The Ascent Reviews
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
For the price it sits at… I think it's a decent purchase. There's a lot to enjoy even just in looking around the world that has been built here, there are plenty of battles to keep you going and there's the story to play through from start to finish. Scratches that neon lit cyberpunk aesthetic itch just right.
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 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 worth your attention, but only after the developers will iron out most of the major shortcomings.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Many systems that lack depth make it difficult for players to get the pleasure of brushing, while slightly monotonous levels are also easy to play with.
Review in Chinese | Read full review
The Ascent is an essential experience for anyone that enjoys tight action-RPG combat or beautiful, neon-colored Blade Runner skylines. Go play this solo or with up to three other friends before its world becomes reality.
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
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.
Despite my complaints, though, I legitimately love the world Neon Giant has crafted here and would love to see even more of it. There’s loads of potential in this setting for straight-up better stories to be told, and I think The Ascent itself is kept from greatness from a lot of jank, technical issues, and weird design decisions. All that said, I think once I get my hands on a Steam Deck, I’m absolutely going to treat that as an excuse to go back for more. Hopefully, by then, they’ll have a lot of the technical issues addressed.
The Ascent reminds me of the good old days of Xbox 360 and its robust indie offerings on the old Xbox Live Arcade service, where games like “Shadow Complex” or “Super Meat Boy” were not afraid of making small twists to classic formulas.
The Ascent is a solid and fun action-RPG, capable of providing many hours of fun thanks to well-paced gameplay and powerful and inspired graphics. Too bad for some flaws such as the poorly executed cooperative mode, annoying bugs and the lack of Italian localization, which prevent the first job of Neon Giant to shine as it deserves.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The Ascent is a fun action-RPG hybrid set in a beautifully crafted cyberpunk world.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
The Ascent is not perfect, but it is fun as hell. The frenetic gunplay is only supported by its engaging aesthetic. If you don’t mind not having a fully immersive experience that has a shallow narrative, what you will get is a massive arcology to explore, along with taking on hordes of foes with your hard-earned loot. Its deceptively simplistic gameplay only allows for better exploration and engagement with its many sidequests.
The Ascent is an atmospheric power fantasy, a cinematic cyberpunk escape where you can disengage your brain and indulge in copious virtual violence. If you’re a Game Pass subscriber, it’s worth a try – at £25, it’s harder to recommend.
For [US$20] or so, you’ll have a jolly neon-filled dystopian-blasting old time with The Ascent. Just don’t expect a grandeur tale ala Cyberpunk 2077, though you’ll have a meatier action RPG experience.
The Ascent offers a surprisingly decent amount of depth and is best suited for fans of looter shooters.
The Ascent feels like two very different games. One of those games is an enjoyable aRPG in an over-the-top cyberpunk world where you find new equipment, upgrade your weapons and abilities, and take on odd jobs in an attempt to better your character’s situation. In many ways, this feels like a combination of the canceled Prey 2 and what a lot of people mistakenly expected Cyberpunk 2077 to be like, all filtered through a world that combines the alien-rich population of Mass Effect with Blade Runner‘s rainy dystopia. The other game is the one that undermines that first one.
Capturing the cyberpunk aesthetic perfectly, The Ascent is a fantastic example of twinstick shooters with a few tricks of its own. There are a few rough edges, especially with online multiplayer, but the RPG elements and gorgeous graphics and voice work more than keep you locked into this neon soaked universe.