Taken for a Quickie | Surf World Series

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Wetsuits on, shake that hair and, like, totally grab your board, dude! Let’s hit the waves with Portsmouth-based developer Climax Studios’ Surf World Series.

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​by Rob
​Holt

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​@acousticmagic

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Developer: Climax Studios
Publisher: Vision Games Publishing
Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, PC
Players: 1 - 16

How exactly does a surfing game work, then?

Imagine the surfing sections from the classic California Games (if you’re old enough to remember them), blended with post-Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater combos, visuals and soundtrack.

You’ll start off by creating your surfer - you can even design your own board - before working your way through the excellent surf school tutorials to prepare for the more than 40 single player events, along with online competitions.

Gnarly! How’s that gameplay, dude?

Awesome! From the moment you catch your first wave you’ll be hooked. Chaining combos together with grabs and spins is highly gratifying, especially when you nail a special trick. Pulling off snap backs and perfect landings are great too, but nothing really gets close to the satisfaction of the camera zooming in when you ride the tube of a wave.

The simple, intuitive controls make all of the twitch button-bashing feel natural and fully under your control, too.

Is the audiovisual presentation totally righteous?

For a niche, low-budget and independently produced sports game, both the graphics and tunes hold up really well. The water shifts and swells beautifully, and the difference in lighting between the daytime, dusk and night events is gorgeous.

The music is a winner here too, mixing fast, punky tunes with slower, soft keyboard tones in the calming menus.

Sounds sweet so far, but what about the bad?

If you’re not a huge fan of surfing or combo-based, arcadey games, Surf World Series definitely won’t be for you. If those elements do tickle your fancy, there’s nothing much to complain about; it’s a great sports/arcade mash-up that’ll give you a good few hours of fun for not much money.

Safe to assume it’s a winning run and not a wipeout, then?

For us, it’s definitely a winning run. £11.99 gets you a generous, challenge-filled single player campaign and a fun online component that’ll keep you in the water until your skin wrinkles.​

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Surf World Series is available now on Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

If it sounds like your thing be sure to keep your eyes peeled for next week’s giveaway, in which you could win a copy on Xbox One!