Improvement over the first game
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 positive reviews
“An upgrade in every single way from Surge 1.”
Steam review · 32 h played ↗
The Surge 2
Worth buying? What 300 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 300 Steam reviews actually say.
Mostly Positive · 76%Mostly Positive · 76%Deck132019Souls-like · RPG · Action
$29.99
Open on Steam ↗US Steam price, checked 5 h ago · Lowest we’ve seen since Oct 21, 2026: $2.99
The verdict
A faster, more varied sci-fi soulslike with satisfying limb-cutting and directional parry combat. Skip it if you hate mandatory parrying, mazy levels, a weak story, or PC crashes.
Great for
Soulslike fans who want fast, weighty combat, gear farming and build variety, ideally bought on deep sale
Main risk
Directional parry, mapless confusing levels or PC crashes may sour you, and the tone is weaker than the first game
What changed in the last 30 days
24 recent reviews
Recent negative reviews mention Vulkan crashes every ~30 minutes, bad level design and unreliable combat. No specific patch is named, so confidence is moderate.
24 recent reviews
What players love
Satisfying limb-targeting combat
Mentioned in ~1 in 6 positive reviews
“This is 100% the best combat system I have ever played in a souls-like or otherwise.”
Steam review · 16.8 h played ↗
Lots of weapons, armor and builds
Mentioned in ~1 in 7 positive reviews
“LOTS of weapons and armours and an infinite choices for your build.”
Steam review · 26.8 h played ↗
Great level design and shortcuts
Mentioned in ~1 in 8 positive reviews
“The standout is the map design—shortcuts looping back to bonfires are well thought out and satisfying to unlock.”
Steam review · 26.3 h played ↗
Directional parry is rewarding
Mentioned in ~1 in 8 positive reviews
“Directional blocking/parrying feels incredible”
Steam review · 51.7 h played ↗
Cheap on sale and good value
Mentioned in ~1 in 14 positive reviews
“I got S2 (including all DLC) on sale for like $6; which is a steal!”
Steam review · 44.8 h played ↗
What players complain about
Directional parry and clunky controls
Mentioned in ~1 in 4 negative reviews
“Unfortunately this new machnic is MANDATORY to use”
Steam review · 19.6 h played ↗
Crashes and technical problems
Mentioned in ~1 in 4 negative reviews
“the game consistently crashes every 2-2½ hours, always the same 'Vulkan' issue”
Steam review · 19.5 h played ↗
Worse than the first game, weak story
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 negative reviews
“what the hell did I just play? We went from Warren surviving a corporate hell hole discovering the truth to, mc being called cringe names”
Steam review · 23.8 h played ↗
Confusing level design, no useful map
Mentioned in ~1 in 6 negative reviews
“get ready for the most confusing, frustrating and rage inducing level design in any game ever!”
Steam review · 15.8 h played ↗
Brutal early bosses, poor tutorial
Mentioned in ~1 in 8 negative reviews
“this game has the worst gameplay tutorial I've ever seen.”
Steam review · 1.1 h played ↗
Bad camera and lighting
Mentioned in ~1 in 12 negative reviews
“the real boss is the camera”
Steam review · 5.2 h played ↗
System requirements
From the Steam store page
Steam Deck: VerifiedController support20 GB
Minimum
OSWindows 7/8/10 (64-bit)
ProcessorAMD FX-8320 (3.5 GHz) / Intel i5-4690K (3.5 GHz)
Memory8 GB RAM
Graphics2 GB, AMD Radeon R9 280 / NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950
Storage20 GB available space
Recommended
OSWindows 7/8/10 (64-bit)
ProcessorAMD FX-8370 (4.0 GHz) / Intel Core i7-3820 (3.6 GHz)
Memory16 GB RAM
Graphics6 GB, AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 / NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti
Storage20 GB available space
OSWindows 7/8/10 (64-bit)
ProcessorAMD FX-8320 (3.5 GHz) / Intel i5-4690K (3.5 GHz)
Memory8 GB RAM
Graphics2 GB, AMD Radeon R9 280 / NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950
Storage20 GB available space
More games to check
Other games we’ve read the reviews for
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Very Positive · 92%
+ Fluid, satisfying kung fu combat
− Punishing difficulty and aging system
analyzed 16 d ago
Lords Of The Fallen™ 2014
Mixed · 58%
+ Graphics hold up well for 2014
− Slow, clunky, unresponsive combat
analyzed 5 d ago
Valor Mortis
Mostly Positive · 77%
+ Striking art direction and atmosphere
− Crashes and game-breaking bugs
analyzed 5 d ago
−75%
Blasphemous 2
Very Positive · 91%
+ Improves on the first game
− Clunky controls and frustrating bosses
analyzed 6 d ago
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