How Activision killing off Call of Duty franchises? (My Gaming Rant)

Uhhhh...bloody Activision, a famous gaming company were well known for having a great franchises back then. We have Guitar Hero, Tony Hawk, Pitfall, Geometry Wars, True Crime and one of their most popular franchise was Call of Duty, a video game series that everyone had talked about.

It all started around 2003 when the developer team Infinity Ward had bought a WWII shooter title to early PC gaming system and it was well received which was praised for innovative gameplay, realistic graphics, and great single-player campaign, while the 2005's sequel such as Call of Duty 2 are one of the very first title being released on the X360 are considered to be a superior to the original game. The 2006's Call of Duty 3 are also fun shooter, but not as fun as the previous title until they decided to make another title focuses on Soviet-era was Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare are considered to be one of the greatest shooter of 2007 as it was praised for game's story, epic single-player campaign, innovative combat gameplay, and addicting multiplayer that led the franchise into a commercial success as being a 2007's best-selling title had sold over 7 million copies.
With the success of the first Modern Warfare, the things that didn't go well with the franchises. The games like World at War, Modern Warfare 2, and Black Ops are also considered a decent shooter title, but the main issue is that it lacks the originally over the previous titles as it barely shows any improvements to quality gameplay and graphics, while I finding the Modern Warfare 3 are considered to be a weakest in the Modern Warfare series.
The title that really started to killed off the franchise off was Black Ops 2 which is more focused on the futuristic tone of FPS becoming a departure of realistic FPS roots from the previous titles which is not a Call of Duty games that we know from the past. What makes it even worse is that Activision start shitting on every COD titles in every year release such as Ghosts, Advanced Warfare, Black Ops 3 and of course Infinite Warfare had becoming one of the most hated COD titles ever released in 2016 which received huge backlash from the gaming community. The developers decided to bring back to it WW2 roots with Call of Duty: WWII in 2017 which is little better than what we expected, but the issue is that the game still lacks innovation and it uses a god damn same microtransactions and season pass that we had never asked for. Then there's the recent game called Black Ops 4 which is one of the first COD game didn't feature a single-player campaign, but its more of the multiplayer based game featuring Blackout mode which is a battle-royale matches similar to PlayerUnknown BattleGrounds, but I still don't give a huge f**k because I have no attention of playing those garbage.

Out of all of COD games after Modern Warfare 2, it's never been a same as what it used to be back then. I am very disappointed to see Activision and their developers making a such embarrassing title that doesn't belong to the same universe of COD franchise.
I actually liked the early COD games especially with COD 4: Modern Warfare is one of my favourite thing in the series back then until they start wasting on later COD titles like Black Ops 2 and more because all I can see is nothing but a same old crap that they keep releasing every single of titles in every year which causing to destroy the franchise.

I have four reasons to explain what really kills Call of duty?

Number one it starting to get really old with very repetitive gameplay, outdated graphics, boring multiplayer and of course shallow campaign which is the main reason why the developers started to run out their new ideas instead they kept rehashing the same thing over and over again which is not fun anymore and they are never going to give a franchise a break.

Number two Call of Duty isn't supposed to be like Star Wars or Halo franchise because we wanted to see a true real Call of Duty where military solders are going out war with riding on tanks, shooting out missiles, firing with AK47, throwing hand grenades and stuff like wearing green helmets on the head, but not with those weird bloody laser guns, weird gadgets, mechs, and space ships that didn't belong to the franchise. Thats like turning Saving Private Ryan into Starship troopers which is a dumbest decision that companies like Activision always wanted to spoil our reputation on the popular franchise.

Number three they becoming nothing but a cash grab which they retailing a game for over £60 been wasted with useless season pass and of course microtransactions with ridiculous amount of lootboxes for online multiplayer battle is the huge sign of poor business practices. Please get rid of those hideous things so we don't want to pay at day 1 release, just give us a free DLCs instead.

Number four the reason why Call of Duty franchise starting out really good back then is because of the creator from infinity ward Vince Zampella did a fantastic job of making really good COD games from first original Call of Duty to Modern Warfare 2 until he got badly fired by the company which led him to work with EA as Respawn Entertainment to develop his own two great titles such as Titanfall and Apex Legends is the main reason why it played so much better than games like Infinity Warfare and Black Ops 3.

