The Ascent Reviews

The Ascent is ranked in the 56th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
Metro GameCentral
GameCentral
Top Critic
3 / 10
Jul 29, 2021

A deeply disappointing co-op shooter that squanders its excellent graphics on a bland and repetitive attempt to make a sci-fi Diablo.

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4 / 10.0
Aug 10, 2021

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.

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Jul 29, 2021

Those moments are memorable and are unfortunately far less common than The Ascent's pitfalls. I'm right near the end of the game's main story after crossing off plenty of side missions, but with the charm of The Ascent's firefights and scenery long since expired, there's nothing much left to inspire confidence in what remains.

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2.5 / 5.0
Aug 29, 2021

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.

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VideoGamer
Top Critic
5 / 10
Jul 31, 2021

Its skyline is happy to quote at length from Blade Runner, but the poetry is in short supply.

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Jul 29, 2021

While The Ascent is a true visual showcase for the Xbox Series X, it lacks depth and clarity. There's a fun game in here, but it's ultimately overburdened.

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Noisy Pixel
Henry Yu
5.5 / 10.0
Jul 29, 2021

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.

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58%
Oct 19, 2021

I know this is beautiful — how bad could it be — but please avoid it at all costs, no matter how cheap it is on sale.

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Oct 4, 2021

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.

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3 / 5.0
Aug 5, 2021

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.

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Aug 2, 2021

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.

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Mar 28, 2022

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.

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3 / 5.0
Aug 11, 2021

The cyberpunk world of The Ascent seems dazzling on the surface, but much like your standard cyberpunk world, the grime underneath all of the neon and futuristic landscapes ends up revealing a hefty mess once you go exploring it.

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Gameblog
Top Critic
6 / 10
Sep 5, 2021

The problem with beauty is that it lets us imagine perfection on all levels. And The Ascent, despite a truly sublime setting, is far from meeting all the requirements that would allow it to rise to the level of the most memorable experiences of 2021. In 15-20 hours, we navigate between the happiness of discovering environments that do more than tickle our Cyberpunk fiber, to fight hard but correctly against hordes of enemies and a certain frustration.

Review in French | Read full review

3 / 5.0
Jul 29, 2021

The Ascent is a tough game to recommend for solo players in its current state. Its buggy, tedious at its best and utterly frustrating at its worst. While I’m sure playing with friends will resolve some of my chief complaints, more fundamental issues like a rather boring overworld can’t be fixed with a few laughs with friends.

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GameMAG
Top Critic
6 / 10
Aug 8, 2021

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

Jul 29, 2021

The Ascent is a beautiful and entertaining action-RPG when everything is working as intended, but those moments are sadly much rarer than they should be. We know the team already has several patches planned so hopefully, a lot of the issues we encountered will be ironed out by the time you dive into the game — I'll be keeping an eye on these updates and will look to update and/or modify this review should things be significantly improved, because I'd have liked to have scored The Ascent higher. Combat is frantic and fun, the world is amazing, and there are some really satisfying abilities to bust out against foes, but you need a hell of a lot of patience to put up with all the technical nonsense going on with the game in its current state.

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Guardian
Top Critic
Aug 3, 2021

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.

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6 / 10
Jul 29, 2021

The Ascent looks and acts like a video game, but mostly feels like work.

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AusGamers
KostaAndreadis
Top Critic
6.4 / 10.0
Aug 11, 2021

From no two dinged up vehicles or future-rubbish bags looking the same to graffiti strewn walls to cracks and seams covering every inch of the future real estate you get to explore.

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