The Surge

Deck13’s robots might not have souls, but they’re far from soulless.

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Lords Of The Fallen may have been heavily indebted to Demon’s Souls, but it built on From Software’s formula in a number of memorable ways. The best of these was the introduction of a multiplier that saw the potential XP you could reap from fallen foes increase the longer you resisted saving at a checkpoint. It was such a good idea, in fact, that we can’t help but feel disappointed by its absence from The Surge.

That’s not to say the studio’s sci-fi twist on the Souls template doesn’t have plenty of new ideas, however. Here, XP becomes scrap metal – collected from fallen enemies as well as crates and dark corners – which you use to upgrade your rig and build new weapons and equipment. Predictably, if you die you’ll leave a pile of your accrued junk at the location of your demise and must return to the spot to collect it, without dying again in the process.

But here there is also a two-and-a-half minute time limit, after which your misplaced stockpile will disappear – though it can be extended by a few seconds with every successful kill. It’s a smart mechanic that can pressure you into rash decisions en route if you’re not careful, especially given that there are no regular checkpoints in the large section we play, just a central operations centre in which to save your progress.