The Ascent

 PC
User Score
7.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 354 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 249 out of 354
  2. Mixed: 48 out of 354
  3. Negative: 57 out of 354

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  1. Nite4awk
    Jun 13, 2023
    8
    I asked for a game like this for so long... and this game delivers. A real gem.
  2. somovbiu
    May 7, 2023
    0
    Most of the game is tedious, but sometimes the difficulty suddenly spikes. This means the developer put zero effort into balancing the game. Don't give this kind of developer any money.
  3. fastoch82
    Mar 18, 2023
    8
    Deserves way better than the actual Metascore of 73. Great visuals, great gameplay, average story, very nice game in the end. Made by something like 12 people, it's outstanding to see what such a small studio can accomplish. Can't wait to play their next game.
  4. crangus
    Mar 1, 2023
    5
    I tried to enjoy it twice, as did my friend, but it felt like nothing we haven't already done before many times. Graphics seemed above average for sure, but little else in my opinion. I would describe it as pretty, yet somewhat janky and unexciting. May be worth it for you, I think mostly if you really like gritty twin stick shooters.
  5. KenniG
    Nov 14, 2022
    1
    I really wish designers would quit focusing so much on “graphics.” Graphics don’t mean crap if the game is more or less unplayable or not fun. There are plenty of free games out better than this with lesser graphics but infinitely more fun and playable. One can easily tell that this was made as kind of a look what we can do game so that they can move onto something more lucrative which isI really wish designers would quit focusing so much on “graphics.” Graphics don’t mean crap if the game is more or less unplayable or not fun. There are plenty of free games out better than this with lesser graphics but infinitely more fun and playable. One can easily tell that this was made as kind of a look what we can do game so that they can move onto something more lucrative which is what the industry has become nowadays. Such a waste of what could be a potentially great game if it wasn’t for the poor quality in the actual gameplay. Only reason I gave this more than a 0 is because of the graphics and potential which I believe is all they really cared about anyway.… Expand
  6. EVIL_UJIN
    Oct 15, 2022
    8
    + Стрельба супер
    + Детализация супер
    + Дизайн локаций просто офигенный, хочется делать скриншоты каждые 20 шагов + Проработка мира супер + Сюжет норм + Система развития норм + Спецэффекты огонь В общем, это больше киберпанк, чем Киберпанк 2077)    + Стрельба супер
    + Детализация супер
    + Дизайн локаций просто офигенный, хочется делать скриншоты каждые 20 шагов
    + Проработка мира супер
    + Сюжет норм
    + Система развития норм
    + Спецэффекты огонь

    В общем, это больше киберпанк, чем Киберпанк 2077)
  7. Satanski666
    Oct 2, 2022
    4
    First it was way too easy so i had to set hard difficulty, until it became ridiculously hard even on normal. Game is really beautiful, too bad **** balance made me drop it.
  8. KinimodYunmi
    Sep 18, 2022
    8
    Bester Laufsimulator!

    Hätte ich so nicht rausgebracht, leider noch einige Bugs drin, weswegen man des öfteren mal neustarten muss. Vom Gameplay her ist es aber wirklich interessant und macht echt Spaß, eine Story ist gerade eben so vorhanden. Manche Kameraperspektiven sind etwas unübersichtlich und Games unter 30 Stunden Spielzeit sind auch etwas kurz, gerade lieb gewonnen und auch    Bester Laufsimulator!

    Hätte ich so nicht rausgebracht, leider noch einige Bugs drin, weswegen man des öfteren mal neustarten muss. Vom Gameplay her ist es aber wirklich interessant und macht echt Spaß, eine Story ist gerade eben so vorhanden. Manche Kameraperspektiven sind etwas unübersichtlich und Games unter 30 Stunden Spielzeit sind auch etwas kurz, gerade lieb gewonnen und auch schon wieder vorbei. Für den fairen Preis kann man dann aber auch wieder nichts sagen.

    Insgesamt hat es sich gelohnt, hat Spaß gemacht und ich musste mich nicht ernsthaft aufregen.    … Expand
  9. PetyaBiszeps
    Aug 25, 2022
    4
    For me The Ascent became a controversial game. It contains BAD plot, grind system, boring characters, but at the same time interesting cyberpunk setting, interesting and not typical gameplay, amazing aesthetics.

    I won't lie, for me this game didn't gift nice emotions and i won't comeback for this one, but it has it's own pluses. Summing up the pros and cons i would give it 5/10. Average    For me The Ascent became a controversial game. It contains BAD plot, grind system, boring characters, but at the same time interesting cyberpunk setting, interesting and not typical gameplay, amazing aesthetics.

    I won't lie, for me this game didn't gift nice emotions and i won't comeback for this one, but it has it's own pluses. Summing up the pros and cons i would give it 5/10. Average game, but sadly, not more.    … Expand
  10. bokarsh-z
    Aug 20, 2022
    7
    =========
    worth it
    =========
    -eye candy graphice and rebitive fun gameplay
    -ruined by freezes ur pc, bad story and bad characters design -disappointment final boss only fight mobs and bad open ending
  11. S3XU4LH34L1NG
    Aug 14, 2022
    6
    This isnt what i expected. The game looks nice and the shooting is decent i guess. But its boring af. The location variety is so low you often forget where you are. The story is boring and the walks from a to b are sooooo long its insane. Even later on with taxi and train is still way too long. Well i guess i recommend this if you wanna see an immersive world. But the rest is subpar.
  12. boltron
    Aug 6, 2022
    4
    Slick graphics, amazing world design, deeply flawed and infuriating gameplay. Abandoned.
  13. RGNS
    Jul 9, 2022
    0
    extremely difficult. i am glad that hacking exists. i go to playlist stupid game for free. stupid mouse aim does not work. do not buy this game. i say again do not buy this game. stupid story difficult combat boring stupid game. the stupid character doesn't even talk. eight zero stupid idiot devs.
  14. MisterF
    Jun 23, 2022
    0
    This game is such a wreck. It doesn't deserve the praise it's gotten. It crashes constantly, the gameplay and progression is more shallow then a wading pool and the story is the laziest most predictable pieces of Pablum I've seen in ages. The best thing I can say about it is it looks pretty and some of the voice acting is good. Development team also supported the game with plenty of freeThis game is such a wreck. It doesn't deserve the praise it's gotten. It crashes constantly, the gameplay and progression is more shallow then a wading pool and the story is the laziest most predictable pieces of Pablum I've seen in ages. The best thing I can say about it is it looks pretty and some of the voice acting is good. Development team also supported the game with plenty of free cosmetic DLC. But don't believe the hype! You'd be better off playing Path of Exile, Diablo 3, Torchlight or hell I'm gonna say it! I had more fun hate playing Diablo: Immortal for 4 hours then the 20 i sank into this.… Expand
  15. vigilanteOito8
    Jun 14, 2022
    9
    Joguei no lançamento achei ruim demais a mira.
    Um ano depois voltei a jogar e to achando magnifico o game, porem to jogando o teclado e mouse, nisso eu acho a mira precisa.
  16. katonglaksa
    May 21, 2022
    10
    Just phenomonal.

    Great world building.

    Very satisfying combat.

    Amazing, immersive graphics. This was ten times more fun than cyberpunk. And the voice acting was great too.

    Don't understand why this isn't getting better reviews.
  17. Zeneko90
    May 7, 2022
    8
    Ein wirklich tolles Spiel. Optik, Gameplay, Balance, Welt, Immersion, Charaktere alles wirklich top.
    Es machte so viel Spaß in dieses Spiel und dessen Welt einzutauchen. Die Optik ist auf alle Fälle über alle Zweifel erhaben. Das Gameplay schön wuchtig. Die Welt sieht einfach richtig klasse aus (Cyber Punk). Ob nun jede einzelne Kleinigkeit ausgereift bis zum Ende ist? Bestimmt nicht. Der    Ein wirklich tolles Spiel. Optik, Gameplay, Balance, Welt, Immersion, Charaktere alles wirklich top.
    Es machte so viel Spaß in dieses Spiel und dessen Welt einzutauchen. Die Optik ist auf alle Fälle über alle Zweifel erhaben. Das Gameplay schön wuchtig. Die Welt sieht einfach richtig klasse aus (Cyber Punk). Ob nun jede einzelne Kleinigkeit ausgereift bis zum Ende ist? Bestimmt nicht. Der Loot könnte mehr Vielfalt und Kreativität vertragen. Die Charaktere tiefgreifender. Die Quests mehr ausgearbeitet und das zum Teil unnötige umherlaufe nervte auch ein klein wenig. Das sind aber alles nur kleine Punkte im großen Ganzen. Das Ende lassen wir vorerst raus, da ich das Gefühl hatte, dass es definitiv zu einem 2. Teil kommen soll bzw. wird. Je nachdem wie erfolgreich das Spiel am Ende geworden ist. Ich habe das Spiel erst im Januar 2022 "nachgeholt", also knapp ein halbes Jahr nach Release. Und ich muss sagen, dass ich weder Glitches, Bugs, noch Abstürze oder sonst was. Es lief auf meiner mittlerweile betagten 1080 auf 1440P mit Ulti/Max Einstellungen mit flüssigen 80-90 FPS. Außer bei einigen Boss Gegnern mit vielen Projektilen gingen die FPS drastisch runter.

