The Surge - "sci-fi Dark Souls" from Lords of the Fallen devs

[DramaticPopcorn]

Pretty
Whose fucking alt are you?

 

[Achiman]

Played about 2 hours, upgraded my core to level 26 and am still wandering around trying to figure out where to go next. I've found the train, but of course it's not working (do they ever work first go?).

The combat is certainly faster than darksouls as your dash is more like bloodbjorns than any darksouls roll. I read that you can parry stuff in a review, but I'm fucked if I know how, you do have a block but it seems useless so far.
Overall it's an enjoyable distraction to date.
If you go into this expecting 'scifi darksouls' with the same level of production and care to detail that those games have, you will be disapointed.

 

[PrettyDeadman]

I read that you can parry stuff in a review, but I'm fucked if I know how, you do have a block but it seems useless so far.
Overall it's an enjoyable distraction to date.

Hold block and press your right stick up to jump, down to duck. Depending on the enemy attack if you successfully avoid it by jumping/ducking your next attack will do massive damage to enemy. Never tried it myself, but this is how it works in theory, and it seems to be quite effective against some of the harder enemies in the game (like staff wielding guards).

 

[Arnust]

Also, the level design is great. They make sense, shortcuts lead back to Ops, and they are not all "locked from the other side" which gets a bit lame. The second level is huge and I'm lost, lol. Hasn't happened to me in a while.

Achiman Follow the power cables leading to the train (maglev)! It's something you can actually do!

 

[toro]

Also, the level design is great. They make sense, shortcuts lead back to Ops, and they are not all "locked from the other side" which gets a bit lame. The second level is huge and I'm lost, lol. Hasn't happened to me in a while.

Are you a mouth breeder?

 

[Jimmious]

Why levels are only good if you can find everything easily? We're talking about games here not city planning

 

[felipepepe]

Played about 2 hours, upgraded my core to level 26 and am still wandering around trying to figure out where to go next. I've found the train, but of course it's not working (do they ever work first go?).

You're supposed to enter dark dark area, override the glowing panel and then return to that empty arena right next to the train.

[Train is disabled -> Find console to enable train -> fight boss on your way back] makes perfect sense in theory, but they fucked up the level design and storytelling so badly that you just wander around aimlessly. Nowhere does it tells you how to enable the train, or even that hitting the console enabled him. And after you use the console you open a shortcut to another area to the opposite direction you're supposed to go.

That's just bad design, no other way around. A simple text saying "train is now operational" would have solved this.

 

[bataille]

Personally, I would have forgiven this game all its shortcoming if they had done something with its themes (which are huuuuge in their potential).
I can guarantee that if the protagonist spent at least a minute contemplating the fact that he CAN WALK NOW, that'd give me enough good will towards the game to bear with it for much, much longer. Maybe acknowledge the fact that he just pulled a plug on a vegetative man in a construction suit for his selfish needs (mah power core!)? Why does a sock puppet have a voice but not a real person behind it? Maybe if there were no BIG BAD VILLAIN? Why doesn't anyone weep, despair, lament their coworkers?! Maybe the real horror is that nobody really cares? Or was it just developers who didn't? *gasp*

For me, it's another burn that reinforces the fact that these games are nothing without some humanity put into them. I hate this game for making me think that I gave up on it so easily! But it left me no choice. Hollows can't make a game about humanity, sadly.
But then again, it takes a unique kind of soullessness to be inspired (?) by an action film with matt damon.

 

[Arnust]

Played about 2 hours, upgraded my core to level 26 and am still wandering around trying to figure out where to go next. I've found the train, but of course it's not working (do they ever work first go?).

You're supposed to enter dark dark area, override the glowing panel and then return to that empty arena right next to the train.

[Train is disabled -> Find console to enable train -> fight boss on your way back] makes perfect sense in theory, but they fucked up the level design and storytelling so badly that you just wander around aimlessly. Nowhere does it tells you how to enable the train, or even that hitting the console enabled him. And after you use the console you open a shortcut to another area to the opposite direction you're supposed to go.

That's just bad design, no other way around. A simple text saying "train is now operational" would have solved this.

Unless you somehow want a nice walk in the dark basement, when you go up you have to go across the boss arena. And you know, security was activated.

 

[felipepepe]

Unless you somehow want a nice walk in the dark basement, when you go up you have to go across the boss arena. And you know, security was activated.

Uh, I had the chest piece with lights by then, the dark basement was much more interesting that going back to the empty area I just passed through.

And, again, the game failed to tell me that I had activated the train.

 

[PrettyDeadman]

NU-gamers can't figure anything out without questmarkers.

