Games Under the Radar: The Surge 2

Nothing quite beats the thrill of finding a good, solid, mid-tier game that you just can't put down.

For those unfamiliar with the term, a mid tier game refers to something that's not an indie game, developed by a small or one-man studio, and not quite a AAA title with millions of dollars behind it. Think memorable but smaller time titles like Time Splitters, XCOM, the original Dead Space, things like that. Games that made a splash, but weren't part of big hype cycles. A level of game where original, and sometimes silly ideas thrived.

Anyhow, I digress. If you've read my top 5 games list, you'll know that I love Dark Souls with a fiery passion. I think Dark Souls 3, specifically, is one of the most well designed and fulfilling games I've ever played, and the series has created an entire genre of games known as Souls-likes. The problem is, until recently, From Software has had the entire genre on lock. No other developer seemed to be able to get close to reproducing, let alone improving upon, the Dark Souls formula.

Enter Deck 13, a reasonably small studio based in Frankfurt, Germany, who seems to have ambitions to make the next great Souls-like. Now, I can't claim to be familiar with their entire catalog of over 20 games, but I have played their three most recent attempts at carving a niche for themselves in the genre. Lords of the Fallen was a decently put together, but plodding affair that couldn't quite master that Dark Souls feel. The Surge had similar issues, but brought a few interesting new ideas to the table such as having to physically cut armor and weapons off of your opponents to get/upgrade gear.

Then in 2019, they released The Surge 2, and thanks to the Steam Summer Sale I finally have my hands on it, and oh boy, they really did something special.

Now, I'll try and stay level headed here, so let's start with the not-so-great stuff. The game isn't the most impressive visually (it's perfectly fine, but compared to some of the AAA games from 2019, it's not quite up to par.). The story, likewise, isn't going to set any records as it's fairly forgettable, thought this may be a result of trying to ape that Dark Souls style "learn the lore through the gameplay" approach to storytelling. Unfortunately, it's just not QUITE there.

But that's the unimportant stuff, let's talk about the absolutely killer gameplay.

See, at the end of the day, a Souls-like game lives or dies on how engaging its core gameplay loop is. Does it handle well? Are the enemies tough but fair? Do the bosses push your reflexes to the limit? Does your character feel too powerful, or too weak? Are the weapons and armor varied, visually appealing, and fun to play around with? These are all questions that need to be taken into account when judging a game of this genre, and The Surge 2 totally and completely nails it.

Like Dark Souls and Bloodborne before it, The Surge 2 (hereafter just referred to as Surge for times sake) thrusts you into a world that you are commanded to respect. If you don't watch your step, manage your resources, and respect the abilities of every enemy you come across, you're not going to have a good time. Not to say that the game isn't fair, in fact it gives you all of the tools you'll need to survive and then some (it's actually fairly generous for a Souls-like), but if you don't take even the most basic enemies seriously, you'll be in for a rough time. The gameplay itself takes a lot of obvious inspiration from Bloodborne, meaning the combat is much more fast paced and the player is encouraged, by the games systems, to be more aggressive for their own sake.

As in the first Surge game, you are able to target individual part on your opponent (right or left arm, right or left leg, torso, head), which allows you to gain new armors, weapons, and upgrade materials depending on what you...well...hack off of them. This sounds disgusting but fortunately, the game keeps its violence, and its atmosphere in general, a little more tongue in cheek so as not to be oppressive or off-putting. In fact, after a particularly hard fought battle, the brutal, slow-motion finishing animations are nothing short of exhilarating, and the ability to choose how and when you get upgrade materials and gear adds a lot of player agency to the whole affair.

This agency is boosted by the implant system, which provides powerful passive bonuses based on the implants you equip, that can bolster all sorts of playstyles. These bonuses allows for incredible amounts of scaling as you progress through the game and even into New Game + (where the world is filled with tougher enemies, but you keep and continue to scale your gear)

On the visuals side, in terms of art direction, the game is, again, stellar. Set loose in a crumbling, cyberpunk city, you arm yourself with various armors that range from "sci fi street punk" to "Greek god from the future" and some weapons that look like everything from construction parts to high-tech samurai swords, and you're off to the races. I actually found it hard to balance my resources at points, as the armors looked so cool that I wanted to craft every single piece. The game does drop quite a few weapons on you, and your inventory will get a bit clogged, but at least it allows you to truly play around and figure out what style of play you enjoy the most (or whatever you think looks the coolest, I won't judge).

Finally, we have the boss fights. Now, I won't say that these are quite on the level of Dark Souls or Bloodborne (I mean, what is?), but there are definitely some standouts among the cast. Specifically, any boss fight that is more of an intimate duel between the player and someone their own size is practically guaranteed to be a blast. These one-on-ones with enemies who move and attack at the same speed of the player make great use of the games excellent parry and dodge systems, leading to some incredibly satisfying finales after much trial and error. On the whole, the bosses carry over the awesome design of the rest of the game very well, with a couple being visually stunning enough to be instant design classics.

And there you have it, The Surge 2. A relatively small, but incredibly enjoyable Dark Souls clone that hits all the right notes, and brings a few ideas of its own to the table. Deck 13 has certainly made a name for itself in the genre, and I absolutely cannot wait to see where they go from here.