    Fazit:

    Aber alles in allem ein richtig gutes Game, dass ich jedem empfehlen kann.
    Also auf alle Fälle jeder der den Gamepass schon abonniert hat. Wer es noch nicht gemacht hat, dann tut dies und holt das Spiel unbedingt nach.

    Meine Wertung sind 8,5 von 10 Punkten.

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    A really great game. Looks, gameplay, balance, world, immersion, characters are all really great.
    It was so much fun to dive into this game and its world. In any case, the optics are beyond all doubt. The gameplay is pretty massive. The world just looks really great (cyber punk). Whether every single little thing is mature to the end? Definitely not. The loot could use more variety and creativity. The characters more profound. The quests were more elaborate and the sometimes unnecessary walking around was a little annoying. But these are all just small points in the big picture. We'll leave out the ending for the time being, because I had the feeling that there should definitely be a second part. Depending on how successful the game ended up being. I didn't "catch up" on the game until January 2022, almost half a year after the release. And I have to say that I don't get any glitches, bugs, crashes or anything else. It ran on my now aged 1080 on 1440P with Ulti/Max settings at a smooth 80-90 FPS. Except for some bosses with lots of projectiles, the FPS went down drastically.

    Conclusion:

    But all in all a really good game that I can recommend to everyone.
    In any case, everyone who has already subscribed to the game pass. If you haven't done it yet, then do so and definitely catch up on the game.

    My rating is 8.5 out of 10 points.    … Expand
  18. ChosenOne
    Apr 18, 2022
    6
    The game looks stunning. Artists did an amazing job! Core gameplay is fun. There is a lot of content. But after a several hours I started to realize that it's pretty repetitive, RPG mechanics are underdeveloped, and there is a lot of bugs.
    I dropped this game after around 8 hours because I was bored. But then started to play in online co-op with 3 friends. There is 4 times more bugs for 4    The game looks stunning. Artists did an amazing job! Core gameplay is fun. There is a lot of content. But after a several hours I started to realize that it's pretty repetitive, RPG mechanics are underdeveloped, and there is a lot of bugs.
    I dropped this game after around 8 hours because I was bored. But then started to play in online co-op with 3 friends. There is 4 times more bugs for 4 players . We beat the game, but aftertaste was pretty bad. Last few levels was a buggy mess (we played after 03.2022 update).
    I definitely recommend to play the Ascent for a few hours, but do not try to beat it.    … Expand
  19. pcapinheiro
    Mar 30, 2022
    5
    Um tiroteio bem cativante, numa cidade enorme e envolvente, mas com uma trama bem chata e repetitiva. Pareceu ser mais divertido com amigos, mas joguei solo.
    A versão analisada é a do gamepass de PC.
    PONTOS POSITIVOS: + Gameplay bem bacana, tanto no teclado/mouse quanto no controle, responde bem; + Visual e som muito envolventes, capricharam muito na ambientação desse jogo; PONTOS    Um tiroteio bem cativante, numa cidade enorme e envolvente, mas com uma trama bem chata e repetitiva. Pareceu ser mais divertido com amigos, mas joguei solo.
    A versão analisada é a do gamepass de PC.

    PONTOS POSITIVOS:
    + Gameplay bem bacana, tanto no teclado/mouse quanto no controle, responde bem;
    + Visual e som muito envolventes, capricharam muito na ambientação desse jogo;

    PONTOS NEGATIVOS:
    + instabilidade técnica, com travamentos e jogo fechando e instabilidade na taxa de quadros, com alguns congelamentos mesmo em ambientes pouco movimentados;
    + Tradução das legendas incompleta, com parte do texto em português e parte em inglês;
    + A cidade até que é grande, mas você fica muito tempo indo e voltando aos mesmos lugares.
    + A história no geral é bem sem graça e esquecível.    … Expand
  20. Rawnchie14
    Mar 26, 2022
    7
    The Ascent brings one of the best depictions of a futuristic cyberpunk environment with an interesting take on class structure and looting. The world design is certainly the highlight of this game, often drawing you into how impressive some of the areas can be with tons of detail.

    Gameplay is solid enough with fairly good pacing. Playing alone kinda sucks, solely because the majority of    The Ascent brings one of the best depictions of a futuristic cyberpunk environment with an interesting take on class structure and looting. The world design is certainly the highlight of this game, often drawing you into how impressive some of the areas can be with tons of detail.

    Gameplay is solid enough with fairly good pacing. Playing alone kinda sucks, solely because the majority of the challenge in the game is a steady diet of positioning, clustering enemies and periodic cover shooting - which is a hit/miss mechanic in the game. Playing MP is where the game shines as the sheer chaos multiple players brings makes for a bombastic blast that pales in comparison to the SP experience - in my opinion.

    So is the game good? I'd say yes, it certainly is - given the genre and style. However there are quite a few aspects I wish were done differently. There are often stretches where you are seeking your next point of reasonable progression, given while the world is open - traversal is time consuming. Also each encounter, can feel very similar to the last one? Some variations of enemies give a little spice, but more or less each encounter will feel very honed in, which can be a good thing for some. For myself, it was what made me eventually tire of the game. But I certainly enjoyed what I did play and am sure many others will continue to do so.    … Expand
  21. Depmaster
    Mar 25, 2022
    9
    Ambientação cyberpunk incrível!! pra quem é apaixonado pelo gênero, mais RPG compra garantida !
  22. CptAhnungslos
    Feb 6, 2022
    8
    Came for the graphics, stayed for the atmosphere. The world is so dense with details ,the music is superb, everything just fits and creates an fantastic cyberpunk atmosphere. The gameplay is solid and fun, the story does its job. Pleasant surprise.
  23. Yougod
    Feb 5, 2022
    9
    Great game! Very nice graphics
  24. borla
    Jan 30, 2022
    9
    A real cyberpunk game with great graphics and gameplay mechanics. The only thing that it is quite bad it is the story, but this does not interfere the quality of this masterpiece.
  25. Gorehound
    Jan 29, 2022
    9
    I only come across this game month ago on game-pass and I have for game that was made by first time developers this is one of the best looking games I've seen this year and the gameplay is pretty good as well looking at the world the game it is set in it give me Blade Runner/ Altered Carbon vibes to it the only minor issue I have with the game is that it might crash but apart from that II only come across this game month ago on game-pass and I have for game that was made by first time developers this is one of the best looking games I've seen this year and the gameplay is pretty good as well looking at the world the game it is set in it give me Blade Runner/ Altered Carbon vibes to it the only minor issue I have with the game is that it might crash but apart from that I have no major issues with game and to me this is how Cyberpunk 2077 should have been so give this game a shot… Expand
  26. Nomax
    Jan 26, 2022
    10
    Довольно динамичный геймплей, саундтрэк и атмосфера в этой игре заслуживают отдельной похвалы, сюжет конечно такой себе но это не мешает играть вместе с другом и получать удовольствие.
  27. JackPlack
    Jan 11, 2022
    5
    Boring.
    Nice graphics, physics.
    Too slow walking, transport, map etc.
    Little wrong mechanics and presentation. Top down shooter isnt good idea with off screen shooting range.
    RTX - enabled looks worse and much slower. Simillar to other RTX games.
  28. 3t3rnal
    Jan 9, 2022
    7
    A lot of high octane fun in a very beautiful package held back a bit by some bad design choices (map looks cool, but is useless, etc.), some technical issues, and could do with a balancing pass.

    Gameplay: - top down open world twin stick shooter – some rpg / rpg lite elements, some rogue-lite aspects - the mission design is pretty one sided, tbh – go here, shoot this – some minor    A lot of high octane fun in a very beautiful package held back a bit by some bad design choices (map looks cool, but is useless, etc.), some technical issues, and could do with a balancing pass.

    Gameplay:
    - top down open world twin stick shooter
    – some rpg / rpg lite elements, some rogue-lite aspects
    - the mission design is pretty one sided, tbh – go here, shoot this – some minor variety, like you get a timer here, you get a couple main targets which summon minions there, etc. not a complaint, but an observation – despite the setting and some of the tacked on features, this is a game that is primarily focused on combat, and there is a lot of it. You want some quiet moments in between? Not really a game for you, in my opinion.
    - too grindy, after you get halfway through the game, leveling becomes a chore, even when killing equal or higher level enemies and doing all of the side content, it will feel slow – would not be as much issue if the combat wasn’t so damn stats based, but it is and leveling up sufficiently is a requirement, forcing you into a repetitive, slow going, boring grind. As you approach level 30, it starts feeling like a free to play gacha MMO where trying to progress anything by gameplay takes ages
    - combat itself feels great, fast paced, visceral, a lot of fun, even has some vertical elements which is unusual for this type of game
    - has a couple issues – often you get shot / attacked outside of your view because of camera placement, and even outside of your minimap/radar, feels a bit unfair.
    - the world is pretty complex in places and can be hard to navigate – the map is bad, the GPS is okay but far from perfect, but you can’t place your own markers on the map, so it can only lead you to active missions
    - as mentioned before, combat is heavily reliant on stats, higher level enemies take much less damage from you, and do much more damage to you, to a point where they can pretty much one-two shot you if they are 5+ levels above you, at least in the early game. It’s not really possible to discern them from equal or lower level enemies, making early game exploration hit and miss and unnecessarily frustrating, not to mention the GPS that leads you to missions will sometimes lead you through parts of the map occupied by these high level enemies, just for lulz, I guess?

