So I'm a 33 year old who has been landlocked his whole life and has yet to see an ocean but a few months back I was struck with the desire to play surfing games (possibly after watching The Shallows). All my research revealed that only a couple decent ones have ever been made so I tracked down used copies of Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer and Transworld Surf on the PS2. I was bummed that no modern surfing games seemed to exist (not counting cheapo mobile games) since there's a lot you could do with physics and graphics these days. I had no idea this game existed and I really appreciate you doing what you do in reviewing non-AAA big-budget releases. Beyond being a great reviewer you also put a spotlight on smaller games that then help those developers get the views and sales they deserve. You sold me on this, and I thank you for it.
I would say so... it's got that arcade feel. Surfing games are, by their very nature, kinda limited, so don't anticipate tons of content but what's there is enjoyable. The control scheme is different and really neat in that you can input your trick or how much spin you want while you're still on the wave face then you have a limited amount of time to launch into the air where the trick will then be executed. You also have to time a button press as you land to pull off a perfect landing, so you absolutely stay engaged with the controls at all times. Within half an hour of starting the game I was racking up combo chains and pulling off big air. Definitely feels like an updated remake of Kelly Slater or Transworld Surf.
FREE DEMO which is awesome. Not amazing but a totally unique experience, relaxing, and just an enjoyable title that surprised the hell out of me. Edit god gamned audio glitch at 3:55 is NOT in the game and NOT in the main source. not sure how that got in. Oh and again free demo so hey no harm in seeing if you can get through the odd tutorial
You are on fire with these reviews! Much appreciated! You are the only reviewer I use to determine which games to get (if its not something I have already been looking forward to). Which leads to my question. When will you have the review for Destiny 2 up? Its supposed to release soon but I figure you might have a review copy and working through it now? The first game didnt live up to the studios previous work imo and it was a disappointing that there really wasnt a proper campaign. So thats what I want to know, does it have a proper campaign and is it any good? =)
ACG This review felt weird from you for some reason. The water effects are poor and the back flow behind the board looks looped. Some of the Crests come off looking thick and molasses. Is there any caveats you can share? Did you know anyone who developed the game? Usually when your given a free game you say you will buy a code and give away to keep you honest, yet you said nothing this time, didn't even say if this was a final build? This review doesn't sound like you. Why is this weird? Confused, I am.
Doesn't seem like anyone else is but you. Made sense to me. Not amazing unique experience and an enjoyable title for 15 bucks with a ton of playtime and a free demo. Now that I reread your comment your passive aggressive little barbs about honesty versus just asking the question could be a sign your just trying to give him shit.
I surf and I like your review, I played the demo but it didn't click with me, I still think they need to follow the SKATE game style and make it more realistic. SKATE did so well in making a challenging game that made realistic skating so much fun and technical
Yea skate 3 was great, and one of the best skateboarding games of all time. But too bad not enough players supported it and sales were not great, so us gamers were to blame as to why a sequel will not be made.
I hadn't even heard of this game until today, when I saw that it was on sale on Xbox Live. The last surfing game I played was Surf's Up, so it's been a while.
even though I sold my ps4 and have mac for a pc I still love watching your videos just for the writing, I would love to see a series about game design from you, especially since have a good grasp on the subject and know how to articulate ideas in a great way
The last surfing game I played was in California Games on the Sega Master System. I'll be checking out the demo for sure. Nothing to lose. Good thinking by the devs to include one. I'm pretty sure many people are on the fence about this one. Great review!
U know, when I jumped onto TH-cam tonight looking for a review for this game, I was pleasantly surprised and shocked to see an ACG review. One reaction...”this guy Karak reviews “EVERYTHING!” In my Gary Oldman voice from the professional. On my way to purchase this man, thanks again for another great review!
Great review thank you. As a surfer/skater i have waited a long time for another board sports game..this game is ok for what it is. i have to wonder if the devs played ksps and transworld surf and understand why those two games were great. they both had a great mix of arcade feel and carving the face of the wave. no cutbacks/carving or bottom turns to link tricks feels like they missed something here. The waves look and feel ok but no a good representation of there real life breaks. Comparing to other board sports games this sits below kelly Slater pro surfer and transworld and the skate series/infinite air. But well above tony hawk 5.
awesome job as always thnks; however i just wanna ask u if u ever gonna do a full review of get even, can't find accurate reviews as yours about this game
Cool, might check it out. Normally, I avoid sports games like the plague, but I've had fun with the early Tony Hawks. Since there's a free demo, there's no excuse not to try it.
