ActionRPG
The Surge
Give it 20 hours
Gets good by 20h then rated almost like by veterans
Reach the ending at least 15% of players who started
Started playing 92% of owners
Steam reviews 74% positive of 12,348
What the data shows
- In the first 2 hours 1 in 2 reviews are negative (60%); after 20h it's 1 in 9 (11%).
- The opening is criticised more than in 89% of games we track.
- At least 15% of players who start reach the ending.
- The biggest drop-off is between “On My Own Two Feet” (Acquired your personal CREO Exo-Rig) and “P.A.X” (Defeated the Pacification Automaton X): from 100% to 55% of starters.
- 92% of owners got the first achievement.
When it gets good
Share of positive reviews by how many hours the reviewer had played when writing the review.
before it gets good opening up fully opened up
Based on all 12,416 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 298 reviews: 26.7h for positive, 11.7h for negative. Almost every game is rated lower in the first 2–3 hours: that window includes refunds and quick first impressions. What matters is how deep the dip is and how fast the game recovers.
Where players quit
Share of players who started the game and reached each story milestone. 100% is the most common achievement (92.3% of owners), so people who bought the game and never launched it don't count.
- Started playing 100%
- On My Own Two Feet Acquired your personal CREO Exo-Rig 100%
- P.A.X Defeated the Pacification Automaton X Most players quit here 55% −45
- Firebug Defeated the LU-74 "Firebug" 34% −21
- Big Sister Defeated the Big SISTER 1/3 26% −9
- The Black Cerberus Defeated the security chief of Echelon 9 21% −5
- Shall Not Pass Defeated the guard at the NUCLEUS elevator 19% −1
- For the Good of Mankind Finish the game after corrupting the Utopia protocols ≥15% −4
story milestone ending (most common ending) biggest drop-off
Story milestones were labeled by AI from achievement names and descriptions; mistakes are possible.
All achievements (67)
story milestone ending side
- On My Own Two Feet Acquired your personal CREO Exo-Rig 100%
- I'll Be Back Died for the first time 92%
- First Day on the Job Acquired your selected job gear 88%
- Sorry, I Dropped This Found your lost Tech Scrap after dying 87%
- Butcher's Bill Cut each limb from human enemies at least once 69%
- P.A.X Defeated the Pacification Automaton X 55%
- Hey Listen Acquired your personal CREO companion drone 55%
- OPERATOR Acquired a full set of OPERATOR gear 49%
- It's Blue Light Killed an enemy in a dark zone using the ASTir SpecterBite 42%
- Most Wanted Provoked and defeated the security forces in Central Production B 40%
- Infidel Defeated the vending machine cult 36%
- Firebug Defeated the LU-74 "Firebug" 34%
- GOLIATH Acquired a full set of GOLIATH gear 33%
- I Choose You Found a BOTECS Power Core for your companion drone 29%
- Nothing to Lose Carried more than 50,000 Tech Scrap 28%
- Big Sister Defeated the Big SISTER 1/3 26%
- Gear Up Enhanced your Exo-Rig for the first time 25%
- SENTINEL Acquired a full set of SENTINEL gear 25%
- The Black Cerberus Defeated the security chief of Echelon 9 21%
- Core Power Reached a Core Power of 80 21%
- Watchman Received the security upgrade for your Exo-Rig 20%
- Who's in Charge Here? Found the Board 20%
- CREO Killed the Video Star Met Don Hackett 19%
- Shall Not Pass Defeated the guard at the NUCLEUS elevator 19%
- Right Tool for the Job Upgraded a weapon using the Nano Core crafting component 16%
- Overconfident Defeated a boss while carrying at least 20,000 Tech Scrap 16%
- Raging Drones Found all audio logs from and about Ferguson 16%
- For the Good of Mankind Finish the game after corrupting the Utopia protocols 15%
- Melting Down Defeated all five smelting machines 15%
- Pusher Man Helped someone refill their supply of medicine 14%
- Duty-Bound Accompanied a lost soul on her quest to find herself 14%
- Follow the White Rabbit Found all of Mallory's audio logs 13%
- Liberation Found all audio logs about the infamous "Liberator" 13%
- Is This Real Life? Survived rebooting the network in the Project Resolve Center 11%
- Sunglasses at Night Found yourself some sunglasses 11%
- No More Marching Killed all the mascots of the Popcorn Parade 11%
- It Lives! It Sniffs! It Conquers! Acquired the Iron Maus gear 10%
- Squad Chief Helvig Defeated S&R Squad Chief Helvig 10%
- Jack of All Trades Reached level 5 weapon proficiency in each of the weapon types 10%
- Man of Steel Upgraded a full gear set using the Nano Core crafting component 8.8%
- Evolution Theory Found all of Dr. Murphy's audio logs. 7.9%
- Carbon Cat Defeated Carbon Cat 7.9%
- Risk Assessment Finished an episode with at least 1 modifier turned on 7.8%
- 3-2-1 Unlocked the Rusty Spring Tower 7.6%
- Repeat Customer Gave Jo Tech Scrap three times 7.4%
- Rusty Rat Saved Rusty Rat 6.6%
- Turing Test Met Sally in person 6.4%
- Ghost in the Machine Accompanied a father and his little daughter on their way through the facility 6.0%
- Desecration Destroyed all graves in "Frontier Crypt" 5.2%
- Guard Dog Acquired the complete Black Cerberus gear and the MG Judge 5.1%
- Homo Machinalis Killed Barrett after his transformation into Homo Machinalis 4.9%
- Was That Yours? Defeated a boss with its own weapon 4.6%
- Brave New World Finish the game without corrupting the Utopia protocols 4.3%
- Carbon Cat vs Iron Maus Defeated Carbon Cat as Iron Maus 4.2%
- Dress Up Collected and crafted all 4 mascot heads 4.2%
- Good Listener Collected all 21 audio logs found in CREO World 4.0%
- New Gear Crafted all gear sets found in CREO World 3.6%
- Episodic Finished every episode 3.6%
- End of Transmission Turned off Rischboter 3.6%
- Gramophone Enthusiast Collected all 7 audiologs found in the Testing Chamber 3.4%
- One-Armed Bandit Cut 42 arms in the Testing Chamber 3.1%
- Sniffing Around Completed your Iron Maus comic collection 3.0%
- Bling-Bling Acquired all Frontier Gear Western Attire 2.8%
- The Surge Unlocked all achievements in the base game 2.5%
- Suited and Booted Crafted all Frontier Gear sets 2.5%
- Modus Operandi Finished an episode with the 4 hardest modifiers turned on 2.4%
- Tools of War Collected all Frontier Weapons 2.4%
Steam page Updated: 2026-10-18.