    Story:
    – has some interesting elements, some pretty memorable characters as well, interesting lore as well. It’s not super high quality and deep, but it’s good enough to give you some background to all of the slaughter and mayhem.
    - side missions have a bunch of pretty funny and wacky stuff in them, but they still remain pretty well grounded in the world of the game, interesting quest givers as well, I recommend doing the side content as well, not just rushing through the main story – you kinda will have to for the XP rewards unless you want to endlessly grind the same respawning encounters

    Graphics:
    - great overall
    - technical side is okay, but there are some minor issues– some misaligned textures, some floating object, in loading screens and when entering new locations sometimes character T-pose for a moment before their animations load, etc.
    - the style is great, the design of the world, the peds, everything looks awesome - just stayed still sometimes just looking at the beautiful designs, the lively and moving backgrounds, etc.

    Sound – great sound design and direction, weapons sound great, a lot of intricate ambience, music is awesome, gets blood pumping in combat

    Notable bugs:
    - Enemies did not load in a main story mission, or spawned inside inaccessible building / in a wall where they were stuck, or killing them did not trigger mission completion – basically, every couple missions, something will break, forcing game restart and redoing the mission.
    - Sometimes after a cutscene, movement gets stuck for 10-20 minutes and no matter what you do, your character automatically moves in one direction – only appeared after a couple hours into the game.
    - Game randomly crashes during loading screens when moving between the world tiers, no progress loss as the game saves before changing the locations, but still annoying
    - When enemies get too far away from their “turf”, they get into a “flight” mode and try to return to their base location, while taking considerably less damage (something like 90% damage resistance) and can also regenerate health, but do not attack. However, they do so without rhyme or reason. The distance is random, their remaining HP is random, whether you are actively fighting them or running from them does not matter. Sometimes, it also glitches out, and they stay in flight mode when they reach their base location, you can literally stand in a place shooting a glitched out enemy for 2 minutes.
    - not really a bug, but the game is a bit underoptimized and has some framerate drop issues, even in non intensive situations    … Expand
  29. Nick111
    Dec 26, 2021
    9
    Кайфовая игра для того что бы посидеть вечерком и часик расслабиться, в геймпасе вообще кайф такие игры получать.
  30. DGPonyh
    Dec 20, 2021
    10
    What a fresh breath of (toxic) air. I've been playing this game for the past few weeks and I'm really very impressed with The Ascent.

    The artwork is so friggin' detailed, inspired and believable it's uncanny. I just love it to bits and I think the people responsible for the world design should win a few prizes. It's simply ART with a capital A in my book and they must have invested an    What a fresh breath of (toxic) air. I've been playing this game for the past few weeks and I'm really very impressed with The Ascent.

    The artwork is so friggin' detailed, inspired and believable it's uncanny. I just love it to bits and I think the people responsible for the world design should win a few prizes. It's simply ART with a capital A in my book and they must have invested an incredible amount of passion, time and effort into it. The writing and characters really complement that art-style and I love the overall idea behind the setting.

    Game play grows on you quickly too, and though quite simple, it is highly compelling and more engaging than the average hack-and-slash action rpg. Another thing this game does well is the pacing of its rpg elements like loot and upgrades: valuable upgrades at the right intervals, appealing chests to hunt down, interesting abilities to unlock, cool guns, etc. Not much filler stuff here and you won't be overburdened either.

    The game doesn't hold your hand much, it can be quite challenging here and there and at times explains very little. Eventually things work out though, doors get unlocked, locked out chests become available and the high level enemies that one-shotted you earlier, will be destroyed.

    Only downsides so far: the map can be confusing at times and I encountered a bug where a door in the Morgue wouldn't open for me for some time but I think they fixed that with an upgrade.

    Performance is excellent I think. I'm playing this at 1440p on my old GTX970 and I have most of the settings (that are available to my set-up) maxed out, except for shadow quality as I saw a yt vid on that being the biggest resource hog.

    Conclusion: If you like action rpgs and if you like an inspired cyberpunk setting it's simply a must buy. For around 20 bucks on Steam this really is kind of a steal. I'm really looking forward to see what these people will be working on next.    … Expand
  31. ProfAmateur
    Dec 4, 2021
    7
    + Cool graphics & drawing style
    + Cool setting / atmosphere
    +/- Missions + sidemissions take about 20 hours to play. You could get a bit more out of the world. - The game is sometimes too difficult on level "Normal", even as an experienced player. You should be at least 1-2 levels above the mission recommendation. Towards the end it suddenly becomes too easy. - A bit much running    + Cool graphics & drawing style
    + Cool setting / atmosphere
    +/- Missions + sidemissions take about 20 hours to play. You could get a bit more out of the world.
    - The game is sometimes too difficult on level "Normal", even as an experienced player. You should be at least 1-2 levels above the mission recommendation. Towards the end it suddenly becomes too easy.
    - A bit much running around on the map
    - Still many bugs
    - Various "quality of life" features are still missing, such as all missions being displayed on the map (not just the active one).    … Expand
  32. Oshiri_Maeda
    Nov 28, 2021
    5
    The most average game I played recently. Looks pretty good, but the gameplay is so boring. Want a good top down shooter? Go Helldivers
  33. Bitek
    Nov 24, 2021
    10
    Superb twin stick shooter. I cannot get enough of it. It is like Ruiner but on steroids with more guns,more customization and more enemies. The game looks stunning on large ultrawide monitor. Guns sounds, music are all spot on. What makes this game superb is absolutely superb combat.This game is awesome! I want The Ascent 2 or at least DLC please. 10 out 10 for me. I have not had that muchSuperb twin stick shooter. I cannot get enough of it. It is like Ruiner but on steroids with more guns,more customization and more enemies. The game looks stunning on large ultrawide monitor. Guns sounds, music are all spot on. What makes this game superb is absolutely superb combat.This game is awesome! I want The Ascent 2 or at least DLC please. 10 out 10 for me. I have not had that much fun playing a game in a very long time.… Expand
  34. 0o0o0o
    Nov 16, 2021
    1
    I bought this game to play in co-op mode. But after 2nd save it became impossible to continue adventure together because all joined friends had corrupted and not working characters.
    Game was bought via steam PC shop.
    Release game in 2021 without working co-op is a great mistake.
  35. dotrem
    Nov 15, 2021
    8
    Great game. Surroudings and ambient are real beautiful, so sometimes i just running around in photo mode. Nice writting and characters. Good design work.
    But gameplay not so great. i'm not counting bugs, it understandable for small indie team. There a lot of thing in gameplay.
    1 Map. It's aful usually i have no idea where is PoI what i looking for. Map doesn't help. 2 Game is really    Great game. Surroudings and ambient are real beautiful, so sometimes i just running around in photo mode. Nice writting and characters. Good design work.
    But gameplay not so great. i'm not counting bugs, it understandable for small indie team. There a lot of thing in gameplay.
    1 Map. It's aful usually i have no idea where is PoI what i looking for. Map doesn't help.
    2 Game is really short. There are only a few main quests.
    3 Half of main quests are defending a endless waves of enemies with timer. Really boring beating same enemies in same decorations.
    4 Unsatble difficulty curve. When i reach level 10 i hit found myself in locations with enemies of 14-18 levels and they hit hard.
    5 Almost every abilitiy and agumentation is useless or dangerous for the player. Most usefull thing are Hydraulic Slam and healing field.
    6 Burst rifles with homing bullets are too overpowered. Once you find one of those rafles and you will never use anything else. With these rifles 1/3 of abilities become useless. You don't need to put any points in Aiming or Balance.
    7 No fast trevel. Yes there are such a thing like a taxi or subway, but it's not a fast travel. Existing system ligicaly correct, i think, but unhandy and stupid in terms of the game. For example if you need to travel from one level to another, you have to use taxi to elevator location. After run to elevator to needed level, use it. Then call taxi to needed location again. It takes a lot of time and load screens.

