push them off the ledge, the camera will stoop down after enemy licking your view at the floor because most of the enemies survive even the harshest of the falls in the game. This makes traversing extremely difficult when locked on to an enemy. You cannot see where the other enemies are and in extreme cases, you cannot even look around yourself while you are locked at an enemy.
This does not bother you as much when you are fighting multiple enemies in wide and open areas however if you encounter multiple enemies in a tight area, which you will mostly, the combat really becomes poor and you left with nothing but some lost gems because, for some reason, you only get a limited time to return to that area and pick up your loot if you die. You can extend this time by killing some enemies on the way but still, this mechanic is in place for some weird reason.
However, if your encounters with enemies go according to your own plan, the combat is very satisfying. You can even take down the toughest of the enemies without taking a single hit in the game if you get good control over dodging, parrying and hitting enemies. This brings me to the boss fights. Just like any good RPG, the boss fights here are brutal. Random enemies hit hard but the bosses will turn you into mincemeat. Even the mini-bosses literally squish you like a fly if you are not careful around them. Taking the bosses and the mini-bosses down is extremely satisfying and since they come alone, you can expect some brutal and strategic encounters with them. The first boss Warden Garcia will set a good benchmark for the rest of the bosses in the game.
The Surge 2 offers plenty of content right at launch and it is sure to keep you busy after hours of gameplay. After putting in nearly 25 hours in the game, I still think I have a long way to go before I am done with the game. Once you get the hang of the combat system, you really start enjoying the game but you must note one thing, never be overconfident in The Surge 2. You might be dominating the boss battles but a lowly grunt of an enemy can ruin your day in the game easily so you must respect every enemy and take your time dealing with them. This advice comes from experience.
Final Verdict:
The Surge 2 is a massive improvement over the first game and it shows that Deck13 is pretty serious in developing The Surge as a major franchise in the RPG genre. It has its flaws, the combat is hit and run while the visuals might be a little choppy in certain areas but the overall presentation of The Surge 2 is amazing. It is bound to keep you busy for hours. If you are tired of playing the traditional RPGs, The Surge 2 is a very strong contender for you to try out and experience a brand new take on the RPG genre. If you missed the first game, you can easily jump in the second game because it is much better and offers tons more fun than the first one. This is how a sequel should be made. It does not have to be perfect but at least it should look that the developers are moving in the right direction.
Final Score: 8/10