It is so annoying to see Activision had completely gone greedy nowadays which is just as bad as the other big gaming companies like EA had completely followed in the wrong direction, so I don't really think the company ever going to learn their mistakes from the past.
I guessing that the Modern Warfare 2019 is the last final hope to win back their fans, so if they managed to f***ed up the game so badly at the release then this is likely its the death of the Call of Duty which led into a franchise's discontinuation by Activision. 

I'm not saying that I hated Call of Duty franchise, but please Activision we beg you not to kill off Modern Warfare 2019 like what you did to previous installiment. If you want to succeed again then give us what we want for the recent new title that doesn't rely on stupid Microtransactions filled with useless lootboxes, so I hope it will able to deliver a solid single player campaign and better multiplayer action for this October release.




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My Gaming Memories - SEGA Dreamcast

Yep it's Happy 20th Anniversary of SEGA Dreamcast, one of the finest video game console that we are going to celebrate the system this year which brings us our wonderful gaming nostalgia that we never forget how amazing this system that puts a smile to our faces.

It's been for 20 years since the launch of the SEGA Dreamcast had hit the gaming market that had caught many attention to gamers, fans, and journalists were very impressed with the quality game system that are being capable of running all arcade titles based on SEGA's arcade board such as SEGA Naomi.
The reason why this hardware system is so much straightforward to game developers because it was PC hardware based running on Windows CE making easier to develop not just the arcade based games, but also the third-party support games for SEGA Dreamcast.
It's one of the first system that supports online functionally running on built-in modem for internet browsing and online play which is way ahead of the time that influencing online gaming services for later game consoles such as Xbox Live for Microsoft's Xbox Originals. The system has it own devices called VMUs, the virtual memory units that plugs into the controller for save functionally, but also has ability to transfer save files, some in-game features and downloading additional mini-games.
The SEGA Dreamcast has their own libraries of arcade games that defined the system such as Ikaruga, House of the Dead 2, Crazy Taxi, Virtua Tennis, Marvel vs Capcom 2, and Soul Calibur are the biggest examples of being arcade perfect that shows off the system's powerhouse, and it also has their own groundbreaking libraries of games filled with many different kinds of genres such as Metropolis Street Racer, Skies of Arcadia, Grandia 2, Virtua Tennis, Jet Set Radio, Sonic Adventure, Resident Evil Code: Veronica, Space Channel 5, and of course the biggest AAA title goes to Shenmue series are highly regarded as being the greatest game of all-time.

SEGA Dreamcast starting out pretty decently at the launch release in year 1999 due to great selection of launch games and system's retail price were cheaper, until SONY took over the gaming market in year 2000 with their Playstation 2 which was the reason why SEGA had start given up with their hardware business in 2001 which sadly causing them to discontinued Dreamcast as the last final SEGA's console.
Despite the failed hardware sales, the SEGA Dreamcast still remains their legacy as being one of the greatest game consoles which filled with quality games libraries, introducing online functionally, and VMU Support that adds our nostalgic moments which really made this system so amazing and innovative at the times.

I decided to make my very first gaming nostalgia to discuss my history on gaming consoles that I've own back then, so without go further do here is my gaming memories on SEGA Dreamcast.




My Gaming Memories - SEGA Dreamcast:


In September of year 1999 as age of 7 where I currently had SNES, N64 and GBC at my brother's bedroom.
I remember at the time where me and my brother always go to convenient store to grab a gaming magazines such as Game Master which filled with gaming news, previews, reviews, top 10s and of course small cheat guide book.
As I start reading the gaming magazines, there was a image of two upcoming game consoles that caught my attention such as SEGA Dreamcast and SONY Playstation 2 which mean't to be a exciting game system that I really to look forward to seeing the new killer titles and mind-blowing graphics.
In year 2000, My brother was currently planned to get a PS2 at the year 2000's launch date, but I much rather prefer to choose SEGA Dreamcast over the SONY's next-gen console because I really liked the SEGA's own libraries of games including Sonic The Hedgehog are the main reason why I wanted to persuade my brother to pick up the game console that I want it for my 8th birthday, so my brother has started to agreeing with me as we planned to go to electronic store in Burnley to pick up the SEGA Dreamcast console and of course two games titles such as Power Stone and Sonic Adventure.
To tell you truth is that before I finally got the Dreamcast, it was my cousin who first bought the system a 3 months way before me as I remember seeing my cousin playing Sonic Adventure which was the reason why I was so impressed with the SEGA's own quality game. It has superior looking graphics, the VMUs features, and has epic 3D platforming action and story which made me want to pick up the Dreamcast on my 8th Birthday.