    I can compare this game with Remember Me. Both stunning games. But gameplay itself so bad that i only asking self Why devs made action games but not adventures instead.    … Expand
  36. jarvitom
    Nov 15, 2021
    7
    Gameplay is really awesome, the design and graphics are very unique, I deducted -1 points because the last bossfight.
  37. cmfrip
    Nov 4, 2021
    8
    I really liked the Ascent ! It's like Diablo, but with GUNS!
    It had good combat, Guns options, combat-buffing extras and the RPG system was good. The story is worth playing through too: it was not predictable and typical of a good indie game!
    Other really great creative aspects such as world design and information on the world itself. The art was really impressive and clearly    I really liked the Ascent ! It's like Diablo, but with GUNS!
    It had good combat, Guns options, combat-buffing extras and the RPG system was good. The story is worth playing through too: it was not predictable and typical of a good indie game!
    Other really great creative aspects such as world design and information on the world itself.
    The art was really impressive and clearly illustrated their love for their trade and considerable effort - I expected it to look worse - some scenes are impressive!

    Some Ok things, that could be improved:
    -The RPG system could have been better, but it was different and functional. I enjoyed the learning and rewards it gave!
    -The map was hard to accurately identify terrain at times (viz. Corp-zone) , however the game is saved, given the directions to the quest function worked well.

    However, there were some areas where it lacked and ideally should be fixed if possible[!] :
    -Some things regarding aiming did not work and made playing the game fustrating.
    -Camera behaviour where traversing the world (in few places) was quite bad.
    -The quest system was hard to navigate when you had a screen full of side quests at different locations.
    -Open world made travelling a chore sometimes - the devs could easily fix this!
    -Also the range of the screen also was a pain and could do with improving - though it worked    … Expand
  38. ronadi7368
    Nov 2, 2021
    4
    Some of the filler scenes and dialogue is so good that it almost makes you forget how dull and repetitive every single part of this game truly is.
  39. GameOverSJA
    Oct 27, 2021
    9
    Un juego que sin duda te va a dejar con la boca abierta, su ambientación es sublime, los escenarios sumamente detallados, con muchisimo cariño, el estilo cyberpunk que posee, una distopia, el apartado artístico en general, es su punto fuerte, un rotundo 10. Su punto mas flojo es sin duda la historia que no esta mal pero no brilla. El apartado sonoro es muy bueno, la jugabilidad esUn juego que sin duda te va a dejar con la boca abierta, su ambientación es sublime, los escenarios sumamente detallados, con muchisimo cariño, el estilo cyberpunk que posee, una distopia, el apartado artístico en general, es su punto fuerte, un rotundo 10. Su punto mas flojo es sin duda la historia que no esta mal pero no brilla. El apartado sonoro es muy bueno, la jugabilidad es disfrutable con una buena cantidad de armas y habilidades que se adapten a tu jugabilidad. Escenarios con destrucción, buena movilidad y en algún momento te encontraras con auténticos retos que pondrán a prueba tus conocimientos que has ido adquiriendo. Me encontré con un par de bugs que no me generaron problema alguno y que no opacaron para nada la calidad del juego. Sin duda, un juego que hay que jugar.… Expand
  40. balzak
    Oct 10, 2021
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. De las mejores experiencias jugables que he tenido este año, si bien el juego presentó de inicio una serie de bugs, en ningún momento fue impedimento para poder apreciar lo que ofrece el juego. Destaca la ambientación y el apartado grafico, es que el nivel de detalle de verdad puede volar la cabeza a cualquier amante del cyberpunk. La música es otro apartado que sobresale en el juego, emocionando e intensificando ciertas batallas como con el jefe Celine y suena la música de extraterra, no me importaba perder tanto pues al final disfrutaba cada vez que repetía esa batalla y sonaba la música de fondo, y así hay otros momentos sublimes donde la música mejora la experiencia como en dreamworld. Finalmente puntúo con un 8 pues no pude experimentar el modo multijugador que muchos aseguran el juego se vuelve mas divertido aun.… Expand
  41. cottandy
    Oct 4, 2021
    7
    "The Ascent" is an isometric top-down shooter in a cyberpunk setting made by a team of 11 people.
    You are a mercenary in a futuristic world who does whatever job he/she gets. And what you do is kill anything that stands in your way. And if you wish also read dialogs about where you need to do this or about the world you play, which is interesting. But if you don't like reading anything    "The Ascent" is an isometric top-down shooter in a cyberpunk setting made by a team of 11 people.
    You are a mercenary in a futuristic world who does whatever job he/she gets. And what you do is kill anything that stands in your way. And if you wish also read dialogs about where you need to do this or about the world you play, which is interesting. But if you don't like reading anything you can skip this part and just destroy.

    Certainly devs put their soul in "the Ascent". A lot is done great, but some gameplay mechanics just leave a bitter aftertaste.
    So a huge plus for the whole picture, beautiful little details, music, design, etc, but also little nasty holes of negative appear here and there.
    Most of the time game is brilliant and fun to play. There are many pros in little details and huge visible moments. The most important is neat gameplay and nice plot.

    More detailed cons and controversial points:
    Camera - the most important, seems like a little one, but it ruins too much of the hardwork of the devs. It's uncomfortable and uncontrollable at the same time. Lacks a simple possibility to zoom out/in, nothing more. Sometimes you don't even see your enemies, but they see you. It not such a big deal to add a little zoom feature from the devs, which will fix quite a lot.

    Bad navigation. Both mini-map and main map are a confusing when it comes to multilevel system, which is present in the game, but doesn't show enough info about levels on maps.

    Not a con, but a warning. You will die often, which doesn't spoil anything.
    It may be a little hard for beginners on normal difficulty when you face your first enemies with gun.
    You will have to use game mechanics not to die too often and master the game. But from the other side game doesn't punish when you die. You start from the last checkpoint and these are literally everywhere. No matter where you die, you won't lose your progress. It's certainly good if the game crashes. And there is a possibility for it to happen. Hard to say how often, but sometimes it will in the current state of development.    … Expand
  42. Bushido95
    Sep 28, 2021
    5
    Одна из тех скучнейших игр которые облизывали и будут облизывать на фоне в каком-то смысле провалившегося Cyberpunk 2077.
  43. winzentween
    Sep 21, 2021
    4
    This game is an easy 8 when and if it ever works but it doesn't work atleast not all the time. I'm giving it an unfair score for 2 reasons. 1) because the devs thought it acceptable to release a broken game. It's not so this is their reward.

    2) because of all the insane 10 / 10 paid shills for a broken buggy game which even at its best is still only a fancy indie twins tick shooter. And    This game is an easy 8 when and if it ever works but it doesn't work atleast not all the time. I'm giving it an unfair score for 2 reasons. 1) because the devs thought it acceptable to release a broken game. It's not so this is their reward.

    2) because of all the insane 10 / 10 paid shills for a broken buggy game which even at its best is still only a fancy indie twins tick shooter. And don't be confused. It's nothing more than that. Its not an adventure game or an rpg or any thing other than an old school twin stick shooter. But it is made by a team of 11 which is impressive but also shows in its many short comings and limited scope.

    But it is a good (enough) twin stick shooter. It's oddly enough very much like a side scrolling shooter called sine mora. Sinemora was an amazing looking game...far better than it had any right to be. The story was a consulted mess and forgettable. The graphics brilliant as was the music. The sound was fine. The gameplay was average at best and it was buggy at launch.

    I always loved sinemora for what it promised but never delivered. The same could be said of the ascent. It looks amazing. And has much potential but it squanders much of that on fest quests and repetitive tasks. The music is awesome but the gameplay is decidedly average and uninspired.

    And the bugs are a problem. The cool multiplayer launched broke as well which is inexcusable.

    So I hope this game sells well enough to get an awesome aaa sequel. And I hope the devs fix the bugs and supply quality free dlc. Or a an expansion with superior story telling and new modes like horde or anything vs nothing. And id like to see melee combat. That's right no melee for no logical reason.

    There has been like 4 patches so far but some have made it worse. And the devs haven't exactly worked with the community.

