The Surge

Lore & Background

The Surge is set in a dystopian future where humanity has exhausted the world's resources, leading to strained social services and environmental diseases. The proliferation of drones and working robots has caused mass unemployment, forcing humans to resort to augmentations and powered rigs to keep up with more efficient machines. The player controls Warren, a new employee on his first day at CREO, a tech conglomerate known for its 'Project reSOLVE'—a chemical formula dispersed via rockets to reseed Earth's damaged atmosphere and boost flora growth.

After choosing a starting robotic rig, Warren—who uses a wheelchair—undergoes surgical implantation of a CREO exoskeleton. The automated system fails to sedate him, painfully grafting each component until he passes out during neurosurgery. He awakens to find the facility in ruins, with drones attacking personnel and workers driven to bloodthirst. Guided by an executive AI named 'Sally', Warren traverses the complex to discover what happened. It becomes evident that Project reSOLVE was working too slowly, and the board fast-tracked 'Project UTOPIA', which used nanites to achieve results faster but at the cost of killing 95% of the human race. The nanites became self-aware, causing a system-wide crash (the 'surge') that corrupted everyone connected to CREO's network, killing the executives and authorizing UTOPIA's launch.

Warren advances through the launch platform to stop the rocket, confronting the nanites' collective consciousness, the 'Rogue Process'. Two endings are possible: if a plot-critical audiolog is uploaded into the rocket's payload, the nanites are rendered inert, but a military squad sent to investigate succumbs to the facility's dangers. If the payload launches intact, the Rogue Process takes over global communications, dooming mankind—this ending is considered canon in The Surge 2. In both cases, an epilogue shows Warren crawling from the wrecked maglev station, his exoskeleton disabled, reaching for his wheelchair as the screen cuts to black.

Reader's Guide

The Surge is notable for its challenging role-playing style inspired by the Dark Souls series, combined with a detailed sci-fi setting. Its combat system allows players to target specific enemy body parts and execute finishing moves often involving dismemberment in bullet time. The exoskeleton can be customized through modular upgrades, and the game features a widely customizable inventory. Reception was mixed or average according to Metacritic. IGN praised the engaging 30-to-40-hour campaign, wickedly fun combat, and sci-fi setting, but noted that the story struggled amid the action and weapon progression plateaued early. Game Informer found the world-building, enemy encounters, and level design one-note, describing the experience as 'battling animated junk in a junkyard,' though they invested over 50 hours. The game's legacy includes its spiritual successor status to Lords of the Fallen and its sequel, The Surge 2, announced in February 2018 and released on September 24, 2019, for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The Surge 2 continues the story from the canon ending where the nanites take over global systems.

Did You Know?

• The Surge is considered a spiritual successor to Lords of the Fallen, also developed by Deck13 Interactive.
• The game's combat allows players to target specific enemy body parts and perform dismemberment finishing moves in bullet time.
• The protagonist Warren uses a wheelchair and is fitted with an exoskeleton through a surgical procedure that goes horribly wrong.
• The Surge 2 was announced on February 8, 2018, and released on September 24, 2019.