The Ascent Reviews
The Ascent is a highly enjoyable sci-fi twin-stick shooter with outstanding visual and audio presentation. It is let down at times by some boring downtime while moving through areas and some inconsistent AI but the overall gameplay is a blast whether you’re playing solo or with friends. Fans of twin-stick shooters and cyberpunk worlds will want to have this on their to-play list for sure.
I must reiterate that The Ascent is gorgeous, and for a team of just a dozen developers, they have outperformed themselves in that regard. Unfortunately, because the narrative is so anaemic and there is so little that connects the narrative to the aesthetics and gameplay, The Ascent ends up feeling empty. There’s nothing memorable about the characters, the world is dull and far too large for how little it offers, and while, yes, the story hits those key cyberpunk talking points, the developers largely missed the nuances that elevate cyberpunk beyond pulp fiction. So, again, the game’s fine, if you are looking for a generic sci-fi shooter (and can ideally drag a friend along). As a work of cyberpunk, though, it’s a failure.
The Ascent is, for fans of a good isometric RPG with a futuristic theme, one of the best experiences in recent years. Aesthetically beautiful, it is not the most innovative experience in terms of both story and gameplay, but it manages to be competent in everything it proposes, resulting in an intense and surprisingly immersive journey.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
The Ascent is far from perfect. It has so many issues that normally I would not give it a second look. Despite all the issues and the fact that the gameplay is pretty basic, the story completely forgettable and it lacks any depth, I had fun with it and once I started playing it I was lost to the rest of the world.
Considering it is the debut game of a new Indie developer, The Ascent having visuals this good is like a dream come true. Yet if you were to try and explore its depths, you will soon find out it is a pretty shallow game.
Review in Turkish | Read full review
The Ascent game is fascinating and entertaining, and especially co-op offers a pleasant and memorable experience, but unfortunately the game suffers from many problems large and small.
Review in Persian | Read full review
In terms of the overall gaming experience, the creators have designed a very exciting and engaging campaign for The Ascent, which doesn't lose its excitement until the end of the game by tearing enemies apart using a variety of weapons or special powers.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Outstanding cyberpunk visuals and fun top-down shooting make The Ascent worth playing in single-player. But it could have been even better with less tedium, tighter pacing, and fewer bugs.
The Ascent brings us all the frenetism and strategy of a chaotic and futuristic cyberpunk-style world, where our character must discover the places and secrets that this universe hides. Despite its flaws, it becomes an Xbox must-have.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
The Ascent throw in a bunch of games that on the one hand I love, and on the other hand I'm waiting for an update. I'll be happy to come back, check out the news, but it's definitely the perfect position for Game Pass. You play, you can have fun, and when the level of frustration pierces the ceiling, you turn off and wait for patches.
Review in Polish | Read full review
The Ascent is a fun action-RPG hybrid set in a beautifully crafted cyberpunk world.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
A worthy debut for Neon Giant. The Ascent is not a perfect, but a good game with a good combat system and stunning visual performance. In addition, you can clean up the streets of Sector 13 in the company of friends (both on the Web and locally) - the game itself does not change from this, but together, as you know, it is always more fun.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Although there are some minor issues here and there, The Ascent's great atmosphere and breathtaking action-packed gameplay are more than enough to convince almost any gamer to give it a try.
Review in Persian | Read full review
The Ascent delivers on every promise. The combat is fast-paced, challenging, and explosive. The environment is gorgeous, gritty, and dark. Everything about the cyberpunk theme screams out for attention. If you're a fan of twin-stick style shooters and the thematics of the cyberpunk universe, The Ascent offers an exciting and rewarding adventure that is worth every second.
There’s just a lot of technical restraints that drag The Ascent down, and I do praise Neon Giant’s hard work they’ve put into the game, but it’s difficult for me to recommend a title that’s so unpolished when you want to play the game on couch co-op. However, if you’re up for instant, fluid twin-stick shooting gunplay with easy-to-grasp mechanics and a massive arsenal of weapons, and a game that accurately evokes the cyberpunk theme then The Ascent is undoubtedly a game that may be worth your time regardless of the technical issues it has.
The Ascent is an excellent shooter that you can enjoy alone or in the company of friends. If you are an avid collector and explore everything you can, you can stretch your playing time to a nice forty hours. If you're only interested in the story, The Ascent will keep you entertained for about fifteen hours. The graphics are really great and the soundtrack only deepens the cyberpunk atmosphere. The combat is dynamic, aggressive and the destructible environment is the icing on the cake. The character dubbing is also great. I can definitely recommend this title.
Review in Czech | Read full review
The Ascent delivers meaty action and gorgeous visuals in an imaginative cyberpunk package.
The world of Veles is a grim one, indeed. Beneath its multi-hued, rain slicked surface lies a world run by the corporate and served by the desperate. The small settlements that fill in for towns are filled with light, as if to hold back the encroaching darkness, the murky landscape that threatens to swallow them whole at any moment. It is Blade Runner without the soul. It is Shadowrun without the depth. In the end, perhaps a more fitting name for the game would have been “The Descent.”
The Ascent is an excellent top-down shooter with a great cyberpunk aesthetic, exhilarating combat and some neat RPG systems to boot. If you like arcade action and fast-paced combat, this is the game for you. It's a great start to what I hope is a new franchise because I certainly would be down for a sequel, a few years down the road.
The Ascent’s excellent atmosphere and gameplay might just save it from a weak story and a lack of polish, wherein the whole is just less than the sum of its parts.