The Surge 2 is developed by German studio Deck 13 and provides you with a lot of possibilities to win a fight. Blindly hitting your enemies and hoping for the best might not be the best idea, though!
Terrible things have happened in Jericho City, and a wall has been built around it to protect the rest of the world. After natural catastrophes and war, pure anarchy prevails - escape is unthinkable unless you grab a weapon and see what's out there. The game takes place in the same world as its predecessor, and the story begins a few months after the events of The Surge. CREO continues to play a central role, but you don't slip back into the role of Warren. Instead, you build your own character.
The game world of The Surge 2 is much more varied.
Image: Focus Home Interactive
The story
Your adventure begins in prison as a completely unsuspecting protagonist, and the area serves as a tutorial to teach you the basic game mechanics. You start without an exo-suit and are therefore not yet able to avoid enemy attacks. Waking up on an operating table, you jump out of bed half-naked and are directly attacked by the first enemy - a drone. Your journey continues through dark corridors until you meet the first boss and receive a real weapon, called The Equalizer and an Exo-Rig combat suit.
The physical confrontations with the various enemies in The Surge 2 are a hell of a lot of fun! No matter which weapon you use, your attacks always feel massive. Not least, because you can rip apart the body parts of your opponents. If you find a Medibay, you can level up your character in the areas of life energy, endurance, and battery efficiency, while also crafting new armour parts.
Attack your enemies when they least expect it.
Image: Focus Home Interactive
Same world, fresh take
The Body Part system is at the heart of the game. You will only survive in this technological dystopia if you understand how the separation of the body parts of each opponent work. Amour comes in sets and already starts to give you a bonus when not complete yet. You always start with the lowest level of armour, which you can then upgrade. In addition to the exoskeleton, you can use various Implants, which have a variety of bonuses and characteristics. One implant, for example, displays the health of targeted enemies. However, just like your equipment, implants consume core power. If you equip your character with the most durable armour and the most potent implants, he is likely to die of battery failure.
The Surge 2 is full of smart new ideas. Revenge enemies, for example, are particular opponents that have killed the protagonist in other players' campaigns. They are a bit stronger than regular enemies and now also want to kill you. If you defeat them, however, you get more significant rewards. Other players can also leave holographic graffiti on walls and floors to either give you clues or trap you. You can furthermore hide banners of your character in the world. The longer they remain undetected, the larger your bonus will be.
Choose which body part you want to focus your attacks on.
Image: Focus Home Interactive
Is The Surge 2 the better game?
After the first part of the game mostly took place on a factory site, you can explore the entire city this time around. The game world is more varied with a leisure park, industrial complexes, a harbour, an abandoned department store, and more. As a result, you will also meet some shady characters and even more people who want to see your head on a stick. One is Brother Eli, who asks you to find and kill his brother Little Johnny. The latter has broken free from his brother's religious sect and is now selling a drug called Blue Sparkle. On your way to Little Johny, you'll find some audio logs that give you more background information about the game world. Similar to Tom Clancy's The Division 2, the game further features visual logs that span the overarching theme of The Surge 2 and possibly explain the history of the city.
The Surge 2 seems more mature in almost all respects. The fighting system is a lot of fun and feels great thanks to the many different weapons and the possibility to target individual body parts. The game is no longer limiting itself to industrially-influenced weapons. You can use nearly everything you find on roads and create handmade combat equipment, be it military or futuristic. The developers have designed the game world more interestingly. Thanks to the many shortcuts, you don't have to visit a certain route several times. You can read more about the changes here.