Half of level is closed because there is no power. Electrical lifts don't work, electrical doors don't open and electrical train is useless because there is no power. You go to dark basement, you activate power. Now things works. Yes, this includes electrical lifts, electrical doors AND electrical train.

 

[CthuluIsSpy]

Do you get any sort of ranged weapon at all in this game? From what I've seen of it its all melee, and for a game set in the future that's kind of weird. Even Dark Souls gave you quite a few viable ranged options.

 

[felipepepe]

NU-gamers can't figure anything out without questmarkers.

Half of level is closed because there is no power. Electrical lifts don't work, electrical doors don't open and electrical train is useless because there is no power. You go to dark basement, you activate power. Now things works. Yes, this includes electrical lifts, electrical doors AND electrical train.

Except that the lift to the train always works. Seems like not even the level designers could understand the logic you're imagining here.

Also, you have to activate the power in several places, with no indication of where each will take effect. Nothing indicates that the last one is the one responsible for the train and not just the surrounding areas.

 

[PrettyDeadman]

Do you get any sort of ranged weapon at all in this game? From what I've seen of it its all melee, and for a game set in the future that's kind of weird. Even Dark Souls gave you quite a few viable ranged options.

Yes, you get drone.

 

[PrettyDeadman]

NU-gamers can't figure anything out without questmarkers.

Half of level is closed because there is no power. Electrical lifts don't work, electrical doors don't open and electrical train is useless because there is no power. You go to dark basement, you activate power. Now things works. Yes, this includes electrical lifts, electrical doors AND electrical train.

Except that the lift to the train always works. Seems like not even the level designers could understand the logic you're imagining here.

Also, you have to activate the power in several places, with no indication of where each will take effect. Nothing indicates that the last one is the one responsible for the train and not just the surrounding areas.

There are some local powersources which you can override to power? one thing nearby at the time, and then there is a huge dark basement in the end of which there is a power source which activates tons of stuff in the level. Not the most logical powergrid I've seen, but I don't see how it can be confusing. It's not like there is a huge open world with no indication of where to go. The levels are relatively compact, you will have to go to the basement eventually, the switch is at end of the basement, hard to miss, and then you hit - it activate a lot of things (door, lights) at once, so you know that you did something big. I am not even sure how you got to the train area. Before I went there nothing seemed to work for me, all doors where closed and all lifts didn't work. I think you have to go through basement in order to get to the train area.

 

[waterdeep]

Do you get any sort of ranged weapon at all in this game? From what I've seen of it its all melee, and for a game set in the future that's kind of weird. Even Dark Souls gave you quite a few viable ranged options.

you get a useless drone and that's about it. rest is boring melee shit. what a waste.

 

[toro]

Why levels are only good if you can find everything easily? We're talking about games here not city planning

The level design is good when each location has some specific detail that makes it memorable. Then, with some attention, navigation is easy even in big open worlds.

But in The Surge, there are too many locations which look the same (the majority of the game takes place in corridors). At best level design in this game can be described as uninspired ... and I know they wanted to create an intricate game world but instead they got obfuscation.

Don't trust me. Play the game.

 

[Jimmious]

Nah I won't, I don't like the "Souls" games generally. But if they have a lot of samey locations then I get you

 

[Arnust]

Do you get any sort of ranged weapon at all in this game? From what I've seen of it its all melee, and for a game set in the future that's kind of weird. Even Dark Souls gave you quite a few viable ranged options.

you get a useless drone and that's about it. rest is boring melee shit. what a waste.

You should see the Concussive drone. It'll take down any non-boss enemy for free hits and decent damage. The ranged one is to cull enemies from afar, and with energy it'll actually deal damage. What more do you want? lol
Also that's talking about me being just almost done with Level 3.

 

[Lhynn]

inb4 Pretty is actually a dev of the game.

 

[waterdeep]

Do you get any sort of ranged weapon at all in this game? From what I've seen of it its all melee, and for a game set in the future that's kind of weird. Even Dark Souls gave you quite a few viable ranged options.

you get a useless drone and that's about it. rest is boring melee shit. what a waste.

You should see the Concussive drone. It'll take down any non-boss enemy for free hits and decent damage. The ranged one is to cull enemies from afar, and with energy it'll actually deal damage. What more do you want? lol
Also that's talking about me being just almost done with Level 3.

What I want? A FROM sci-fi Souls game in a high tech BLAME! inspired setting with technomagic, not this industrial junk with melee weapons and some drones

 

[CthuluIsSpy]

A warhammer souls esque game would be cool.
That's a setting in which firearms and melee are both viable.

 

[Infinitron]

 

[toro]

Why the fuck are u posting shit like this? I almost thrown up in my mouth.

 

[CthuluIsSpy]

If I wanted to see dick sucking I'd just watch porn.