The Ascent Reviews
The Ascent can be great fun with three other like-minded players. There are lots to explore in Veles and many challenges. On the flip side, much of the game falls apart or is otherwise tedious solo.
Cyberpunk gorefest that's brutal, intense, and incredibly fun in co-op.
The Ascent is a great game, and although Its problems are hard to ignore, I can't pretend that I didn't have an amazing time with it.
The Ascent has the kind of graphical and audio design prowess that many games can only dream of. While some technical and mechanical issues disrupt the immersion, there’s no denying the sheer sadistic joy that comes from shredding through the neon glazed tiers of Veles. A critique of the Cyberpunk genre this isn’t, but damn is it a blast to play.
The biggest takeaway from my playthrough of The Ascent definitely has to be the amount of polish that went into the game. The Neon Giant team is made up of a number of AAA developer veterans and it really does show in the final product. The experience is fairly similar between the Xbox and PlayStation versions though the extra immersion via the DualSense controller makes this the definitive version of the game.
The best assets of The Ascent are the visuals, the music and its lore and world building which has made Veles feel like a real living, kicking and breathing place but the gameplay feels just OK with a not so smooth UI.
Review in Persian | Read full review
The Ascent is a nice experience hampered by technical issues but ultimately it's fun and keeps us waiting for what this 11-person studio can offer in the future.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
I went into The Ascent excited for a game to fill a cyberpunk-shaped hole in my heart, but came out feeling deflated with the thought that this was a big missed opportunity. The stunning landscape and excellent soundtrack can’t take away from the game, but the messy gunfights and cumbersome movement paired with accessibility issues makes this a very hard game to recommend.
The relatively good scenario works procedurally, while the attempt to belong to more than one species, leaves us at best indifferent.
Review in Greek | Read full review
The allure of a cyberpunk themed game proved too strong for me to say no. Bright neon lights, futuristic scenes and a range of seemingly devastating weaponry caught my eye. My interest well and truly piqued, I wondered what lay in store as I began my journey through The Ascent. Was I wowed by the lights, or tricked by the glare? Read my Rapid Review to see how I got on.
If you’re playing with others, I imagine you’ll have a great time with The Ascent. While it still isn’t anywhere near perfect, the beautiful graphics and solid gunplay should be enough for those who just want something cool to play with their friends. There’s plenty of loot to collect along the way, too, letting you each put your stamp on your character. If you have no one to play with, though, I wouldn’t recommend The Ascent. The game feels like it’s fighting against you the entire way. It never stops feeling like this game wasn’t meant for you.
The Ascent is one of the best games I’ve played this year with amazing visuals, story and gameplay that sucks you right in from the opening scenes. Playing co-op is a heck of a lot of fun and single player is just as good with challenging gun fights and so much of the world of Veles to explore. I hope Neon Giant have plans for either DLC or a sequel because I will buy the heck out of it to keep supporting them making such great games.
This game is not perfect, but these days we see fewer games like it, the story of the game, although not great, but encourages you to continue and gameplay innovation can be seen on it.
Review in Persian | Read full review
I bounced so hard off The Ascent that it left a bad taste in my mouth and a wish that it spent another few more months in the oven.
Despite its stylishly designed atmosphere and graphics, The Ascent can distract the player with numerous optimization problems.
Review in Turkish | Read full review
The Ascent gives off an impeccable first impression. The game is one of the most atmospheric titles I have experienced this year. Graphically, the game has some of the best environmental art styles of 2021. It’s a testament to the small developer team to be able to pull off these kinds of feats. However, where The Ascent does fall is in its uninspired RPG mechanics that felt like an afterthought. That, coupled with disastrous UI, difficulty spikes, and quest-scaling issues, hampered that amazing first impression. Though a later patch remedied some of these technical issues. All in all, The Ascent is definitely worth your time. It doesn’t overstay its welcome and will leave you a lasting impression of the dystopic nature that is the Arcology.
it is only one step away from becoming one of those games that mark a generation.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
The Ascent is a technically impressive and rather gorgeous cyberpunk twin stick shooter held back by a number of issues. This includes the basically broken coop, the mind boggling checkpoints and the insane difficulty spikes.
It's a shame "The Ascent" could be more fun game. Its structure was not interesting compared to the attractive cyberpunk world in it.
Review in Korean | Read full review
In theory, a co-op, loot-based isometric RPG like The Ascent has the potential of being a great cyberpunk-themed experience to play with a group of friends. The world-building is appealing visually and aurally, but it’s ultimately unsatisfying and often unrewarding during exploration. The lack of replayability, broken cooperative play, bugs, and unbalanced artificial enemy difficulty make it tough to appreciate its positive elements. It’s sad to say that The Ascent is another over-hyped cyberpunk game that is all fluff and no substance.