    8 out of 10 when fixed but 4 until that is true.    … Expand
  44. habened198
    Sep 20, 2021
    0
    If you enjoyed the first few minutes of Ascent, you might enjoy the rest of the game. It's an astoundingly boring grind and every single minute is exactly identical to every other minute of mindless repetition. So if you enjoy the first few minutes, maybe you'll enjoy repeating them for hours and hours and hours and hours and hours
  45. PrancingPony
    Sep 17, 2021
    10
    Simply amazing cyberpunk RPG game. Astonishing beauty and level of details (just try to play it on a RTX video card). Level design is amazing, you truly feel the verticality.
    Of course, it is not perfect. There can be bugs : I experienced one when I couldn't go on with my quest because enemies wouldn't pop. Checked online : solution is to restart the game, just perfect to take a little    Simply amazing cyberpunk RPG game. Astonishing beauty and level of details (just try to play it on a RTX video card). Level design is amazing, you truly feel the verticality.
    Of course, it is not perfect. There can be bugs : I experienced one when I couldn't go on with my quest because enemies wouldn't pop. Checked online : solution is to restart the game, just perfect to take a little break ! There are indeed few possibilities of character customization and there are some missions you can't do at the beginning although you may have the required level. That's only because you have to advance in the main missions in order to get access to some parts of the map. Sometimes you can even be bored by the quests, partly because you don't have any stuff management : no ammo count, no armor damage to repair; and partly because you, maybe, already met all the existing enemies.
    But boy, the universe is immersive ! Everything in level design, artistic direction, level of details and, last but far from least, the sound fx and musical direction is delightful. Sometimes I just love to have a walk in those Veles archology streets, on those bridges and those catwalks because it's simply magnificent. To get a picture of the level of detail, just imagine you can switch off/on the news screens or hologram ads in the city ! Combined with what you hear, from sound fx to especially music, the game achieves to project you in a Blade Runner movie.
    This is largely enough to deserve the best reception from the cyberpunk fans. I hope this will be the case, so the development team will have the possibility to fix the few bugs, maybe add some content, and, why not, think about a sequel.
    Thank you very much for this fantastic experience, Neon Giant & Curve Digital !    … Expand
  46. CamyVero
    Sep 14, 2021
    8
    I started to play this game in my Xbox One, but I was unable to finish it there. Some kind of error related to lack of memory closed the game and it don't allow me to play. So.... taking advantage of 'Play Anywhere' feature in Game Pass synced my save state in pc and continue playing. It's an excelent game in my opinion. Very good cyberpunk atmosphere, a huge and decadent city to explore,I started to play this game in my Xbox One, but I was unable to finish it there. Some kind of error related to lack of memory closed the game and it don't allow me to play. So.... taking advantage of 'Play Anywhere' feature in Game Pass synced my save state in pc and continue playing. It's an excelent game in my opinion. Very good cyberpunk atmosphere, a huge and decadent city to explore, to carry out missions and kill bad guys. I can recommend if you like top down perspective game, and twin stick shooters.… Expand
  47. sprayer
    Sep 14, 2021
    3
    Good graphics and VFX that's all pros.
    Bad story, bad gameplay, useless stores all perks and weapons dropping from combat. Tons of bugs after month of release date. Bad balance. To much walks on quests
  48. TheMoil
    Sep 13, 2021
    9
    Impressive game. So glad I picked this up.Game environment is stunning and the story drags you in. At first it was hard to use any fast travel as just wante to keep in the environment. However once you discover how big this game is you don’t miss a thing.
  49. GeminiX
    Sep 11, 2021
    10
    This is an incredibly engaging and fun game, with interesting character developement and upgrade paths. I really like the fact that the map is mostly unlocked from the start; you can enter most of the main areas without needing to progress very far in the story. The only negative I can find is the occasional stutter with all graphics options maxed, although I'm sure that will improve withThis is an incredibly engaging and fun game, with interesting character developement and upgrade paths. I really like the fact that the map is mostly unlocked from the start; you can enter most of the main areas without needing to progress very far in the story. The only negative I can find is the occasional stutter with all graphics options maxed, although I'm sure that will improve with future updates. I have played The Ascent on both of my gaming PCs: with graphics & ray-tracing maxed out on my i5-10400f/RTX 2080 machine I average 90fps @ 1080p, on my more powerful i9-9900k/RTX 3080 Ti machine I'm getting 100-144fps @ 1440p.… Expand
  50. nitorita
    Aug 31, 2021
    8
    An immersive cyberpunk experience never seen before. A ton of effort was poured into making the world as vast and authentic as possible, with plenty for you to explore at your own pace.

    You are free to approach the game however you like, and there is a sizable arsenal to choose from. Enemy difficulty is balanced well enough to necessitate a fair amount of micromanaging. Plenty of story    An immersive cyberpunk experience never seen before. A ton of effort was poured into making the world as vast and authentic as possible, with plenty for you to explore at your own pace.

    You are free to approach the game however you like, and there is a sizable arsenal to choose from. Enemy difficulty is balanced well enough to necessitate a fair amount of micromanaging. Plenty of story and lore is jacked into the game for you to really take in the atmosphere. The performance in the game is pretty good, as long as you do not enable any RTX (you don't really see those effects anyway).

    There are a few quirks though. The controls feel a bit clunky. The movement can get tedious as there is no sprint. Some merchants are largely pointless and many of the weapons are underpowered, causing you to upgrade the same basic ones you have throughout the game. Many side missions are offered long before you can actually tackle them.

    Overall, I felt it was time well spent. I found myself truly absorbed in The Ascent's world, unlike games like Cyberpunk 2077 which could not give me the same immersion as it had no real substance. I'm a sucker for meticulously designed worlds, and this game definitely packed one of the best I've experienced in a long time. The gunfighting may have been a little stale, but it did not weigh on my overall satisfaction with the game. I definitely recommend this game for every cyberpunk fan out there.

    On a side note, I personally did not experience any of the game breaking issues as others have noted (and I'm on the Xbox Game Pass version), so chances are high that they have been patched out already.    … Expand
  51. Mandulum
    Aug 31, 2021
    8
    A great mashup of cyberpunk and scifi with twin stick shooting. The story, unfortunately, was just getting interesting when they ended it.

    Date Completed: 2021-08-31
    Playtime: 18h
    Enjoyment: 8/10
    Recommendation: It's good fun
  52. LittleFinger
    Aug 29, 2021
    0
    This game is unplayable on the xbox game pass. Its been out for a month and im still facing game progress halting bugs
  53. coltsr2
    Aug 29, 2021
    2
    This game looks amazing and tbh i was hoping for amazing things in the gameplay department to match! BUT alas its graphics are the only real good thing about it. A ridiculously clumsy and limited control system with no options to change is a big negative, then you have the even worse GUI menu with few very and limited options to change.
    The gameplay is very repetitive, cutscenes are    This game looks amazing and tbh i was hoping for amazing things in the gameplay department to match! BUT alas its graphics are the only real good thing about it. A ridiculously clumsy and limited control system with no options to change is a big negative, then you have the even worse GUI menu with few very and limited options to change.
    The gameplay is very repetitive, cutscenes are ok-ish, the story is basic and reflects the repetitive mindless gameplay. Camera control is non existent so you are forced to play it one horrible angle with no zoom function at all, as a result you have no real idea of location as the map/radar function is useless also, also no real character progression or stats tweaking as you progress, as any options other than basic level ups are absent, combine all that negativity with the constant brain numbing mindless gameplay (after 5-10 mins you will know what i mean!) with enemies that just constantly pour at you from every angle quickly just walking/running towards you without any meaningful AI input at all, and you will soon see its a frustrating, repetitive and irritating experience.
    Its a shame as the graphics and ambience are both very cool and immersive, if using a somewhat cliched cyberpunk/bladerunner style genre, its still done very well.
    So it can be fun, if you like mindless shooting and walking around a limited on the rails/blinkered corridor space, with even worse limited camera angles and control options. My advice, wait until its on budget then give it a go.    … Expand
  54. Traxillion
    Aug 24, 2021
    7
    Very cute ARPG with gorgeous graphics and a very interesting world.

    What stops it from being a fantastic game is polish and a bit of repetetiveness.
  55. TheoreticalHero
    Aug 21, 2021
    10
    Beautiful game the Cyberpunk style is just amazing if you love Cyberpunk games this one is for you do not listen the bad reviews the game is just so good
  56. mrpinsky
    Aug 21, 2021
    9
    Great game! It is a fast-paced shooter with some RPG elements in a cyberpunk dystopian futuristic city ruled by megaCorps. You can upgrade weapons, equip augmentations etc.

    It reminds me of Syndicate Wars (1996), which I loved as a teenager. The locations, enemies etc. are all really well made and the sound design and music is especially good. The game is also fairly challenging,    Great game! It is a fast-paced shooter with some RPG elements in a cyberpunk dystopian futuristic city ruled by megaCorps. You can upgrade weapons, equip augmentations etc.

    It reminds me of Syndicate Wars (1996), which I loved as a teenager.

