“Come on man! Just one more line. That’s all I need! Look at all the colours man. I just need my fix. All I want to do is relieve some pressure. Please?”
This has been the conversation happening inside my head for the past few nights. Before you start to worry, I can confirm I am not taking any drugs. Instead, I have been playing something equally as addictive – Surge Deluxe.
• Developer: Futurlab
• Publisher: Futurlab
• Reviewed on: PlayStation Vita
• Release Date: Available Now (US) / 5th Feb (Europe)
One of my favourite games on the Vita is Futurlab’s Velocity Ultra. It has stolen hours of my life. Clearly, the UK-based studio is aiming to pilfer much more of my time because they have just released Surge Deluxe – a native Vita version of their PlayStation Mobile game Surge – and it is just as addictive.
For anyone unfamiliar with the concept, the aim of Surge Deluxe is to release constantly-building pressure by exposing and opening numerous valves. These all-important taps lie behind multiple coloured blocks. In order to clear these obstructions, you must connect matching blocks together using your finger on the Vita’s touchscreen. While this may sound straight-forward (and it is, initially), you must also contend with special blocks; some of which are there to help you build up a score (like multiplier blocks) but others require you to use precise timing (like the switching blocks that change colour frequently).
Once you start playing, you will quickly start to think about strategies to increase your score. Attacking smaller groups of blocks to expose starred ones (more points, obviously) and waiting for a larger amount of similar piece before using a multiplier segment are all valid game plans to implement. Eventually, you will begin to rack up huge scores but as the ever-increasing pressure builds at the side of the screen, more and more pressure falls on you and, most specifically, your index finger to move quickly and precisely.
Futurlab have clearly thought this game through. For instance, the scoring system rewards skill-based play. The more quickly you can think, and act, the higher your score. This reward system encourages not only repeated play, but smart play. When you end up with a field full of the same colours, with numerous multiplier and connector blocks at your disposal, the smile on your face will have to be chiselled off. Even the different coloured blocks have unique shapes, to allow colour-blind players to enjoy the video game equivalent to opiates!
As well as the main game mode – which basically boils down to score-chasing – Futurlab have also included Puzzle mode, a collection of fifteen varying puzzles to test your combo-making abilities and nimble fingers. While this mode does add something slightly different to Surge Deluxe, I can’t help but feel disappointed that there isn’t more variety to the game. Some form of multiplayer or basic campaign mode would have added far more impetus to continue coming back to the game.
Regardless, Surge Deluxe is not exactly an easy game to put down anyway. Not only is the gameplay ridiculously good fun, but the visuals and music are spectacular and the Vita’s OLED screen simply pops with colour.
Surge Deluxe is a stylish, kaleidoscopic skills-based drug, in video game form. Perfectly designed for the short stints gameplay you might expect from a handheld console, I can see myself returning to this repeatedly for a quick bash. Of course, this will turn into hours… but really, I don’t have a problem… honestly, I don’t!
