The Surge 2 is the highly anticipated sequel to Deck 13’s ‘Soul’s style’ robotic, super-suit, slaughter-fuelled game, The Surge.
We got the opportunity to play the game for a few hours, try out a multitude of weapons and face off against several different kinds of enemies with varying difficulties (and degrees of success).
Here are four things I got from my playthrough that you need to know before you play the game.
It’s improved on everything that was good from the first game
The differences are immense! Not only in gameplay, but in story style, setting and of course graphically The Surge 2 surpasses the original game in almost every way.
- The level design doesn’t feel simplistic and direct in The Surge 2, with alleyways, hidden rooms sporting gear and enemies with plenty of colourful scenery to attract the eye
- You can (and want to) interact with NPC’s to find out more about the inhabitants of Jericho City, adding a new more personal dimension to the series
- The general city setting is much better in The Surge 2, giving you the feeling that different levels are in different areas, with different enemies, with different environmental hazards etc. (you get the picture)
Overall, I am excited to see how the whole game pans out compared to Deck13’s previous dive into the ‘repeatedly dying’ genre.
The fights are tough but rewarding
Like it’s predecessor, The Surge 2 is one of those games where you have to repeatedly die, trying different approaches in order to get past trickier enemies and booby-trapped locations.
You will find yourself relying heavily on the dodge and counter mechanics, especially when facing off against multiple opponents.
Dodging, countering and attacking all use up your stamina bar, move too much in a short period of time and you will find yourself stuck on the pointy end of a sword or just straight up decapitated…
Timing your attacks and counter-attacks are of the utmost importance when fighting enemies – I found myself retreating often and isolating enemies to deal with them one on one.
From what I got from my playthrough there are two ways to play The Surge 2.
You can either opt for the fast stamina based build or for a more heavy weapon deflection based character.
I pumped all my ‘levelling-up’ points into stamina which meant the faster playstyle suited my character far better than the more slow-paced heavy hitter.
Not giving the enemy a chance to swing their weapon at me worked when fighting low tier enemies, however, when being attacked by groups of three or more, your drone comes in handy to either stop you getting overwhelmed or to deal damage to multiple enemies at once.
Get to the Med Bay!
With the professional advice, I have already dished out I may have made The Surge 2 seem like a ‘walk in the park’, that’s far from the case.
The difficulty goes up exponentially as you progress through the game.
You will often find yourself thinking you’re facing off against single enemies when several more bad lads kitted out with machine guns, katanas and 10ft long nail-studded hammers come out of nowhere and instakill you.
For this reason, it is of the UTMOST importance that you regularly go back to a Medical Bay to store all of the scraps you have harvested from enemies thus far.
If you die you will respawn at the last Med Bay you visited and be given one chance to venture to the location of your death and retrieve all your loot.
Go to medbay as often as you can to either utilise the scraps by upgrading your gear or bank them for later use.
In my playthrough I reached a haven of prosperity known as ‘Jericho Seaside Court’ here you could speak with the other survivors/warriors find missions and most importantly shop for ammo, sell your spare metal for scraps and make some cash!
It’s a good idea to visit here regularly!
The boss battles are hard… really hard
Talk about a step up in difficulty.
After tackling some of the ‘easier’ enemies, I ran into ‘Little Johnny’ the kingpin of a drug empire in Jericho City, he just so happened to be in a giant robotic spider suit which moved incredibly fast.
Fans of the Souls game will be right at home when facing off against bosses in The Surge 2, as it requires fast reflexes, perfect timing and most importantly persistence.
The battle with Little Johnny was completely different from any of the enemies I had previously faced.
I only wish it had come a little sooner as it added a dimension to the game that would be welcome in more battles, a bit of uniqueness.