Dark Souls 3 vs. The Surge

The Surge was the most surprising game I played this year. It's challenging gameplay and entertaining combat system had me hooked from start to finish. However, compared to FromSoftware's Dark Souls 3 which is better? 

It's So Complicated 

The lore of Dark Souls is complicated. So much that Bandai Namco hosted a contest to see if anyone could explain the story of the game. Everything from the items to the characters that inhabited the world held information and piecing all of it together not only required dedication but a passion for the series. 

The Surge has an average story that checks every box you would find in a science-fiction adventure. It's not as rich and exciting as Dark Souls but it's manageable. From the beginning to the end you'll have a full understanding of The Surge's story. This accessibility made The Surge must easier to grasp whereas Dark Souls had so many branching paths that made it difficult to follow. 

It was this sense of uncertainty and wonder that made vexed me about Dark Souls 3. I had to do a lot of reading to fully understand what exactly transpired. Why I loved exploring the rich lore of an exciting original world Dark Souls 3 took it to a whole another level that required far more dedication that I was willing to invest. I much more preferred the story of The Surge since it gave me a clear understanding of what exactly was going on. 

Winner: The Surge

Glitches and Cheap Hits 

Dark Souls was the vanguard for games like The Surge. Delivering intensely difficult challenges that demanded gamers to try their hardest if they wished to succeed. Monterious boss battles and densely packed worlds with increasingly harder battles to overcome. What made The Surge better than Dark Souls 3 was stability and grip. 

Whether it was exploring to fighting I always felt rooted to the ground in The Surge and enemies rarely clipped through the environment. In Dark Souls 3 this was a constant annoyance, with enemies clipping through the environment frequently and successfully landing impossible and cheap blows. In a game that was already unforgivingly hard adding cheap hits was the breaking point for me. In The Surge, I did encounter a few unfair deaths but never to the same degree as Dark Souls 3. 

Both games offered a robust customization system and intense combat but it was The Surge's executions that made combat far more entertaining than Dark Souls 3. Finishing enemies off with viciously bloody moves made each battle entertaining, even if they repeated themselves. This encouraged me to fight everything just for that satisfying execution whereas in Dark Souls 3 I avoided unnecessary encounters and was far more unwilling to attack new enemies. In The Surge, the execution mechanic bolstered my confidence and gave me a safety net when things become too unmanageable. 

Winner: The Surge

Dark Fantasy vs. Science-Fiction

The world of The Surge has a survival-horror feel to it, especially in dark areas. During several moments I was startled and heading into a dark area got my heart racing. Dark Souls 3 didn't have the same fear factor because I expected to encounter grotesque monsters and deadly creatures but the environment was much more exciting than anything in The Surge. 

The environments in The Surge fit the atmosphere of the game and the bosses were designed to match the setting, but none of them compared to the world and bosses of Dark Souls 3. Each new area was littered with unexplored terrain waiting to be uncovered. Sadistic monsters and creative bosses were constantly making the experience feel refreshing. In one instance you could be fighting a giant tree demon and another a dragon. Dark Souls kept the entire adventure dynamic whereas The Surge was limited to various types of machine based enemies. This coupled with a fantastic soundtrack and Dark Souls 3 has The Surge beat. 

Winner: Dark Souls 3

Which do you prefer, Dark Souls 3 or The Surge? Let us know in the comments below!

Adam Siddiqui, NoobFeed
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