Hm, I might have to try this game since you were so impressed by it. As always, you opinions are valuable to me. Do we have one coming for Absolver? I've already started playing it but I want to see what you think about it.
Hey +Karak how does this compare to Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer? Have you ever played that? It followed the tried-and-true Tony Hawk formula and it was awesome fun. Although that game is from 2002, I have to argue that the graphics and gameplay (and most likely the music as well!) are better than this game released 15 years later. Please let me know if this is a worthwhile upgrade after 15 years of technological growth...
Wow, never saw this one coming, I love surfing games & have one for my original Xbox. Great review, $15 well spent for this one on my PS4 Pro. Does it have an "offline" single-player mode or is like "Steep" always online?
Terrible, Transworld Surf is miles better. I'm glad you brought up the lack of tube riding mechanics, all i saw here was ridiculously unrealistic arcade moves on like minded waves.
Cuz I'm a surfer and there is like no new surf games other than this one no matter what I'll play it but I beleive they just need a lil more realism like the airs it's kinda unrealistic but its just like any sports games like bmx skatin etc
Game looks like an app version of transworld lol kelly slater had the best surf game and its a shame this ones so meh. No game can capture realistic surfing tho
Each wave looks exactly identical and it appears to be another combo button masher. Yawn... If they made the more waves random like maybe 4 out of 10 close out and various min -max height for a location it would add some surprise and replay value. Have the waves behave more realistically and last for X amount of time before ending. At least with the above variables you could kick back enjoy surfing and not just another button masher.
ya I had problems with the way it all felt at first then suddenly I was like...oh I GET IT. Like I discussed in the review. Not perfect but hey free demo
It does not look amazing...almost like a gamecube version of transworld surf for ps2. It's only 15 bucks and its a surfing game. I miss transworld surf, killer soundtrack and the locations were awesome!
Aw man yeah it is pretty buggy at the moment. Although not consistent for me at least, it works great most of the time. Hopefully they'll fix the major bugs so we could get your review. I don't even watch reviews, only your channel for now bro. Good luck!
This game is absolutely Horrible! Maybe some land locked kooks who have no idea what surfing really looks like might like this but if your someone who surfs irl and want something like the old kelly slater and sunny Garcia games then don’t buy this. No flow, no style, basically no face maneuvers, and they didn’t even get the trick names right. It’s obvious no one who developed this game had ever surfed a day in their life. Don’t waste your money.
Only somebody who doesn't surf or understand surfing would enjoy this game. The waves look like shit and the surfer surf's like a fucking kook. I tried this for an hour and got it refunded. This game is fucking garbage. I do love your channel and reviews. But i disagree with you on this video. But it's understandable you have your opinion if you don't surf regularly like i do. You wouldn't understand
So I'm a 33 year old who has been landlocked his whole life and has yet to see an ocean but a few months back I was struck with the desire to play surfing games (possibly after watching The Shallows). All my research revealed that only a couple decent ones have ever been made so I tracked down used copies of Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer and Transworld Surf on the PS2. I was bummed that no modern surfing games seemed to exist (not counting cheapo mobile games) since there's a lot you could do with physics and graphics these days. I had no idea this game existed and I really appreciate you doing what you do in reviewing non-AAA big-budget releases. Beyond being a great reviewer you also put a spotlight on smaller games that then help those developers get the views and sales they deserve. You sold me on this, and I thank you for it.
Hey man I'm in the same boat. I used to spend hours on Kelly Slater back as a kid. Does this hit the mark at all?
I would say so... it's got that arcade feel. Surfing games are, by their very nature, kinda limited, so don't anticipate tons of content but what's there is enjoyable. The control scheme is different and really neat in that you can input your trick or how much spin you want while you're still on the wave face then you have a limited amount of time to launch into the air where the trick will then be executed. You also have to time a button press as you land to pull off a perfect landing, so you absolutely stay engaged with the controls at all times. Within half an hour of starting the game I was racking up combo chains and pulling off big air. Definitely feels like an updated remake of Kelly Slater or Transworld Surf.
