Playing through the Surge has been one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences I have had to date. Everyone knows it's a souls like game but it is much more than that at heart.

It's easy to brush off the story at play here but I urge everyone to actually pay attention. Listen to the audiologs. Explore everything. Do the side quests. It's hard for a game like this - not focused on story but focused around it's difficulty and core gameplay loops to engage you in a thought out story, and while I admit it wasn't the best told tale it was certainly an interesting one. There are plenty of seemingly pointless audio logs or focus points that will all be revealed later on in the game and all of them will open your eyes to how grim the world of the Surge really is. Had it been a little more polished and perhaps given some background lore this would have been one of the best stories in gaming, in my opinion.

Aside from my love of the story, the game has many selling points.

- The combat is very, very satisfying. Yes it recycles the core dark souls style but it adds to it and IMO improves on it. With execution moves and pinpoint targeting you really feel in control in the fights you get into. The actual difficulty in fighting enemies I feel was greater than any other souls like game I have played (DS1,2 and 3) and I initially it a serious wall in combat. Practice truly does make perfect though and the game will reward you for trying again, because once you get the hang of your preferred weapon (of which there are tonnes) and can learn off some enemy move sets you'll be making your way through enemies like greased lighting.

-Customization is also plentiful. The Surge doesn't let you sink EXP points into any given skills or any of those familiar rpg mechanics you may be used to, but instead it has its very unique implant system. These implants allow you to drastically change up your playstyle and as you progress further into the game and find more you can adapt and overcome most situations. All of these implants rely on your core power which is in essence the exp sink of the game, but it doesn't increase your base stats, and will only allow you to add more implants or equip more powerful gear. It was an odd system to me when I first started but I like what they have done. I can choose to go into a fight stacked with HP implants and healing implants, or I can throw caution to the wind and only take DPS implants. High risk high reward gameplay is ever present in the Surge and the implant system simply puts the cherry on top.

-The game is gorgeous. Now I realize it is set indoors in familiar environments like 80% of the time but my god are those environments well done. The textures are beautiful and everything looks perfect. There are some sections when you walk through tunnels and I personally had to stop and admire my character model during some of these instances when the light hit me a certain way. It's easy to say that everything in the game looks the same because they're all robots and everything is mechanical etc. But looking similar doesn't mean looking bad.

-There are plenty of nifty little things that make the game so much more enjoyable. Set bonuses, secret areas, collectibles, easter eggs, ironic humour and more.


There is an abundance of things to do in the NG mode and then plenty of farming and upgrades and extra goodies in NG+, there is a DLC that just came out too so you won't be stuck for content in the slightest. Any souls fan is missing out big time if they pass up on this game, even if the setting doesn't appeal to you I urge you to try it because it will grow on you and you will love it.

10/10. I really don't have a bad word to say about this game. Say for the music that plays in the OPS centers, but that's so minimal it really doesn't matter.