FuturLab made sure to keep your expectations in check when they teased their announcement previously, with the newly revealed Surge Deluxe for PlayStation Vita definitely not being as big of a title as Velocity 2X, but “it will certainly have everything you expect from a FuturLab game.”
The original Surge was released on PlayStation Mobile (check out the video for that above), and Surge Deluxe represents FuturLab’s response to all the feedback they receive from players. So, here’s what you can expect from this improved version:
New Combiner Block
Our research has shown that Multiplier blocks are the most sought after for achieving big scores, but they rarely dropped in the right colour or at the right time. We’ve removed the colour requirement on the Multiplier block now and added a new Combiner block that allows players to create their own Multipliers. If you’re quick and careful enough you can create 5x, 6x, 7x and higher multipliers for use in strategic play!
New Chain Linker Block
The Chain Linker block allows you to connect different coloured chains together. Simply connect a chain of blocks to the Chain Linker, and then connect to any other coloured block to create a bridge between colours!
The whole chain is converted to the same colour so you can use as many of these blocks as you can find to create MASSIVE chains!
Colour Blind Friendly!
I’m colour blind and acutely aware of the frustration that comes from trying to discern and match colours in games like Surge. FuturLab received a whole host of requests for a colour blind-friendly version of the game, and with Surge Deluxe we’ll deliver just that.
Now each colour is represented by a shape, and we’ve made sure that you only have to glance at two blocks to know whether they are a match or not. I’ll have to find another excuse for being beaten on the leader boards…
Scoring System Reworked for Top Level Play
When Surge was created, a score of around 4 million points was the highest FuturLab had achieved internally. When released to the public, the 10 million mark was broken within days.
The posts on NeoGAF from players competing for the top spot changed from talk about tactics and maximising scores, to discussing the restrictive scoring system. Their feedback was enormously helpful and we’ve used it to improve gameplay. The scoring system in Surge Deluxe has been redesigned to reward better players, increase the score spread, and remove any grinding. So thanks NeoGAF, this one is for you!
PSN Trophies and Leaderboards
Of course, but since it’s a smaller game, there won’t be a Platinum trophy. Also, the file size will be around 150MB.
Even More Community Requested Features
Puzzle Mode, Best Clearance Score Leaderboard and Unlockable Backgrounds have also made their way into Surge Deluxe! What can we say, we like making our fans happy.
Awesome Soundtrack
Those of you familiar with our games will know that we have a three pillar approach to quality; gameplay, visuals and music are all equally important to us, regardless of scale. Check out a track from Joris de Man (Killzone series) called Pressure Playa.
FuturLab is hoping to release Surge Deluxe in early 2014, so stay tuned for more information as it arrives.