    The locations, enemies etc. are all really well made and the sound design and music is especially good. The game is also fairly challenging, which I appreciated. Highly recommended!    … Expand
  57. ChiaFetus
    Aug 20, 2021
    10
    One of the most beautiful games I've ever played on PC. I love cyberpunk and I love twin stick shooters so this right up my ally. After the abortion that was Cyberpunk 2077 this is a breathe of fresh air.
  58. AKtee
    Aug 17, 2021
    1
    Overrated game solely based on being a "Cyberpunk" genre. Avoid at all costs.
  59. Matt2790
    Aug 17, 2021
    7
    Good enough game. The world design , graphics and the level of details are fascinating. Gameplay and mechanics are wonderful *in general*, despite some inconveniences at some points. Story/narrative is just ok and nothing more. Side missions are just tasks/chores and nothing more. And there are plenty of bugs, some are just irrelevant, but others do screw your playing session or yourGood enough game. The world design , graphics and the level of details are fascinating. Gameplay and mechanics are wonderful *in general*, despite some inconveniences at some points. Story/narrative is just ok and nothing more. Side missions are just tasks/chores and nothing more. And there are plenty of bugs, some are just irrelevant, but others do screw your playing session or your entire mission for good.
    I've had no freezes/crashes at all though. Took me 18 hours to complete the main game plus 16 side missions.    … Expand
  60. Jandersen
    Aug 17, 2021
    9
    It is a very fine game - Good fun from a very small but obviously talented team. Of course this needs some time to be in the best shape, but hell - It is great at v1.0
  61. Meishu
    Aug 16, 2021
    1
    A lot of bugs, crashes, freezes A LOT, bad translations, sometimes there are no translation at all, no gun play, boring quests, boring characters, boring guns, boring mechanics, boring character upgrade, boring armor and etc., no balance at all. ONLY good thing is nice environment. I played ~5h, got 8 crashes without game saying anything. This 5h felt like 20h in a mine. Worst game I'veA lot of bugs, crashes, freezes A LOT, bad translations, sometimes there are no translation at all, no gun play, boring quests, boring characters, boring guns, boring mechanics, boring character upgrade, boring armor and etc., no balance at all. ONLY good thing is nice environment. I played ~5h, got 8 crashes without game saying anything. This 5h felt like 20h in a mine. Worst game I've ever played.… Expand
  62. Grobeu
    Aug 15, 2021
    3
    Look past the gorgeous graphics swarming with details and you end up with a formulaic, redundant, unoriginal and frankly boring (and dysfunctional) run of the mill twin stick shooter with a sluggish pace that fails to bring anything new to the table. You already played this game a thousand times, they just amped up the appearance.
    In one ear and out the other.
  63. mykechapman
    Aug 15, 2021
    6
    **I had to come back and change my review from a 9 to a 6 sadly. I'm about 12 hrs into the game and I've run into what might be the last difficulty spike I'm willing to put up with. Difficulty spikes can be fine. Sometimes it's just to tell you 'HEY! Stupid! Don't go that way yet' and then you go do some grinding and eventually return after beefing up your character. So I returned to the**I had to come back and change my review from a 9 to a 6 sadly. I'm about 12 hrs into the game and I've run into what might be the last difficulty spike I'm willing to put up with. Difficulty spikes can be fine. Sometimes it's just to tell you 'HEY! Stupid! Don't go that way yet' and then you go do some grinding and eventually return after beefing up your character. So I returned to the area at the VERY BEGINNING of the game for some grind time only to be met with characters that can now kill me in one hit. Hell, now EVERY area now has characters that are one hit kills. OK, not a big deal... I'll drop the difficulty. I've already dropped it from hard to normal about 6 hours in. I set the difficulty to easy and BAM... I'm still getting killed in one hit by what I assumed were the easiest enemies in the game. I know they put that little red dot above them so you go RUN, RUN NOW. But come on, with the difficulty set to easy and in the very first area of the game enemies can kill you with one hit? And not just a few times... CONSTANTLY. Anywho, maybe I'm just bad at videogames. But this is a real shame considering how much I was enjoying this game.
    Now back to my original naive review...
    Twin stick shooters... honestly, I could take um or leave um. I've enjoyed me some Z-Nation back in the day but never am I 'I CAN"T WAIT TIL THE NEXT TWIN STICK SHOOTER COMES OUT!' I tell you what though... that might change after The Ascent. First everyone is shouting about how good this game looks... and f*ck it, they're right. It looks amazing. Sometimes I find myself shimmying up to a guard rail to just gawk at a vista of the city. Massive structures stand with no discernible bottom or top and filled w a level of detail that's insane. The sense of scope and scale of the world is nothing short of impressive. ESPECIALLY knowing this game was made by a small team. The game's sound design and music are also super well done. The dystopian/cyberpunk synths play and echo a sort of isolation and when battles kick in it's suitably intense. This thing is just firing on all cylinders. The game also plays great. The gun fights are fast and stressful, but the satisfaction you get from taking out a gaggle of thugs, barely surviving yourself... is super rewarding. The RPG elements give this game a depth I didn't expect. My ONE complaint are the menus are awkward to navigate and A LOT of what makes up the RPG elements are not explained. So you just have to kinda figure it out yourself. Thank god I'm so smart. It's not an easy game however, prepare to die a whole bunch. But at not point did I feel like giving up. Sometimes i would just respawn and go 'maybe I'll go this way this time...' This game has been a pleasant surprise, and kudos to the team that made this game.    … Expand
  64. RomperStomper
    Aug 12, 2021
    10
    I heard about this game by chance from a friend that is making an isometric game and wanted me to check it out for comparison. What a nice surprise. This is a Godlike game. It's the Cyberpunk we deserve and we got finally.

    Of course there are problems with a small team of 12 people core programmers making it but they put all their efforts into the right places. It's short but sweet. And    I heard about this game by chance from a friend that is making an isometric game and wanted me to check it out for comparison. What a nice surprise. This is a Godlike game. It's the Cyberpunk we deserve and we got finally.

    Of course there are problems with a small team of 12 people core programmers making it but they put all their efforts into the right places. It's short but sweet. And by short I mean I finished it in 3 days while I'm on vacation which means like 30 hours.

    The story is as good as an early Mass Effect and if they build onto it we might get some epic world and epic saga in the years to come.    … Expand
  65. philzlz
    Aug 12, 2021
    8
    Finished the game in three days (around ten hours playtime).

    I am a huge fan of sci fi and the cyberpunk setting and the art team has done a fantastic job with world building. There are so many small details (just peak into lit windows or small alleys) and they absolutely nailed it. Shooting was fun, the guns felt all different and powerful and graphically it impressed me but that    Finished the game in three days (around ten hours playtime).

    I am a huge fan of sci fi and the cyberpunk setting and the art team has done a fantastic job with world building. There are so many small details (just peak into lit windows or small alleys) and they absolutely nailed it.

    Shooting was fun, the guns felt all different and powerful and graphically it impressed me but that also brings some negative points. Running this on a 3080 it was impossible to get an acceptable framerate with DLSS and Raytracing.

    I also had bugged waypoints, quests and crashes and saw a few typos. I am surprised this was not spotted in playtesting and was a bit disappointed because this game has a lot of potential. The story was also nothing special and the ending cut short.

    Overall fun but those bugs need to be fixed.    … Expand
  66. Furtin
    Aug 11, 2021
    10
    Play it! Dont mind the others. If you like what you see - you will be in The Ascent for hours and hours!
    The soundtrack alone is oozing atmosphere and fits the art direction very well.
    The story is okay but if you are here for the twin stick shooting, you will have a great time!
  67. Ratingss
    Aug 10, 2021
    7
    As good as isometric shooters get, if the environment was destructible as in Hatred and the story had the oomph of Hotline Miami, it would be objectively the best one i played.
    It has some irks, like money and vendors(aside from the one that upgrades your guns) being useless, when you die theres is no punishment at all you just respawn again, and you are just a silent errand boy.
  68. neohpgfra
    Aug 10, 2021
    9
    Very good independant game. Level designers are awsome, the differents Level are flashy and amazing !
    Lot of details and the pnj’s looks real and alive ! The main quest is nice.
    Good job guys !
  69. Hack
    Aug 10, 2021
    8
    A fantastically crafted world that feels alive and looks stunning. Filled with believable characters who are all voiced to a very high standard. The overall presentation of the game is extremely cool and goes a long way to making the game enjoyable.

    Gameplay wise it’s a top down shooter, which I’m generally not a massive fan of but it works well in The Ascent. You can choose from    A fantastically crafted world that feels alive and looks stunning. Filled with believable characters who are all voiced to a very high standard. The overall presentation of the game is extremely cool and goes a long way to making the game enjoyable.

    Gameplay wise it’s a top down shooter, which I’m generally not a massive fan of but it works well in The Ascent. You can choose from countless abilities and weapons, all of which change up how you approach missions. Do you want to go full damage? Sure, or maybe you want to take a ton of defensive and healing abilities, that’s viable too.

    On a more negative note the game does suffer from a lot of bugs right now, especially in co-op, my friend and I ran into issues such as our UI just disappearing, or not being able to break from NPCs dialog options, as well as hard crashes to desktop. Performance is also not great, I am using a high end PC and the frame rate was all over the place, with DX11 being playable and DX12 being completely broken, the devs are aware of these issues so I’d maybe wait until the game is fully patched as it did hurt my experience.

    Overall I enjoyed The Ascent a lot, it’s a great game with a few fixable technical issues. I finished the campaign in just over 10 hours, and I had a lot of side quests left to do so I’d estimate about 15 hours if you did everything.    … Expand
  70. madwolf81
    Aug 10, 2021
    10
    I played it and for me it is a very good game, the critics have been unfair. We have been waiting for a game like this for a long time and I honestly don't read the articles written by the reviewers anymore because they are too ignorant to understand games like this.
  71. TwoEars
    Aug 10, 2021
    9
    Stunning game, how a 12 people studio created this level of world building I'll never know. Imagine Diablo 1 or 2 but set in an alien cyberpunk universe. Must play for anyone who enjoys top down action games and cyberpunk. One of the best and most impressive games released this year, full stop.

