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. 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.
  2. CashMunnie7679
    Aug 2, 2021
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Great gameplay and visuals but it has some boss balance issues playing solo, poor fast travel system and some map issues. Otherwise super fun game.… Expand
  3. aArun
    Aug 3, 2021
    10
    Ótimo jogo. Os gráficos são excelentes para um atirador de dois stick. A jogabilidade é viciante, mas pode ser repetitiva. Definitivamente, vale a pena dar uma olhada, especialmente se você tiver Gamepass.
  4. LEn3
    Aug 6, 2021
    10
    Un juego bastante bueno para ser un indie y el primer titulo de su pequeña empresa.
  5. 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!‎
  6. bakaknv
    Aug 8, 2021
    9
    Great visual and shooter mechanic. High tech low life atmosphere and pure narrative.
  7. 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!
  8. 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).
  9. 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.
  10. vitala
    Jul 31, 2021
    0
    Weak storyline, mediocre and boring gameplay, poor optimization. You can pass by, you will not lose anything.
  11. Devarsh2116
    Jul 30, 2021
    0
    Bad like really bad don't waste your time and money on this. Story is boring , gameplay is repetitive bad camera angle just worst
  12. 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.
  13. 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.
  14. 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 !
  15. Iffufifdio
    Aug 3, 2021
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Jogo até tem suas partes mas é frango não dá para tirar o jogo porque aparece bug… Expand
  16. Mardithon
    Aug 1, 2021
    5
    My new obsession. Beautiful, brutal and a blast to play. I love this game so much.
  17. SamirMrtnz
    Jul 30, 2021
    0
    Es un juego con muy buenos gráficos e iluminación, pero su gameplay se hace repetitivo, aburrido, tiene problemas con la altura de disparos, su historia es aburrida, los enemigos se mueven mas rápido que el personaje(lo cual me parece estúpido para este tipo de juego), y tiene problemas de rendimiento(cuando hay muchas explosiones los fps bajan a 15)y tuve 3 crasheos.
    Si quieren jugar este    Es un juego con muy buenos gráficos e iluminación, pero su gameplay se hace repetitivo, aburrido, tiene problemas con la altura de disparos, su historia es aburrida, los enemigos se mueven mas rápido que el personaje(lo cual me parece estúpido para este tipo de juego), y tiene problemas de rendimiento(cuando hay muchas explosiones los fps bajan a 15)y tuve 3 crasheos.
    Si quieren jugar este tipo de juegos recomiendo Hades, Alienation o Enter the gungeon; ya que personalmente no recomiendo The Ascent    … Expand
  18. Jonathan_8Ochoa
    Aug 2, 2021
    2
    una bazofia para los videojuegos y un insulto para los jugadores 2/10 somnifero una cagada
  19. Mic2
    Aug 5, 2021
    0
    Un juego magnifico con un aura increíble y con una banda sonora de 10/10..
  20. 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
  21. 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
  22. 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
  23. 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.
  24. 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
  25. MezaraKabul
    Aug 10, 2021
    8
    The game is good overall. I couldn't understand how long the loading screen took. Missions are fun.
  26. 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.
  27. 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
  28. 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
  29. 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
  30. 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
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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]
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