Review: Surge Deluxe

Surge, available on PlayStation Vita. The mobile version was the first game out of the blocks for Futurlab following their landmark deal with Sony. Being Futurlab I must say my expectations for the game are high, following a string of hits, we look to see if they can keep up the momentum and provide another new experience on the mobile device. This time bringing us a connect the bricks time attack game, cover me i’m going in……

From the first time you boot the game, you can feel the sleek design going into the game, swipe your finger up and down the background and cause a wavy electronic current to engulf the screen. Keep taking your finger off and on to get different colours. Its little touches like this that show Futurlab care about every detail in their games. First glance you can be mistaken, as it does look like a Tron fanboy threw up on a Tetris screen but no its just that neon sex appeal. Hit up the instructions setting to be greeted with a rough overview on how the game is played. Its a simple concept, connect same coloured blocks together with a line created by your finger without ever lifting it off, you can make it a messy line or a neat line, depends on how steady your hand is!

You can also connect blocks sitting side by side by merely touching the two blocks and still continue to link them to other blocks. Release your finger and the combo you have created gets executed, harsh word but it makes it all sound a bit better. It basically destroys the blocks in the combo and in doing so unlocks the blacked out squares and brings them to life in a colour. Littered throughout the game is bonus blocks like in the original, But with new additions to mix it up even more. Now these are where you rack up the scores. Simply add one or more of these blocks to your combo and watch the points soar!

Wipeout a whole line will reveal a vent on the side, reveal the other side and any matching coloured blocks left give you more points. Blocks with stars give you a bonus aswel so link them to more starred blocks for maximum points. Power ups show up in game aswel and add more spice and urgency to proceedings. It could be as simple as turning blocks close to it to one colour, or it could randomize the colours. All this is going on as the clock is ticking. Its all about getting the highest combos in the quickest amount of time. The touch controls work flawlessly and after many many, many hours of play I have yet to encounter a problem and I have big hands.

The music in the original was fast paced electric funk. This time they have gave it a revamp and added even more banging music. The sound track is key to creating the right atmosphere.  With this in mind, we’ve brought Joris de Man (the award winning composer who made his name on the Killzone series) on board forSurge Deluxe, and he’s created a little slice of bleepy, bouncy, FuturLectro heaven that perfectly complements the electrifying game play.

Other new additions over the mobile version include:

• Colourblind mode here all blocks are given different shapes so all gamers can have access to this game.
• Puzzle mode where you have to clear the screen in the fastest time possible. Leaderboards have been added to increase the pressure and constant need to replay and beat times.
• Scorig system has been tweaked so people with Sherlock Holmes style observation skills can still get a decent challenge from the game.
• Trophy support-Worth noting that there is no Platinum trophy.

In summary the game shoots its creative love juices all over the casual gaming scene, and again Futurlab have produced a top title worthy of anyones time. It has quickly become my go to Vita game and will continue to be until, well probably the next Futurlab game. I dont know how they do it, but they always seem to give us a game we didnt ask for, but forever grateful that they brought it to us. Sony did a good thing and we the gamers are in for a treat. Dont take my word for it, grab your Vita and go download Surge Deluxe now! Its the mobile version but so much BETTER!