    On the negative the mini-map and navigation can be quite tricky, there are multiple levels    Stunning game, how a 12 people studio created this level of world building I'll never know. Imagine Diablo 1 or 2 but set in an alien cyberpunk universe. Must play for anyone who enjoys top down action games and cyberpunk. One of the best and most impressive games released this year, full stop.

    On the negative the mini-map and navigation can be quite tricky, there are multiple levels and each level also has multiple level. Keeping track of where to go, and where side-missions are, can take some effort. But it works, sort of. Expect to do a lot of backtracking along familiar routes, at least the world is stunning to look at.

    It can also be quite annoying to constantly get attacked by low level thugs in some areas even though you're 10 levels above them, in the real world I imagine those thugs would know better. It just gets annoying after a while. Sometimes also the game path finding takes you through patches of higher-level enemies and you'll get slaughtered, then you'll have to find your own way around somehow.

    The difference between low and high-level is quite significant in this game and there can be difficulty spikes if you're under-level or specced or equipped your character badly. I can see how some less experienced gamers might paint themselves into a corner if they make a few bad choices or purchases. You'll need to think ahead and spend your credits wisely or you run the risk of being under-gunned, badly specced and out of cash. You can grind it back and fix most errors but even normal can turn our very challenging if you make a few bad choices and don't pay attention to weapon damage types etc. Experienced gamers should be fine mostly but some less experienced gamers might get frustrated.

    There could be some kind of repercussion for killing too many civilians, like kill five or more civilians inside of a minute and some kind of bounty hunter, or police or militia comes after you. Possibly the function could be toggled on or off, or you'd have to pay off the bounty hunter or something like that.

    So essentially it's not perfect, but what game is. It's still an absolutely stunning game and a must play if you like Action-RPG's and Cyperpunk. One of the highlights of the year.    … Expand
  72. MezaraKabul
    Aug 10, 2021
    8
    The game is good overall. I couldn't understand how long the loading screen took. Missions are fun.
  73. Pirm2
    Aug 9, 2021
    10
    Unos detalles increíbles con una jugabilidad aun mas increíble, me encanto que a un juego de este porte se le diera un espacio.
  74. Hurrikhan
    Aug 9, 2021
    4
    This game is a bugged exercise in frustration.

    Even if they ever fix all the bugs that will make you miserable (crashes, lost items, lost saves, bugged quests, ...) the game is simply not good. Let's ignore the story : unless you consider a bus ticket to be the pinnacle of storytelling, you'll ignore it pretty quickly. The map navigation is confusing. Icons labeling a shop or    This game is a bugged exercise in frustration.

    Even if they ever fix all the bugs that will make you miserable (crashes, lost items, lost saves, bugged quests, ...) the game is simply not good.

    Let's ignore the story : unless you consider a bus ticket to be the pinnacle of storytelling, you'll ignore it pretty quickly.

    The map navigation is confusing. Icons labeling a shop or quest don't tell you if what you are looking for is above or below. I got annoyed with this pretty quickly.
    For the quests though, there is a pathfinder. Alas, it will regularly require you do go through some impossible path and you'll still have to circle around to find your way.
    Most of the time the view is isometric, but sometimes it show you from the side or another very annoying angle.

    The encounters are very random and you will either go smoothly from point A to point B, or you will be attacked by mechas the size of the screen and damage-sponge enemies with way more levels than you. After your inescapable death, you'll re-spawn a few screens from there with barely any obstacle on your path ... or you'll die again a few times before you get "lucky".

    Another kind of random **** is when, during a "boss" fight, you get bounties spawning among the "normal" enemies. They are usually stronger and will make your fight more difficult.

    Speaking about fights, the combat system is lame. You have two weapons. You can roll-dodge a couple of times, with a cool-down. You can hide behind some obstacle and shoot over it, or below some stairs and cheese through enemies coming from above.
    Sometimes though there is no cover and you will simply die if you get swarmed by enemies.

    You could of course think about running around, followed by the enemies (in a word: kiting), dodge some of the damage and fire back. Alas, in good old-fashioned bad design, the enemies will soon rush back, invulnerable to attacks, and heal. You will not of course, guess what's next?

    One of the worst aspects is that the focus of protection for some damage types.
    You must equip an armor that will protect you against what your enemies are firing. If you don't, you are toast.
    But how do you decide what to focus on you ask?
    Simple, if an encounter kills you in a fraction of a second, change your armor focus to something else. Rinse and repeat as much as needed. It's bad design and, in my opinion, the opposite of fun.

    Another strictly not fun thing in this game is that, after pushing your way through enemies to reach a boss, you'll sometimes realize you simply cannot win and will need to leave, level up and try again.
    Yes the quest is recommended for 5 levels below you, it doesn't mean there aren't swarms of enemies 5 levels above you inside.

    Don't bother sparing "innocent" bystanders. They run to you during fights and you will be too busy trying to survive to ask yourself "is this guy rushing me an enemy or not?".
    You'll get complains from some alien but otherwise there is no consequences. This is just another minor annoyance of this game.

    meh

    Looking at other reviews, I'd ignore the 10 and 0. The game is certainly not worthy of a perfect score, nor is the worst game there is. It's simply mediocre.    … Expand
  75. tdoberman
    Aug 9, 2021
    5
    The game would be great if it had a balanced difficulty level, on the "easy" level, I often died 20 times. Enemies pop up from every direction, even from the one that has already been cleared. After 5 hours of playing I did an uninstall.
  76. Fabio2
    Aug 9, 2021
    10
    Je veux mettre une critique positive parce que je pense que les gens ont de mauvaises attentes. Ce jeu est un jeu de tir à deux bâtons avec des éléments rpg. J'ai joué 9 heures pour l'instant. Coop et solo, les deux expériences étaient plutôt bonnes. J'ai rencontré 1 bug (aucun son nécessaire pour redémarrer le jeu).
  77. F3x
    Aug 8, 2021
    10
    Es una maravilla jugar. Realmente me estoy divirtiendo mucho haciéndolo. Muy recomendable, pruébalo y no te arrepentirás, ¡lo único que te arrepentirías es no haberlo probado desde su lanzamiento!
  78. Chiyou
    Aug 8, 2021
    9
    This game has it's faults, but i've been blown away by it's visuals. They created such a rich and detailed world with interesting characters and plots, the weaker part of the formula is the gameplay but I've grown to really enjoy it. Kudos to the team for putting this together, the art team, the design team, the sound and music team. I really don't understand why it got such a low criticThis game has it's faults, but i've been blown away by it's visuals. They created such a rich and detailed world with interesting characters and plots, the weaker part of the formula is the gameplay but I've grown to really enjoy it. Kudos to the team for putting this together, the art team, the design team, the sound and music team. I really don't understand why it got such a low critic review when thinking about this game.… Expand
  79. Fataga
    Aug 8, 2021
    10
    Ich wollte das Spiel eigentlich nur kurz installieren, um mir mit meiner RTX 3090 die Raytracing Effekte des Spiels kurz anzuschauen. Aber was soll ich sagen, es war so definitiv nicht geplant: Ich habe das Spiel angespielt (bin eigentlich kein Fan von isometrischer Ansicht von oben) und konnte nicht mehr aufhören!

    Wahnsinn. Gestern installiert und bereits 12 Stunden gespielt :-) Ich    Ich wollte das Spiel eigentlich nur kurz installieren, um mir mit meiner RTX 3090 die Raytracing Effekte des Spiels kurz anzuschauen. Aber was soll ich sagen, es war so definitiv nicht geplant: Ich habe das Spiel angespielt (bin eigentlich kein Fan von isometrischer Ansicht von oben) und konnte nicht mehr aufhören!

    Wahnsinn. Gestern installiert und bereits 12 Stunden gespielt :-) Ich bin schwer begeistert. Die Grafik, die Atmosphäre, die Stimmung, der SOUND(!), Story. Echt super!

    Die Grafik wahnsinnsing flüssig (OK, ich spiele mit 3090), die Kampagne und Kampfeffekte, das Craften, das Zusammenspiel der Fertigkeiten mit der Rüstung. Ach, einfach alles echt genial.

    Für mich ein überwältigender Überraschungs-Hit! Wow. Sorry, muss mich kurz fassen, muss weiter spielen... ;-)    … Expand
  80. bakaknv
    Aug 8, 2021
    9
    Great visual and shooter mechanic. High tech low life atmosphere and pure narrative.
  81. Superyolk
    Aug 8, 2021
    10
    This game was made by a near-genius indie team of 12 next-level game designers, and is nothing short of a modern masterpiece.

    The incredible scale of this game, cinematic environmental perfection, insane graphic detail, fluid combat mechanics, and perfect dynamic zoom of the follow camera combine to create a pulse-pounding joyride that completely redefines what is possible with an indie    This game was made by a near-genius indie team of 12 next-level game designers, and is nothing short of a modern masterpiece.