FREE DEMO which is awesome. Not amazing but a totally unique experience, relaxing, and just an enjoyable title that surprised the hell out of me.
Edit god gamned audio glitch at 3:55 is NOT in the game and NOT in the main source. not sure how that got in.
Oh and again free demo so hey no harm in seeing if you can get through the odd tutorial
You are on fire with these reviews! Much appreciated! You are the only reviewer I use to determine which games to get (if its not something I have already been looking forward to). Which leads to my question. When will you have the review for Destiny 2 up? Its supposed to release soon but I figure you might have a review copy and working through it now? The first game didnt live up to the studios previous work imo and it was a disappointing that there really wasnt a proper campaign. So thats what I want to know, does it have a proper campaign and is it any good? =)
ACG This review felt weird from you for some reason. The water effects are poor and the back flow behind the board looks looped. Some of the Crests come off looking thick and molasses. Is there any caveats you can share? Did you know anyone who developed the game? Usually when your given a free game you say you will buy a code and give away to keep you honest, yet you said nothing this time, didn't even say if this was a final build? This review doesn't sound like you. Why is this weird? Confused, I am.
Doesn't seem like anyone else is but you. Made sense to me. Not amazing unique experience and an enjoyable title for 15 bucks with a ton of playtime and a free demo. Now that I reread your comment your passive aggressive little barbs about honesty versus just asking the question could be a sign your just trying to give him shit.
Finch Harper His disclosure is in the description, ACG doesn't always state in every single review his integrity statement verbatim.
god damn man do you ever sleep?
I had no idea this game even existed until I watched this, it looks like something I'd really enjoy too. Great review as always Karak.
John Beasley I didn't even know there were prior surfing games prior to this review
I surf and I like your review, I played the demo but it didn't click with me, I still think they need to follow the SKATE game style and make it more realistic. SKATE did so well in making a challenging game that made realistic skating so much fun and technical
Kess mall yeah, this shit is way too unrealistic so is not immersive. I'll pass.
I'm with you man. I still play EA Skate 3 from time to time and just can't believe there are no current gen realistic SKATE games.
Yea skate 3 was great, and one of the best skateboarding games of all time. But too bad not enough players supported it and sales were not great, so us gamers were to blame as to why a sequel will not be made.
mylifeintheknifetrade nothing beat the first ever thps sunk so many hours into it when I was young
squalltheonly transworld surf was probably the best surf game I ever played, probably shit if I played it now though hahaha
dude the amount of effort you put in to the reviews is really commendable....Blown away !! .. Thank you for your service.
Whoa! Titanic spoilers WTF?!
You've had a while to see it...
Hopefully you're just trolling. It'll be really sad if you aren't tho
insignificant figure maybe said commenter was living under a rock.
Aerith dies in FF7 !
insignificant figure u dense fuck (incredibles meme)
I hadn't even heard of this game until today, when I saw that it was on sale on Xbox Live. The last surfing game I played was Surf's Up, so it's been a while.
even though I sold my ps4 and have mac for a pc I still love watching your videos just for the writing, I would love to see a series about game design from you, especially since have a good grasp on the subject and know how to articulate ideas in a great way
th-cam.com/play/PL62tz83FJJjl6XM--ouEggi7Y007zG-xB.html
T&C Surf Design? Wow....taking it back ACG!
lol had to
Wow, didn't even know this game existed, but going to check it out now.
The last surfing game I played was in California Games on the Sega Master System.
I'll be checking out the demo for sure. Nothing to lose. Good thinking by the devs to include one. I'm pretty sure many people are on the fence about this one.
Great review!
great old game
I'm definitely going to check this game out. Great review as always Karak. I really appreciate it!
Great review as always Karak. But the most important question is of course: Is the water effects better than those of Hydrophobia Prophecy?
U know, when I jumped onto TH-cam tonight looking for a review for this game, I was pleasantly surprised and shocked to see an ACG review. One reaction...”this guy Karak reviews “EVERYTHING!” In my Gary Oldman voice from the professional.
On my way to purchase this man, thanks again for another great review!
thank you
Wow that was a surprising review dude! Last surfing games I played were Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer and TransWorld Surf for the original Xbox
thanks
TransWorld Surf FTW
Kelly Slater was one of my fav xbox games, bought it for 2.99 back in the day
Whoa, this one came right out of the blue - I had no idea surf games even existed. Great review as always!
