Reviews

• gamedeal user

  Oct 4, 2021

  This game could have potential, if we considered it to be in a stage of prototyping. Unless drastic changes to it's structure are planned to be done in the future I can't consider this to be a good surfing game in any sense of the word. In order to be able to create a simulator that accurately portrays the aspects of the subject you aim to represent in your game, you need to have extensive knowledge on the matter, otherwise the product will be inconsistent across it's main elements. In this case, the game shows a lack of knowledge related to surf and, despite Waveor being a company dedicated to water simulation (the main element in focus in a surfing game), the wave behavior is far from realistic. Waves always feel too big, slow and all of them break in the same way. That's not how it works in real life, waves break in different ways, depending on things like wind strength, direction and sea floor type and shape. The focus is steered towards the white water particles and surface shape deformation and not enough on what really matters for a wave simulation to work (speed, shape variation and size). In real life one wave is not the same as another. I can understand (very much so) that it is extremely hard to replicate such behavior in a video game but, for that exact reason, this can't be described as a "super realistic surfing simulator" because that is simply not true. In the matter of the surfing it self, it can be easily seen how poorly those mechanics are built just by watching the animations and movement of the player controlled character. The character control feels too loose and sensitive and lacks the precise maneuvering that exists in a real surfing situation. The animations are extremely robotic and break the little immersion you can have provided by the pretty waves breaking (poorly) while you surf. Several game mechanics are also lacking, you have poor implementation of objectives, content is extremely scarce, with no different gear and satisfactory customization options, and wave selection is also extremely poor. I think surfing is far from being able to be replicated in a video game, tech that allows for accurate representation of surfing mechanics is not yet ready, which makes it a much wiser choice to try and build an experience that people will engage with, balancing realism and the arcade mechanics of a competitive video game. People want to feel like the product they spent their money on was a worth investment. They want to engage with it and feel like they want to come back. For that to work you need to make it fun. At this moment a game like "True Surf", distributed on mobile platforms, for free, is much more fun to play than this "super realistic surfing simulator"(And it isn't a fantastic game). Kelly Slater Pro Surfer is still the best surfing game (albeit, one of the only ones) to have been released. It is still fun to play today and it was released almost twenty years ago. I don't recommend buying this product, unless you really need to try it for yourself and can buy it on a sale at a lower price. This does not feel like a finished product, in any sense of the word and it's certainly not worth the price tag that it was put on it.
• gamedeal user

  Oct 13, 2021

  Exactly the game I was hoping it would be. Beautiful, relaxing, it's smooth, it's fun, it's hypnotizing. The controls are challenging to master but intuitive once you do. The waves are what gives this game personality; Hawaiian waves are giant, slow and terrifying, Chilean waves are more intense but not as large, etc.. I have always wanted to surf, this is the exact experience I hope it might be if I ever actually do. Although this game has endless waves, forever and ever; it's amazing. I feel good after playing this.
• ChronicGamerz

  Apr 2, 2022

  A great Arcade Surf game.
• gamedeal user

  Dec 29, 2022

  Great Game could really use some rag doll physics and everyone loves a bail button and maybe and option to remove the too deep auto respawn
• gamedeal user

  Feb 11, 2019

  I have waited along time for this game and all I can say is WOW! This is going to be an amazing experience in gaming and you should be proud of what you have created already. I am looking forward to the future of this game. Finally a game that feels like Surfing, has the basic mechanics of what surfing is about. It looks great, nice atmosphere and loctions It handles great with my controller. Keep up the great work. A must buy for Surf Fans! ......Rip and Tear, Dude and Dudettes! If you ever dreamed of riding the endless wave, check this video out and then get this incredible game. They have made even more updates on this game, grab your sticks and let's go Surfing! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqI4BEChVzE&t=2s
• gamedeal user

  Mar 3, 2019

  This is what we needed in a surfing game...Granted this is an Early Access title but what I have seen so far the Wave Engine is absolutely gorgeous!! Looking back to Kelly Slater Pro Surfer and its smooth graphics to even a bit further back TransWorld Surf and its allowance of such deep tube riding, Virtual Surfing elevates and combines all those options into a new level of surfing at your desktop utilizing today's GPU and CPU's capabilities and looks to be taking the new trophy for quite some time to come.....SURF"S UP!! Nice Job Team!!
• gamedeal user