    The incredible scale of this game, cinematic environmental perfection, insane graphic detail, fluid combat mechanics, and perfect dynamic zoom of the follow camera combine to create a pulse-pounding joyride that completely redefines what is possible with an indie production team. Not to mention the superb soundtrack... deadmau5 + ghost in the shell + stranger things + johnny mnemonic = pure thematic genius.

    To all you crying idiot babies badmouthing this cyberpunk mona lisa from your soiled diapers, what have you ever created?! Get up off your disgusting lazy ass and actually build something before running your whiney mouth, you worthless slobs. Get a clue.

    This game is an epic masterpiece and should be experienced, admired, and played through by every true cyberpunk warrior.    … Expand
  82. Nio23
    Aug 7, 2021
    10
    ‎¡Juega! No importa a los demás. Si te gusta lo que ves - usted estará en el ascenso durante horas y horas!‎
  83. LEn3
    Aug 6, 2021
    10
    Un juego bastante bueno para ser un indie y el primer titulo de su pequeña empresa.
  84. NoRods
    Aug 6, 2021
    10
    Demasiado bueno para ser un simple indie o incluso ser el primer juego de esta compañía 10 de 10
  85. Yemm
    Aug 6, 2021
    10
    Best Sci-Fi Diablo ARPG game out there. People who give it anything less then 9/10 didnt probably finish tutorial arena. GFX, Music and "feeling" alone are 10/10, and gameplay wise its most fUN ive had in ARPG in years. But yeah, it doesnt have mindless grind multiplayer (which you play single anyway. like POE). GEM
  86. Danilo1988
    Aug 6, 2021
    10
    Um jogo que traz uma dos melhores mundos cyberpunk, ótima game play. Vale cada centavo.
  87. BulgarianCritic
    Aug 6, 2021
    4
    This is an incredibly average game with a very generic story and characters that live in a world that you have seen a million of times done before(but not done good). The gameplay is generic and incredibly easy due to the developers not thinking ahead of how easy it is to spam an RPG non stop since the game doesn't have an ammo system. It gets boring very quickly and becomes tiresome whenThis is an incredibly average game with a very generic story and characters that live in a world that you have seen a million of times done before(but not done good). The gameplay is generic and incredibly easy due to the developers not thinking ahead of how easy it is to spam an RPG non stop since the game doesn't have an ammo system. It gets boring very quickly and becomes tiresome when you keep shooting down the same generic horde of baddies. The walking is the most annoying part and the fast travel system is pretty weak.I have also encountered a lot of bugs that ruin the game or make you restart the level because key enemies didn't respawn.Music and voice acting is fine and I did enjoy some of the aesthetic and city but it gets pretty boring fast. Avoid or buy on a huge discount is my suggestion.… Expand
  88. Crek3
    Aug 6, 2021
    10
    Un juegazo, espero que sigan apoyando a esta compañía indie porque lanzan un juego tan bueno como su primer titulo es increíble y poco común
  89. coringanoob
    Aug 6, 2021
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. gostei muito do jogo!!! tem alguns bugs de fato e precisa de algumas atualizações... Mas dá para jogar de boas… Expand
  90. xtrmsnpr
    Aug 6, 2021
    10
    The music is so fantastic, reminds me of "ghost in the shell".
    The atmosphere of the whole game is so rusty, muddy, underground and dark.
    True cyberpunk style vibes.
    The story so far is good, i'm really enjoying it.
    Whoever likes bladerunner movie, will like this game too. It is fun enough!
    It's also has true rpg elements and the graphics are good.

    Just play it!
  91. off3nc3
    Aug 6, 2021
    0
    This game is one of the most shallow isometric RPG's i've ever played , nothing is good in this game besides the scenery , the gunplay-aiming is terrible and not accurate , very repetitive / grindy enviroments , the story/lore is cyberjank I really cannot recommend this game , it's a CONTRA 2021 knock-off but way worse.

    Got insanely bored 3 hours in and uninstalled.
  92. Dleog
    Aug 6, 2021
    10
    Un juego simplemente glorioso con un nivel de profundidad alucinante me encanto
  93. kuytr
    Aug 5, 2021
    10
    Es hermoso el juego y su nivel de detallado este juego con cascos es una gozada luchar contra los jefes
  94. Alix32
    Aug 5, 2021
    10
    un juegazo con todas sus palabras, simplemente me fascino y engancho enormemente
  95. Ricio
    Aug 5, 2021
    10
    A este juego le falta un poco de pulir pero realmente es increíble me tiene enganchado totalmente
  96. Iba3
    Aug 5, 2021
    10
    Un juego increible para el gampeass porfavor denle una oportunidad porque quisa te encante
  97. PassMeDaMustard
    Aug 5, 2021
    8
    Played on both Xbox Series X and PC but mostly switched to PC for the better mouse controls and quite a few crashes on Xbox.

    Had a lot of fun with this game, and recommend it with some caveats. It has quite a few bugs/design issues with many side quests not accessible till later on but with no warning you can't get to the places you need to. Fast travelling is a real pain especially    Played on both Xbox Series X and PC but mostly switched to PC for the better mouse controls and quite a few crashes on Xbox.

    Had a lot of fun with this game, and recommend it with some caveats. It has quite a few bugs/design issues with many side quests not accessible till later on but with no warning you can't get to the places you need to. Fast travelling is a real pain especially access tiers, although later on taxis help a fair bit. It can also be quite hard to distinguish a lot of the weapons and what advantage they give you.

    But the damn timed defend the area battles are a real pain and I wish they did something else instead. I'm only playing single player and they might be more manageable with more than one player. I quite like the limited heal and body battery mechanics normally but not in these battles.

    The game is stunning looking and sounding (with some audio glitches sometimes) and mostly a lot of fun. I hope they continue to refine and extend it because it's a great base but not quite fully fleshed out in a lot of areas.

    I just wish the boss battles weren't timed, and maybe had a bit more health in them for the ones that drag on. Sometimes you just can't outlast the waves without eventually accumulating too much damage. There's one I'm stuck on near the end (I think) that you can't leave a limited area or the timer resets and that is just infuriating.

    There are quite a few minor issues too like spelling mistakes and sometimes you can't shoot until you change your loadout for some reason. Also not being able to change the controls and keybindings is a bit of a problem. I struggled to use grenades due to stupid key binding and m for map is too far away (o for direction help also). I'm this will be patched at some point.    … Expand
  98. Zanjapelona
    Aug 5, 2021
    10
    Cyberpunk 2077 con tantos años de desarrollo no defraudó. Ahora un equipo pequeño de desarrolladores han cumplido el sueño de todos los amantes del género cyberpunk, que trabajo tan bien hecho, que amor le pusieron al juego, se nota en cada Pasillo de cada escenario, el nivel técnico del juego es impresionante. Los gráficos son muy buenos, se siente que es un juego de nueva generación.Cyberpunk 2077 con tantos años de desarrollo no defraudó. Ahora un equipo pequeño de desarrolladores han cumplido el sueño de todos los amantes del género cyberpunk, que trabajo tan bien hecho, que amor le pusieron al juego, se nota en cada Pasillo de cada escenario, el nivel técnico del juego es impresionante. Los gráficos son muy buenos, se siente que es un juego de nueva generación. Tiene algunos bug en la traducción pero al día de hoy a una semana salió un parche que soluciona ya esto y algunos otros problemas en la jugabilidad. Que por cierto es Muy buena, en mando pensé que sería un problema. En PC el juego notas que tú agilidad mejora considerablemente y tendrás que agregar un poco de dificulta. De todo lo demás, se meten un 10… Expand
  99. tomyu
    Aug 5, 2021
    10
    ‎Me encanta este juego, el estilo de arte y la jugabilidad son impresionantes. Realmente recomendado para los fans frustrados de Cyberpunk 2077 . Red CD Project necesita aprender de los estudios independientes cómo hacer grandes juegos
  100. Mic2
    Aug 5, 2021
    0
    Un juego magnifico con un aura increíble y con una banda sonora de 10/10..
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Awards & Rankings

25
#25 Most Discussed PC Game of 2021

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
74

Mixed or average reviews - based on 51 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 51
  2. Mixed: 26 out of 51
  3. Negative: 0 out of 51
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Feb 17, 2022
    100
    The Ascent provides you with a unique opportunity to visit the not-so-distant dystopic future of our world in an action-packed manner and also in a graphically astonishing way. Its various possibilities of character creation allow for a unique playthrough and replayablity.
  2. Gamersky
    Dec 20, 2021
    76
    The Ascent has an excellent shooting experience and is great for playing with friends. However, apart from "shooting another wave of enemies", the game can bring very limited fun. The dull story and gameplay will easily bore you in this cyberpunk world.
    Read full review
  3. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Oct 22, 2021
    79
    Many games go for the cyberpunk vibe lately, but few can live up to this style as good as The Ascent does. [Issue#255, p.44]
See all critic reviews »