MrKanjidude "out of the blue" nice pun lol and nice profile pic
I like your reviews despite not being able to play all the games you talk about.
I will be leaning on you this upcoming fall/winter lol
Great review thank you.
As a surfer/skater i have waited a long time for another board sports game..this game is ok for what it is. i have to wonder if the devs played ksps and transworld surf and understand why those two games were great. they both had a great mix of arcade feel and carving the face of the wave. no cutbacks/carving or bottom turns to link tricks feels like they missed something here. The waves look and feel ok but no a good representation of there real life breaks. Comparing to other board sports games this sits below kelly Slater pro surfer and transworld and the skate series/infinite air. But well above tony hawk 5.
ya I mean the first time you pull off a 360 full frontal flip I think realism wasn't their mainstay
mathew perry for a "surfer/skater" you have zero confidence. Using a fucking actors name lmao
Like many, i had no idea it existed. Will probably get it on sale. Thanks for the great review.
I thought you made a music video when I saw the thumbnail :D
Thank you for the review! I've been wanting a decent new surfing game since the Dreamcast era.
Reviewing a surfing game. Now that's impressive! Good job dude.
awesome job as always thnks; however i just wanna ask u if u ever gonna do a full review of get even, can't find accurate reviews as yours about this game
The water and the lighting look amazing. Everything else is from GTA Vice City lol
Great review! Actually bought the game on PSN because of this review when I was desperate to use my 20% off code.
I would love to see this game or something like it on switch.
This looks really cool and a lot better than i thought it was going to be.
Whoa! Totally Radical Bro!
Cool, might check it out. Normally, I avoid sports games like the plague, but I've had fun with the early Tony Hawks. Since there's a free demo, there's no excuse not to try it.
Didn't know this game was coming out and I study surf science!
Honestly the last Surfboard game I remembered was for the original Xbox
Hm, I might have to try this game since you were so impressed by it. As always, you opinions are valuable to me. Do we have one coming for Absolver? I've already started playing it but I want to see what you think about it.
hey there is a demo so no skin off your butt
Karak, are you going to review ABSOLVER?
I have a question the simbol that are place in each wave what is the meaning of that?
wish there's a snowboarding game on the pc like SSX on the PS3/360
Your fucking metaphors are amazing and one of the greatest part of your in depth reviews. Lol man love your vids.
Only review I've found for the game so far. Thank you.
you bet
Hey +Karak how does this compare to Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer? Have you ever played that? It followed the tried-and-true Tony Hawk formula and it was awesome fun. Although that game is from 2002, I have to argue that the graphics and gameplay (and most likely the music as well!) are better than this game released 15 years later. Please let me know if this is a worthwhile upgrade after 15 years of technological growth...
How does it compare to Kelly Slater Pro Surfer which was AWESOME?
They need to invert the x axis controls. I'm too used to Kelly Slater's pro surfer controls.
Whoa there champion I've come down sideways from an air and at no time did an atomic reaction happen.
Great review, if i was to try surfing it would be this game, in no worlds would i have the motor skills to do it in Real life hehe
Huh, weird! This has got to be one of those games I didn't know I'd like to try.
zaqxsw zaqxsw its ok, there are demos , you can try it out
Good job, Karak
Steam page has no price, didn't see you mention it in your vid (might be blind), any idea of the cost?
Was hoping for this to be decent. Last enjoyable surfing game I played was Kelley slaters on ps2 launch day.
Did you review sonic mania
Are you gonna review Absolver?
Looks like a refreshed Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer with less moves
a bit
Will definitely give the demo a try for shits and giggles
How's it going with the review to get monetized on previous videos?
Reminds me so much of transworld surf. loved that game
Can you review everybody's golf?
Hate no physical version ! Looks excellent!
Love your reviews! Thanks
Are you doing Yakuza?
Great review! Nice to see a good surfing game come out!
Wow, never saw this one coming, I love surfing games & have one for my original Xbox. Great review, $15 well spent for this one on my PS4 Pro. Does it have an "offline" single-player mode or is like "Steep" always online?
single isn't connected you can play it alone. It has a demo even on PS4 if I remember right
You know what would be sick a steep style game but surfing and beach sports like cmon ea
Do the wave sizes change at all?
They do in the demo.