As I finally got the game system at my home, I first started to play Power Stone which is a Capcom's fighting game similar to Nintendo's own fighting game Super Smash Bros in 3D perspective. It has their own selection of playable roster, the 2-player versus mode, and more unlockables content. The game is easier to get into featuring with 3D fighting style, wacky stages, filled with attackable items, and collecting 3 gems to become powerful fighter with 2 finishing options which really made the game so much fun to play.
Then I finally playing Sonic Adventure which is a 3D platforming game where you get to play as Sonic and his friends through out the story mode. It has 3 open-world area to explore with many action levels, bosses, and some mini-game in this game. It's one of the first Sonic's games which included the in-game cutscenes for its story and characters which made the game quite interesting to me as a kid back then.

I also had a chance to try out a demo disk that were included on console's bundle, so this is Dream On Vol 1 which is a first volume of demo CDs which contains the list of playable demos and trailers that we had a chance to try out a game's prototype before we are considering to get a full version of the game at the retail release, so I think its pretty much like we normally get the SEGA Saturn's demo disks from the gaming magazines in mid-90's and I'm glad that they did a same with the SEGA Dreamcast that we had a go with some of the demo games that I first played on the Vol 1 disk such as Trickstyle, Toy Commander, Ready 2 Rumble, Incoming, and Monaco GP Racing Simulation 2. It also has own gaming trailer which shows the upcoming titles coming soon to the Dreamcast such as Virtua Fighter 3TB, Tokyo Highway Challenge, SEGA Rally Championship 2, UEFA Striker, and others were included in the disk.
I also discovered another disk called DreamKey is a online based software which are used for internet browsing, so as a kid I have no idea what is the internet in general? so at the time that I didn't have an access to the internet services which requires dial-up connection to get it work, I started to have fun by messing with the navigation menus, virtual keyboard, and other random stuff that didn't do anything on this software browser.   

My first impression on the system is starting out pretty positive which I had enjoyed the two games that I had it from the electronic stores, so we decided to go to the rental stores to tryout some Dreamcast games that I wanted to play such as Marvel vs Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes which is a Capcom's 2D fighting game crossover featuring fighting roster from Marvel Universe takes on Capcom's favourite fighters which got me really impressed to see how Capcom are able to make a great licenced fighting game based on Marvel Universe and then it got really better with the sequel called Marvel vs Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes which offers over 50 playable rosters, 3 on 3 fighting matches, fully smooth animation, catchy jazz-style soundtrack, and has unlockable content in the game.
I also enjoyed other Capcom's fighting games such as Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike which is a great follow-up to predecessor featuring new roster, brand new 2D fighting mechanics with many combos and specials, and it also has great graphics and soundtrack that Capcom has to offer for the fans of the franchise.
The Power Stone 2 is definitely a better sequel to the originals featuring some new characters, 4-player mode, and has more variety of fighting stages which is a strong follow-up title that the fighting game fans should be able to appreciated.
The fighting game that had got me attention was Namco's Soul Calibur which was highly regard as being the best and most influential 3D fighting game in history which received many acclaims from the critics and fans. Its one of my very first weapon-based fighting game that I got blowned away with crispy graphics running on whomping 60fps showing off Dreamcast's system powerhouse and this console version made improvements over the arcade counterpart for featuring brand new game modes, more characters and costumes, and gallery mode.
There are some great fighting games that I also enjoyed playing with like Dead or Alive 2, Plasma Sword, Ready 2 Rumble Boxing, and Ultimate Fighting Championship which are nice addition to Dreamcast Libraries.