  Aug 3, 2019

  Controller support is iffy at best, no variations in waves, surfing feels "bouncy", I opted for a refund. Stick with a PS emulator and get Kelly Slater
• gamedeal user

  Nov 11, 2019

  Water and waves looks amazing. Unfortunately that's all this game has going for it. The actual "surfing" is buggy and unfinished. Got a refund. Might check back from time to time to see if they develop it into a game it should be. Until then it is no where near the $30 AUD they're asking for.
• gamedeal user

  Nov 17, 2019

  [h1]Update: 2020-05-24[/h1] [i]TL;DR: definitely still not recommended. Most of the points in the original review still apply, except there is now a career mode, and the free surf mode has been disabled.[/i] It's been another 6 months since my original review, and there have been some updates. - Free surf is now completely disabled. Whut. - Career mode has now been implemented. Some challenges are OK (like actual competitions, or trick objectives), but others are odd. One in particular is annoying: you have to pick up objects (called "mines") while surfing. These are just featureless polyhedrons that are unaffected by the rest of the world physics, and you can collect by mostly just surfing in a straight line. For something claiming to be a "simulation" that has an "ulta realistic mode", this is an odd choice. - Board customization has been slightly improved: there are a few pre-selectable images you can select. It will still minimize the game and open a Windows file dialog if you attempt to select your own custom one, which can be unexpected. And if you change your board type, you lose your customization. - Riding waves is slightly smoother; some of the bounciness is gone. - Movement and view angles are still very frustrating. You're often left looking at the back of a wave, with no idea what your character is doing (are the standing up? facing the right direction?). There's no way to use your mouse to "look over" it. If you select first-person view, you'll be kicked out of it again the second you get off of a wave. - Paddling is irrating: You cannot turn around without moving forward, and turning is annoyingly slow. It's impossible to paddle backwards. And you can't use your "W" or "S" keys to paddle; you have to hold down the right mouse button instead. Besides that, the review below still largely applies; I've striked out everything that no longer does. [h1]Original review[/h1] The requirements for what counts as "early access" have been abused here: this game is in no way in a playable state at all. This is not an early access game - it's a tech demo. I've had this game for seven months now, since I was hoping there would be some updates, but despite claims from the developer in the discussions to the contrary, there has been nothing. [b]Problems[/b] - [strike]Career mode is not implemented. That leaves a tutorial and "free surf" mode only. Thats it. That's the whole game.[/strike] - Half of the selectable locations for "free surf" are disabled. [i]Edit: free surf is now completely disabled[/i] - There is a disabled main menu item labelled "Horse" for whatever reason. You'll see it every time you load the game. - There is no way to change your key bindings, and the existing controls and sensitivity are clunky (although sensitivity is adjustable to a certain extent). - The game looks beautiful, but movement is frustrating. [strike]You're even prone to bouncing if you're padding and turn too fast (before you've even caught a wave).[/strike] In general, the gameplay just doesn't feel good. - Clicking "About" opens up notepad on your desktop. - Loading a texture onto your surfboard is difficult: it pops up a file dialog in Windows [strike]which appears underneath the game, and effectively makes the game look likes its frozen until you find it.[/strike] - [strike]While creating a new surfer provides an RPG-like point systems for skills (strength, endurance, and "jump"), you cannot change these, and they always come out to the same value. They provide the interface, but it does nothing.[/strike] - [strike]Every surfer you can choose both has a status of "top 10" and is "Int. Rank 1", to quote.[/strike] - [strike]It is not possible to delete old saved games, and you cannot create new ones to overwrite old ones.[/strike] - The options menu has [strike]clipping text, and[/strike] inconsistent slider controls that sometimes make it difficult to see what setting you're changing unless you mouse over it. Some controls you have to click on to change, and others you need to drag, despite them looking similar. Some sliders have "high" on the right, and "low" on the left, and others are the reverse, even though they're right next to each other. Don't waste your time or money on this one.
• gamedeal user

  Apr 19, 2020

  I was looking for something better than Kelly Slater Pro Surfer for PS2 and this is not it. It's very buggy and is basically a demo. The mechanics do not seem promising.