Hier volgt mijn review welke ik ook ergens anders heb gepost;
The beginning ++
The tutorial area was pretty rough in it's level design, but after that it greatly opens up. When I got to the first real area I really enjoyed the level design. Finding shortcuts back to the Medbay gives the same satisfaction as finding shortcuts in Souls.
The combat (& crafting) ++
The combat is really well done. They totally use the Souls formula but add some twists in the mix. First of all there is directional blocking which works pretty good, even for me as a player who's playstyle tends to be all about doding. But the most interesting mechanic is cutting of limbs to get schematics and material for gear. This makes grinding really enjoyable and works addicting. Cutting off limbs looks really cool and feels satisfying. The crafting and upgrading also works really well as a system.
Weapons & Build variety ++
There are A LOT of weapons. There are a bunch of different weapon types (I'm inclined to say about 8 ) and a lot of options in each class. I think the balance is really well done: every weapon type is viable and this gives the player a lot of options. You can go for a slow hammer style or a fast punching style.
The build variety is not like it is in Souls with leveling up different skills, but depends on your gear and implants. There are a lot of cool armors and implant options and this adds greatly to giving the player the option of different playstyles. Given that you can switch implants and armor on the fly is a plus and allows for differend playstyles and builds in one playthrough. Whether you want to smack people in the face from short range and tank hits or poke with a spear and dodge for days or add some elemental damage into the mix; everything is viable.
Bosses +-
This is something that From Software does WAY better. The bosses were enjoyable and some were quite unique and original (Little Johny comes to mind) but most were just humanoids and too easy. Most bosses I beat on the first or second try, and this is not ment as bragging as I am in no way a skilled player, but most bosses are just pretty straight forward and easy. The fights are alright, but never as intense or challenging or unique as in Souls.
Atmosphere and story -
Whereas in Souls I love to watch lore videos on Youtube and dive in all of that, in the Surge I couldn't really be bothered. The story is there, but I have to admit it never really felt or got interesting for me. There are some minor twists and turns but nothing special.
The atmosphere of the sci-fi setting feels cool, but also never reaches the atmosphere that From Software is able to create. I never found myself wanting to keep wandering in the world, I just wanted to progress through everything. This might also have to do with me being a medieval fantasy fan and preferring that over sci-fi
Backtracking and later parts of the game (taking some points) --
After the first halve of the game there is A LOT of backtracking. And I am not a fan of that shit. At the start of the game I liked the level design, and I have to give the developers credit for how they connected everything even adding verticality. But there were too many times I was not sure where to go, everything felt too much like a bad maze and had to look up a guide. This never happens for me in From Soft games. Perhaps it is me, but the amounts of backtracking and having to look up where to go heavily impacted my enjoyment of the second part of the game in a negative way. By the end I was glad to be done with the game, and that is such a shame given how enjoyable the combat is and the promising first half
Conclusion/TLDR 7,5/10 for me (or is it an 8/10?!)
Overall I really enjoyed my time with the Surge 2. The combat was enjoyable, the crafting system well done and the level design is really good (although the backtracking and mazes got annoying in the second half of the game). The hacking off limbs, crafting gears and using different playstyles was a good addition to the Souls formula that they used and further build upon. The bosses and atmosphere can't hold a candle to Souls but were alright. The later parts of the game greatly reduced my enjoyment. If you asked me for a score halfway through I would have given it an 8,5 out of 10 but my feeling right now has it between an 7,5 and 8 out of ten. So that makes an 7,75 right?