The Surge 2 (PlayStation 4) Review

You wake up in a medical facility, unsure of how you got there.

The last thing you remember is a strange girl who was on your flight, Flight 221, that crashed and it doesn’t take long before you realise that you are in a prison hospital in Jericho City, quarantined as you learn of an ‘infection’ plaguing mankind. Martial Law is in effect and everyone, it seems is your enemy.

The Surge 2 is a cybernetic third person action title from Deck 13 and Focus Home Interactive that throws you deep in to gameplay from the very beginning.

The game is brutal at times with it’s difficulty – for example to start out with you are frail, yet you must escape (and survive) the lone evacuation of a crumbling facility where prisoners and monsters run rampant.

Further in to gameplay it doesn’t get any easier. Die you will.

The Surge 2 sees you harvesting mech scrap, this can be used to go to towards your own mech enhancements and such the like, but die – and you are placed back at the Level’s last Checkpoint – then it’s a race against the clock to get back to the point where you fell to regain your precious scrap before it’s gone for good.

Challenging – yes, frustrating, hell yes. Especially if you were killed by a larger enemy and you have to make your way back, defeat them all over again within the timer.

More often than not if you are killed you can kiss your hoard goodbye.

You will gain futuristic weaponry and the idea of The Surge 2 is not really gun and run, but more of a strategic bullet hail where you need to aim for your enemies limbs, if they are cyber looking. As their bodily appendages come off, loot them and use them. Loot makes you stronger and can also add to your abilities and armour. You need it as you get deeper in to the game, your foes become bigger badder and nastier.

Your character is fully customizable from the onset. You select from either six male type characters or six female. Fine tune your chosen one to your liking.

Adding to the difficulty spikes in the game is how fast your health bar depletes and the fact that you have a stamina bar.

Sure these do increase somewhat throughout the game, but in the heat of melee combat it’s not uncommon to see your character slow down and take a few knocks as your stamina depletes.

The Surge 2 is a quest for the truth, what happened on Flight 221? Who was that strange girl? Who is human and who is a cybernetic?

It is brilliantly written with a blockbuster type film narrative.

Whether you go it alone or online, The Surge 2 is hugely challenging. I liken it to the Dark Souls of the scifi game genre.

Definitely worth a play through, if you have the patience and tolerance.

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