There are some arcade games that I attended to enjoy playing such as Crazy Taxi which is a action-driving game where you get to play as four insane taxi drivers are aiming to gain more cash by dropping passenger off as fast as possible during the time limits. The game is easier to get into once you're mastered with crazy driving controls and it has pretty straightforward objectives that you can only drop them into right destination by following the huge ass green arrow on top of the screen. You can't go wrong with Crazy Taxi did also have the best licensed soundtrack by punk rock bands such as The Offsprings and Bad Religion which fits perfectly for driving action.
As a light-gun shooter fan, The House of the Dead 2 is a light-gun horror game as a follow-up to original 1997's game where my cousin had the copy for the Dreamcast. At the time that we didn't own the light gun controller which is kinda shame, but we still had a fun playing it with the standard Dreamcast controller while shooting bunch of zombies is what making the game so entertaining with 2-players co-op mode, 6 levels, and even bosses.
There are great 3D beat-em-ups title such as Dynamite Cop which is a sequel to Saturn's Die Hard Arcade by SEGA AM2. Its one of the first game that didn't own the rights of the Die Hard Franchises, so it is now completely entirely original with different character names and some non-Die Hard related stuff which is kinda sounds bummer, but I still liked the game for its hand to hand combat with arcadey fighting style and has 3 main mission along with other 3 unlockable missions with fair amount of replay values.
At the times where I wasn't the fan of the sports games in general, but there are an acceptation title that are easier to get used too was Virtua Tennis is a arcade-style tennis game which featuring real-life tennis player as a playable roster. I did enjoy both the arcade and exhibition mode with my cousin and sister when we got so too addicted with this type of sports game with incredible gameplay style, amazing soundtrack, and has cool new mode called world circuit which is a great addition to console counterpart.

There are several of great multiplayer titles featuring online support such as Chu Chu Rocket is a first game that my brother got it for free under the online services called Dreamarena. Its one of the puzzle game where you had to guide these cute little mice by highlighting the pointing arrows into the rocket while evading them from deadly cats. It has single-player puzzle mode, a puzzle editing mode, a cooperative challenge mode, and competitive multiplayer modes including online play which is very addicting and fun for those who are got into with this kind of genres. I remember playing with my brother or sister and cousins in local 4-player modes where we always take our two controllers at my cousin's house just to play 4-player modes along with other types of multiplayer games such as Quake III Arena, NBA on NBC Showtime, and Worms Armageddon which really adds our gaming nostalgia that we never forget back then.

The SEGA Dreamcast has fair shares with amazing RPGs, horror, and platforming title that made the system so unique and special is the reason why we loved the system. My very first RPGs game was Time Stalkers which is a Turn-Based RPGs game that I never actually played or heard of any turn-based games before, but my first impression is that after renting this game from the rental store I'm wasn't being good at these kinds of game that didn't live up my expectations as a kid, but until I got used with other two turn-based RPGs that I also rented from the store such as Skies of Arcadia and Grandia 2 are definitely my step forward to liking the genres as I really liked how the turn-based system actually works in these kinds of games featuring story-driven plot, innovative RPGs mechanics with great use of command systems and specials, and being able to gain more skilled levels is really made my gaming experiences so positive.
I got to love a graffiti-based platforming game such as Jet Set Radio which had caught my attention due to colourful-styled graphics are looking so impressive for the Dreamcast's hardware could able to handle cel-shaded animation, so I liked the looks of the characters, the stages, and of course the graffiti art style is looking pretty rad that made the presentation look appealing. It has awesome playable characters, epic stages to choose from, performing cool tricks and moves to learn, funky music, and you get to create your own graffiti is what made the game quite fantastic.
There's one of the survival horror title that I really liked on the Dreamcast is Resident Evil: Code Veronica which I did experienced with previous Resident Evil games for SEGA Saturn and Nintendo 64, but this game is vastly superior to the previous installiment which has full storylines and memorable characters, horrific atmosphere with creepy sequences, and amazing mix of horror gameplay with survival and puzzle aspects is the reason why it got to be the best horror title I've seen on the system.
The very last recent game that my cousin had it for his 12th birthday was Shenmue is a open-world adventure game was created by Yu Suzuki's SEGA AM2 as I first remember when my brother had previously rented this game earlier before my cousin had finally got the full copy of the game.
This is the game that me and my cousin had always played on the Dreamcast because Shenmue is a very special game that we grew up with due to cinematic story plot with full voice dialog, gameplay mixed with interactive QTE sequences and brawling battles, and has open-world area are full of exploration featuring convenience store, antique shop, drinks vending machine, capsule toys machine, arcade game places, warehouses, streets and of course finding sailors which really influenced the open-world sandbox genres that are considered to be a technical achievements for Dreamcast's hardware system as it is one of our favourite Dreamcast game of all time.   
     
