The Surge reviews round up

German developers Deck 13 were probably the ones closest to making an actual clone of Dark Souls series in their first game, Lords of the Fallen. While not exactly bad, it failed to fully grasp what it was that made Dark Souls great. Still, the German devs are back with more experience this time, with their new Souls-like, The Surge.

With the king currently on hold indefinitely (regardless of how great Demon Souls/Dark Souls/Bloodborne have been, the series has grown just a tad stale), there is a nice gap in the market. The Surge is there to fill it, learning from Lords of the Fallen’s mistakes, while at the same time expanding on its good sides. For example, the Surge allows you to target individual limbs on enemies to cut them off, which also means you get what they have equipped on severed limbs – not a bad trade-off.

The game has been on the receiving end of some solid reviews, so let us take a look at the roundup:

• Polygon – 80/100 – “In a 2017 that’s been overflowing with excellent games, The Surge may be the single biggest surprise so far.”
• Xbox Achievements – 80/100 – “The Surge is a genuinely good, solid and well-designed Dark Souls-alike with a dystopian future tech/sci-fi twist.”
• IGN – 79/100 – “It offers some interesting ideas and delivers a solid new take on a familiar genre.”
• Gamezone – 8.5/10 – “The Surge has incredibly well-designed levels with pathways that feel legitimately satisfying to uncover.”
• TechRaptor – 8.5/10 – “If you like the Souls series or games like them, you will probably like The Surge.”
• GameWatcher – 6.5/10 – “Anyone who values the world, the exploration, the creatures and the overall careful design of the Souls games will hate it.”
• Push Square – 5/10 – “The Surge had potential, but its excellent combat systems are baked into a game that can’t do them justice.”
• Trusted Reviews – 4/5 – “If you like the sound of a gritty dystopian take on Dark Souls, The Surge is an easy game to recommend.”

It is always nice to see the dev starting from basically a copy (copying is the highest form of flattery, after all) and developing their own style. We might expect more good things from Deck 13 in the future.