Man, why isn't the T-pose called the Digital Jesus Pose... such a waste.
DSP
Has ACG reviewed the Steep?
God. Taking off on the waves, the character looks like a tourist taking a surf lesson and pumping the character again looks like a complete novice.
Transworld surf for the the original Xbox is still better!!!
They should do a reboot for that.
I haven't played a surfing game since Kelly slaters pro surfing back on ps2.
the last surfing game i played was on the Atari lynx
I want someone to make a good skateboarding game for the PS4... At the moment there are none.. Skate 3?
As usual good review..1 like as per usual even if I dont care about the game dude
Terrible, Transworld Surf is miles better. I'm glad you brought up the lack of tube riding mechanics, all i saw here was ridiculously unrealistic arcade moves on like minded waves.
anybody else remember Rockstar Game's H30 Surfing game?
Cuz I'm a surfer and there is like no new surf games other than this one no matter what I'll play it but I beleive they just need a lil more realism like the airs it's kinda unrealistic but its just like any sports games like bmx skatin etc
This isn't Snowboard Kids
THIS LOOKS SO MUCH LIKE THIS SURF GAME I PLAYED AS A KID, SO MUCH SO THAT I CANNOT JUSTIFY TRYING THIS.
Looks interesting!
will you sleep this week man? ahha so many games to review, I dont know how you do it!
BTW, great review! was not in my radar.. not my type of game tbh, but maybe in the future will.
yep
Game looks like an app version of transworld lol kelly slater had the best surf game and its a shame this ones so meh. No game can capture realistic surfing tho
I surf and I think this game is for people who surf but that is only my opinion and Kelly slaters pro surfers was better
Can you die a gruesome death by shark attack?
no
Each wave looks exactly identical and it appears to be another combo button masher. Yawn... If they made the more waves random like maybe 4 out of 10 close out and various min -max height for a location it would add some surprise and replay value. Have the waves behave more realistically and last for X amount of time before ending. At least with the above variables you could kick back enjoy surfing and not just another button masher.
Wow. A buy.
Couldn't play the demo it for more than a few minutes. Reminded me of why I hate QTE games. Also, the movement tutorial needs to be improved.
ya I had problems with the way it all felt at first then suddenly I was like...oh I GET IT. Like I discussed in the review. Not perfect but hey free demo
I respect you for this lol
It does not look amazing...almost like a gamecube version of transworld surf for ps2. It's only 15 bucks and its a surfing game. I miss transworld surf, killer soundtrack and the locations were awesome!
exactly. Fun, long, and a free demo. Not bad. Not amazing but totally worth it to me.
Absolver? Ark?
huh
But can you play as a female character? Didn't see anything to suggest so.
yep like I said tons of customization
Cool, thanks.
Do Absolver please :3
cant even get through it with all the bugs to review it
Aw man yeah it is pretty buggy at the moment. Although not consistent for me at least, it works great most of the time.
Hopefully they'll fix the major bugs so we could get your review.
I don't even watch reviews, only your channel for now bro.
Good luck!
Not realistic enough. Pity. Still make every surf game too arcade like.
In real life ....or the game!!!
Probably gets boring quickly
I hope I one day understand why people play games like this.
They like surfing.
It's only buyable if you have to dodge sharks. A game about surfing? Really? Go out and surf instead of playing a game about it.
Tap02 some people don't have working legs.
And what if you're landlocked?
Why do people play baseball games, football games, basketball games, etc? It's fun.
Knarly
after waiting so long for a surfing game I got slammed. what a letdown this trash is.
My pet cat took its own life after seeing how shitty this game is
This game is absolutely Horrible! Maybe some land locked kooks who have no idea what surfing really looks like might like this but if your someone who surfs irl and want something like the old kelly slater and sunny Garcia games then don’t buy this. No flow, no style, basically no face maneuvers, and they didn’t even get the trick names right. It’s obvious no one who developed this game had ever surfed a day in their life. Don’t waste your money.
Mobile game lookin ass
Only somebody who doesn't surf or understand surfing would enjoy this game. The waves look like shit and the surfer surf's like a fucking kook. I tried this for an hour and got it refunded. This game is fucking garbage.
I do love your channel and reviews. But i disagree with you on this video. But it's understandable you have your opinion if you don't surf regularly like i do. You wouldn't understand