In the year 2001 where SEGA had declared discontinuing the support of Dreamcast making it a final console of SEGA's console family, I kinda got really sad that the Dreamcast are no longer continuing on as they stopped producing the games going further.
It's a shame that SEGA had no attention of making a console hardware business is because of the success of SONY Playstation 2 at the launch release in year 2000 had taken over the gaming marketing had sold over a million units is the main reason why SEGA had suffered with financial loss due to the sales of the hardware did not meet with the SEGA's expectations.
Despite the system's discontinuation I still able to continuing buying several of Dreamcast games adding to my collection, so games like Super Magnetic Neo, Millennium Soldier: Expendables, Virtua Tennis 2, Crazy Taxi 2 and so on.
I remember at the time where my cousin had an issue with his Dreamcast had suddenly stopped working due to annoyingly random reset is where it randomly shuts off the game as he did his best to get his console working after two attempts of repairing and cleaning in which we don't know what the main cause of random reset issue until my later age in mid-2000s where YouTube existed on internet which I began to discover the video guide to how to clean and repair the game consoles that I finding the video guide on gaming channel is very useful whenever we need to fix our game console in the future. 

I was still surprised to hear the Dreamcast still has a small support of indie developers began to make their own homebrew and games for Dreamcast which I think it sounds pretty cool to see these kinds of people that still giving support to old retro gaming nowadays. You can always find out the news from the certain of Dreamcast's fan community from the sites, forums and etc.

To conclude my story, I had such a great memories of this piece of hardware that bought into our tears and joyful is why this system had to be a underrated masterpiece. With all the great selection of games libraries, online support, gaming accessories, and has more to offer that SEGA Dreamcast is one of my favourite SEGA's console of all times.
I'm very glad that I am grateful that I had this system for over 20 years and I decided to play the system again to revisit my gaming nostalgia that I had from the past and I will never forget the moments that the SEGA Dreamcast is still lives in our childhood gaming.


 

               
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The Surge PS4 Review

The Surge is a Sci-Fi Action RPG title for PS4, XBONE, and PC, which was developed by Deck13 Interactive and published by Focus Home Interactive. It is a spiritual successor to their earlier 2014's title Lords of the Fallen, which heavily borrows the gameplay features similar to Dark Souls series.

Yeah Yeah we all know that the "Just Like Dark Souls" dumb jokes on the internet had gone way too far over the years, but this game is more acceptable towards the Souls-like genres.
Unlike the Lords of the Fallen which is a dark fantasy theme game, The Surge is more like of the Dystopian Sci-Fi approach heavily inspired by crappy 1994's game such as Rise of the Robots, but slightly better looking game.
I believe the developer team wanted to improve upon the game by reducing the faults that was found previously on their predecessor as they attempting to focus on more emphasis of combat style gameplay and larger environment levels to explore with over 30 hours long of campaign.
The Surge is one of the Action RPG game that I was hoping to enjoy a full 30 hours action, so yeah I think the game is taking in a right direction for its dystopian concept of presentation that really fits nicely to whole environments and it has solid overall combat mechanics filled with fluid controls and has option to upgrade your own weapons and abilities is the great addition to quality gameplay, while the game has some drawbacks for its weak story and some annoying parts which I'm going to discuss further more on this review.

So without go further do, lets start the review.



Presentation

The game takes place in Dystopian future where humans have exhausted the world's resources which leading to strained social service and environmental diseases.             
The story starts off with a new employee named Warren on his way to his first day of job in CREO Headquarter which is one of the largest tech conglomerates now controlling the world.
After having a painful operation which led him being equipped with robotic rig until he passes out during neurosurgery, he finally woke up and finds the facility in ruins to meet with the executive named Sally as she ordered him to traverse the entire complex in order to find out what exactly happened during CREO's incident.

I got to say the story is not the strongest point of the game which I felt it's kinda sounds flat for lacking an effort on the main plot that involves the CREO's disasterous experiment. During the audiologs and conversation call on terminals gains information about how the members of CREO going through hell with their experiment before the disaster had happen, but I still think its sounded quite generic that didn't add too well to its story development.
I finding the main protagonist Warren seems to be quite forgettable which he lacking his personally while having conversation to supportive characters in the game which really hurting his character's development, so it would have been better off being a silent protagonist over having his fully voice in entire game.
I wish they should have done better job if they able to keep the story and character development intact, but it didn't work out at the end unless the game needs to have a better writing and has more story driven could make the game more interesting.
Speaking of making the game interesting, I really liked the looks of the Dystopian Sci-Fi settings that they did a great job of adding in-depth environments which is kinda like mixed between Deus Ex and Rise of the Robots which made the levels design look more futuristic feel. The enemies including robots, droids, security experts, and heavy armored guy are kinda look more cooler than the rest of the characters in the games if I'm being honest. The weapon concepts in the game is looking quite decent for overall look because it feels like you're holding a badass looking combat weapons to make you look more like an edgy middle-aged man.
I'm very glad that they put up more efforts on level environments, weapons, and enemies are the highlights of the game except the boring ass story and characters did not give a game enough justice.

