Nov
13
2019
0

The Surge 2 Review

Developer: Deck 13

Publisher: Focus Interactive

Release Date: September 24th, 2019

Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One

Following the events of it’s predecessor, The Surge 2 takes place shortly after the rocket launches at the end of the first game. It doesn’t quite make it to it’s intended destination in the Earth’s atmosphere. Instead, it smashes into the back end of Flight 221 and your character is the only known survivor. You wake up in the medical wing of the Jericho City Police Department and all hell has broken loose in the city. There’s a nanite plague sweeping through a now quarantined Jericho City, it’s inhabitants are fighting for survival and your character is seeing strange visions beckoning them onward. Overall, I like the improvements to The Surge’s approach to story telling. A lot of it still told through audio logs and NPCs you’ll meet through out the game but it’s structure much better than the first game. A lot of your quests come from safe hubs within Jericho and a few friendly faces from the first Surge also pop back up. Despite being a step up from the first however, the story is still pretty lackluster.

Gameplay remains largely the same so returning players who managed to slice and dice their way through “The Surge’s” CREO facilities will feel right at home as it’s centered around dismembering your foes for weapons, parts and armor schematics. Where the Surge 2 is concerned however, players are treated with a much, much wider variety of weapons in order to methodically take apart the opposition. One thing players will notice is that Deck 13 advertised dual weldable weapons and those do exist in the form of “Double-Duty” weapons, a weapon that can function as either or a heavy weapon or dual-wielded weapon. Which form it takes on is dependent on how quickly you tap the attack button. The drone also received some hefty improvements as well. Players can equip their drone with an EMP launcher, snipe enemies from afar or use it to lobe grenades at enemies. I actually found the EMP launcher to be a little overpowered as it works just a little too well against human enemies and bosses. It’s shock effect can momentarily stun enemies and even knock them out of attacks.

As previously stated, the center of The Surge 2’s combat remains the same. You’ll be targeting specific body parts to break and dismember for weapons and armor. One change I appreciate is the ability to break down higher tiered parts for lower tiered parts. It made grinding out materials much less frustrating and crafting sets multiple sets of armor much more appealing. With that being said, exploration is still very much encouraged otherwise you’ll miss all of the items hidden throughout Jericho. Some of the games side quests require you locate a certain amount of audio logs and specific enemies all of which are hidden pretty well. There are also some optional bosses and “echo visions” that reward the players with bits of lore and weapons for finding them. There’s also a fun game players can play with one another where they can hide banners for scrap rewards.

Jericho City is a welcomed changed when compared to the confined spaces of the old CREO facilities in the first game. There’s a lot more verticality to the environments this time around and I often found multiple paths to traverse when getting to my intended destinations along with multiple shortcuts back to my medbays. I thought the games world was well designed but eventually, there’s a point of no return about halfway through the game and the city is bathed in this pale blue light. It’s an odd choice because it makes everything look washed out with the exception of interior areas. As far as the audio goes, it’s about the same as it’s predecessor. Not much has really changed there and that, in my humble opinion, is okay. The voice acting is about in the middle as well. The Stranger was probably my favorite character.

I played on the Xbox One X and while the graphical bug reared it’s head quite often but the game ran smoothly otherwise and the load times were never an issue. It took me about 19 hours to beat the game which according to the stats at the end, the average is about 34 hours. Despite it’s issues, the Surge 2 is a huge step up from it’s predecessor. Using the new weapons to slice off enemy limbs with surgical precision is still a blast and Jericho City is a breath of fresh air in comparison to the old CREO facility. If you’re deciding on either Code Vein or the Surge 2, I suggest going for the Surge 2.

WeTheNerdy gives The Surge 2 8 severed limbs out of 10.

Pros:
Jericho City is a step up from CREO
Combat improvements
New weapons are fun to use
Create a character!

Cons:
The graphical effect half way through the game
Story is lackluster
Texture bug