The Surge - Xbox One

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The Surge (Xbox One)
Also for: PS4, PC
Viewed: 3D Third-person, over the shoulder Genre:
Adventure: Role Playing
Media: Blu-Ray Arcade origin:No
Developer: Deck 13 Soft. Co.: Deck 13
Publishers: Focus Home Interactive (GB)
Released: 16 May 2017 (GB)
Ratings: PEGI 18+
No Accessories: No accessories

Summary

The unnerving thing about the bleak future world of The Surge is that it's not actually post apocalyptic, like so many of its science fiction peers. Rather, it's a worryingly plausible extrapolation of the world of today, with an ageing population, dwindling jobs and a climate that's been thoroughly messed up not just by climate change, but by attempts to engineer the climate to counter said changes. Those that still work in physical jobs do so with the aid of mech suits. And, as we all know, where there's a mech suit there's a videogame.

The Surge is developed by Lords of the Fallen dev Deck13, and the developer has been keen to compare it to the Souls games by From Software. It's a tough action RPG, set against this mech-based dystopian future.

Combat is highly varied. Most of the machines and mech-enhanced humans you're up against aren't designed to kill you, but they're going to do their best anyway. That means you'll be fighting with and against ad-hoc weapons. One aspect of combat that feeds in to this is the ability to target specific body parts while you fight. That might mean that you can find a vulnerability in your opponents armour and exploit it, but it also means that if they have a piece of kit that you want you can aim to chop it off. In fact, most of the kit you can get hold of will be acquired this way, and you can follow through by using the crafting system to cook up your own equipment.

Combine this with metroidvania-style world design and you've got a recipe for extensive exploration, deep crafting and strategic combat.

News & Editorial

The Surge Review

23 May 2017