Overall, it has interesting settings, decent weapon concepts, and cool looking enemies, except the story and character.



Gameplay

The single player has over 30 hours long campaign as you take control of Warren played in Souls-like RPGs perspective, while it has Metroidvania style exploration which has large open-world levels to explore. Your goal is to head at the main destination while it progressed though the story as you are being required to upgrading your abilities and weapons in order to survive the battles against the enemies.
I want to talk about on combats and movements in the game which starting out pretty good as you can able to walk, sprint, and jump through the areas, while the camera controls seems to be doing a good job while locking on the enemies during the fight which I think its easier to direct focused on the enemies keeping the camera intact nicely. You can also switch target between the enemies nearby are also really helps me to lock on another types of enemy that I wanted to fight on.
You have two types of attacks such as horizontal and vertical attacks which are used for damaging enemy depending what types of weapon you used in the game and you can also avoid enemy's attack by pressing dodge button and using block button to prevent getting damaged by their projectiles. Each of weapons are balanced with threes types such as light weapon which are weak and fast, medium weapon are more of well-balanced, and heavy duty weapon are slow and powerful. It will takes sometime to get used with these kinds of combat weapons once you're able to master these weapon well during the combat fight against bad guys. You can also perform an finishing moves by holding the button while the enemy runs on low health, so the coolest thing in the game is that you can able to dismantle enemy's armour parts by targeting on their body parts such as arms, legs, body, and head which causing to lose their armour parts as you can keep them for workshop which I will discuss it later on this review.
You have an bar screen at the top-left corner which indicates player's health, stamina, and energy, so the health is actually your player's condition which keeps you alive, the stamina actually effects on sprinting, dodging and attacking which tells you that you may ran out breath for overdoing your actions, and finally the energy are used for implants items and drone attack which can only increased by attacking enemies further.
On the workshop room which acts as a auto-save checkpoints, this will allow you to craft and upgrade your weapons and armours which requires both components and tech points. You will need wrecked armour parts to convert into the certain components and you can also gained tech points by defeating enemy or destroying consumables which you can store them safe fully on workshop's tech bank.
The tech points are also used for increasing player's core power which allowing you to perform overcharge on certain objects such as activating elevator, doors, and collecting nano core's from the storage. The core power are also effect on equipping armours and implants items which requires enough core power to use these depending what your core power level you're on.
The implants items are quite useful which can be located on different rooms of the areas, so you will have health capacity, stamina reducer, energy saver, and etc. which really improves your player's overall performance making more stronger and tougher, while using injectables items can also increases your health and energy points are also come in handy if you need it for the boss battles.

I find the exploration in the game is kinda interesting where I can able to find a undiscovered areas and secrets that filled with lost items, new rigs and drones, and being able to unlock security door which I think it did a great job of putting enough emphasis on the open-world levels, but the most annoying thing in the game was lack of the map screen on the player's menu which I was struggling to find a new path in the game because it is harder for me to find a undiscovery area that I wanted to visit, so if it is a Metroidvania style game then it should have been easier to include the map screen so I can able to find where I wanted to go.
So far, I find the combat gameplay did quite a solid job especially with the customisation controls option which really adds the better playability and the combat in the game is quite a impressive how they balanced out these weapons and armours nicely in the game because of some of the weapons are actually not so complicated to use as it makes the practice even better once you know how to perform the moves accurately like I can able to swing the huge ass sword and spinning around the heavy duty blade which really makes the combat style feels realistic. I liked the idea of upgrading and adding stuff to your rig systems which really helps improving the player's performances as it is beneficial to your health, stamina, and energy which makes it even stronger to fight against those tougher enemies in the game.
I find the enemy's A.I during the battle is responsively impressive for its their fighting style is the reason why it makes the game even harder but fun at the same time because it's feels more tactical and defensive kind of combat battle where you need to finish them off without taking so much damage which I really liked how the combat in the game actually works and I was satisfied with the boss battle which is a positive part of the game because of the overall difficulty makes it feels very challenging which took me about 7 or 8 attempts to finish it off really adds my overall experience.
There are one negatives parts in the game such as trying not to lose all your tech points because after being killed by the enemies which leaves your amount of tech points on same location you have died, you will need to retain these tech points at the same location, but if you die again without retaining the item then you will lose all your tech points which is really annoying that you will need these to store them safefully on the tech bank account.
The positive thing in the game that I liked are the side-missions where you need to complete their task outside of the main mission which keeps me very busy to help the crew what they need and I think the length of the campaign is fantastic which plays over 30 hours long really satisfied me to know how long it takes to complete, and it does have new game plus where you can able to play the game again at the beginning while retaining same items did really adds up replay values.
                            

Overall, it has interesting exploration, soild combat, satisfying boss battles, replay values, and of course 30 hours campaign.



Graphics

The graphics in the game is actually looking decent for its environmental design because I liked how they designed the level nicely for its Dystopian settings of the factory warehouse, experimental room, workshop, and the office are looking quite detailed to look at and I also liked the overall animation on characters and enemy which they are looking pretty good for the eight generation era as long they got the body and facial animation just about right for the lip sycing and the movements in the game.
I got to love the gory effects on the game where the player chops off the enemy's body parts in slow motion which is kinda cool to watch them torn apart while running on slow speed.
It does have cool lighting effects and some quality textures in the game which fits nicely to the areas.

Overall, it has decent environments, great animation, and cool gory effects.



Music and Sounds

It does have a great original soundtrack in the game which feels more darker sci-fi styled music in every levels as it really fits the game's personally and hell even we have chilled out song called Prisoner played in the warehouse was the song made by Stumfol which I think its sounds pretty calming during the break.
The sound effects is pretty good for its background noises and some environmental sounds inside the building is quite an atmospheric in the game, while I also liked the battle screaming from the human enemies is quite insane during the battle.
I finding the voice cast in the game is pretty did a mediocre job is not just because of their weak personalities that I've mention on the presentation part, but their voices seems to be very cheap that didn't add well to the character's development, so I wish they could have been done something better to make them more interesting than being downright boring.

Overall, it has great music and sounds, except cheap voice cast.



Special Features

This game has new game plus, 2 DLCs levels such as The Good, The Bad and the Augumented, and Walk in the Park, and 2 DLCs add-ons such as Fire & Ice Weapon pack and Cutting Edge pack.

Overall, it's an acceptable features are worth picking these up.




Advantages

Dystopian style themes

Interesting exploration

Solid combat

Satisfying boss battles

30 hours long campaign

Descent graphics

Great soundtrack



Disadvantages

Weak story and characters

Lack of map screen

Losing tech scrap instantly after two deaths

Cheap voice acting




Final Verdict


Presentation 5/10 -  interesting settings, decent weapon concepts, and cool looking enemies, except the story and characters.

Gameplay 7.5/10 - interesting exploration, soild combat, satisfying boss battles, replay values, and of course 30 hours campaign.

Graphics 8/10 - decent environments, great animation, and cool gory effects.

Music and Sounds 6/10 - great music and sounds, except cheap voice cast.

Special Features 8/10 - has new game plus, 2 DLCs levels such as The Good, The Bad and the Augumented, and Walk in the Park, and 2 DLCs add-ons such as Fire & Ice Weapon pack and Cutting Edge pack.


Overall 7/10 - The Surge might not be the best Souls-like titles, but it's definitely a fine Action RPGs game that is rather not disappointing to those who previously enjoyed Dark Souls series may going to like this game for its combat gameplay, exploration, bosses, and having over 30 hours long campaign are the main positives of the game.
I hopefully Deck13 Interactive will able to do something even better for the sequel if they managed to get the story and characters just right at the end and I expecting them to do a same old good job with bosses, levels, and combats as well.
I definitely hoping to play The Surge 2 if I only had a chance to play it, so going back to this review The Surge is might not be the everyone's cup of tea, but if you looking for a decent Action RPGs with bigger challenge, epic combat, and getting more ass kicking then it's for you to play.



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