Review cover The Ascent (Computer)
Official GBAtemp Review

Product Information:

  • Release Date (NA): July 29, 2021
  • Release Date (EU): July 29, 2021
  • Publisher: Curve Digital
  • Developer: Neon Giant
  • Genres: Action-shooter RPG
  • Also For: Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S

Game Features:

Single player
Local Multiplayer
Online Multiplayer
Co-operative
Launching on PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series S/X is ‘The Ascent’, the debut title of indie devs Neon Giant. Playable in solo and co-op, how does this action-shooter RPG set in a dystopian cyberpunk world hold up?

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Upon returning to The Ascent Group’s arcology following a mission in the maintenance areas, you learn that things have gone South for the corporate-run metropolis. Its AGI suddenly went quiet, contact with the board was cut and the mega-corporation’s businesses were thrown into jeopardy and forcing it into immediate bankruptcy.

Even if your district is one of many in the densely-populated world of Veles filled with creatures from all over the galaxy, the neighboring clusters are mutually dependent on each other for food, energy and other essentials. Without proper oversight, shortages will ensue, rival corporations and crime syndicates will look to fill the empty space and life will become a cut-throat survival game.

Since you are an indentured laborer (indent) yourself owned by The Ascent Group (as is everyone and everything else in the arcology), this means your paycheck and that of your boss is on hold. Before everything starts turning to mayhem, the latter sends you on a series of missions to do some clean-up work and even rescue some colleagues. In doing so, you learn more about the cause of the disruption and find that you might actually stand a chance for true independence by voiding your indent contract. Will you succeed in achieving this?

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As a cyberpunk-themed game developed by a team of 12, The Ascent looks the part. Flying cars dart over your head; holograms play out on repeat to entertain the masses; neon signs flood the streets; while futuristic-styled humans and… aliens populate those streets, going about their life, using dispensing machines and discussing their woes. When out and about during missions, you’ll see robots fixing robots and scurry around during gunfights (and get caught by stray bullets). 

In lawless areas like the Cosmodrome, you can bounty hunt criminals in a train station and throw passengers in panic mode as they flee towards safety. Other areas like The Node are filled with bustling markets selling legal and less than legal wares. While the game doesn't really explain how the world turned into the way it did, the world of Veles is teeming with life and the gritty ambiance that characterizes the cyberpunk genres.

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The story is original and keeps the intrigue going to learn more about what has really happened to The Ascent Group. However, the protagonist decidedly lacks in character. Sure, it’s a refreshing take to play as a character who is not the chosen one and has no choice but to be a yes man, but there’s not much backstory attached to your avatar to make them feel relatable. Moreover, even if some of the cast are well portrayed with some professional voice acting, the main character is almost always silent, with no voice acted segments.

That said, Neon Giant did a stellar job to vividly portray its cyberpunk universe with details that breathe life to it. As mesmerizing as some places look, it almost feels like a shame that you can’t really interact with the environment to your heart’s content. Even if Veles looks immense, The Ascent is a rather linear game with limited buildings you can enter and only some NPCs you can talk to (for side quest or to level up your stats).

Even with the linear aspect, you have some degree of freedom to explore your surroundings and being an RPG, exploration is encouraged in The Ascent. This can reward you with new parts, new items or even discover side quests that can provide you with additional uCreds or buffs. Everything plays out fluidly from a top-down perspective (but the view pans out at certain points to let you take the view in) and there’s a handy radar that provides useful indications like your quest’s direction, the gunsmith’s location as well as where nearby enemies are lurking.

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Between exploration segments which help move the story forward, you’ll face off against other Veles dwellers in combat sequences. These are aplenty in The Ascent where you’ll face various types of enemies from feral aliens through invisible cyber-samurais to bosses with attack types ranging from melee to long-range; and seeing the location of those enemies on your radar helps you plan your offense strategy: face them head on or sneak attack or even try to sneak past them altogether? 

Battles are fast-paced and make heavy use of properly timing dodges and shooting since you’ll always be outmanned. Surviving these will also require you to scrutinize your environment to spot useful item boxes for health boosts, explosive canisters to catch a wave of enemies in the blast or find cover to take less hits and reload.

Thankfully, to help you manage all of these actions, The Ascent’s controls are pretty simple. In addition to dodging, you can crouch behind cover and from there aim high with LT to shoot above cover. One less thing to worry about is ammo as you won’t be lacking these and your character automatically reloads (there’s the option to manually do so too).

You can carry two weapons at a time and swap them on-the-fly with Y. Different weapons have different efficacy on different enemies, so you'll have to be versatile in your offensive approach. Helping you diversify your attack is a tactical equipment which ranges from stun grenades to stasis drones that immobilize enemies. These can be deployed by pressing on the L-stick but you’ll need to watch out for the tactical charge gauge to use a tactical weapon though.

True to the cyberpunk genre, you will also find or buy augmentations to install that give you new abilities like delivering a powerful hydraulic-powered punch or dealing massive damage with a laser beam. You can equip two “augs” at a time and assign them to LB/RB. Augs work better if they sync up with your skills and attributes but you’ll also need to watch out for the gauge here.

Such damage- or time-constrained gauges are crucial limiting factors in battles. Wait for your gun to reload; deal enough damage to enemies to fill the tactical gauge; wait till your augmentation gauge fills up again. You’ll have to properly time when to use augs, switch to weapons and find cover if you don’t want to flatline prematurely.

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Nevertheless, you’ll have to come to terms that death is a common occurrence in The Ascent but its combat doesn't feel unfair. One way the game makes combat more approachable is with enemy clusters. You’ll encounter your opponents in such clusters as you venture in Veles, with some conveniently dropping off flying taxis to ambush you while you are already in the heat of the battle. But it helps that other nearby clusters seem to be not too preoccupied with the ruckus you are causing, so it doesn't feel too overwhelming with even more enemies joining the fray.

Another way The Ascent makes battles manageable is with frequent checkpoints. You might reach a point where you’re low on HP and bite the dust in the next encounter. This will lead you to respawn at a nearby checkpoint with full HP ready to take those pesky enemies again. Moreover, the XPs you gained are carried on, even if you respawn. In certain situations, this can help you level up and distribute your skill points to more effectively counter enemies. Even if the battles can feel challenging when you are still learning the ropes at the beginning, things get more approachable later on and winning encounters always feel satisfying.

That said, you might still need to grind in some cases if you haven’t upgraded your weapons to face a particular boss and need to boost your stats for more effective damage.

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Even if The Ascent is perfectly enjoyable in single player mode, Neon Giant integrated couch and online co-op with up to 4 players to add some fun to the mix. And while it will indeed prove to be a fun game whether you decide to play solo or in co-op, there are some issues to take note of. My main gripe is with controlling the weapon aim with the right stick when using a controller. It doesn’t feel very fluid and is rather wonky even with aim assist on. You can get used to it but there’s a learning curve to handling it properly.

Also, even if the combat mechanic allows for some varied offense approaches, a freely-usable CQC or melee attack would be handy. This is because everything else, from augmentation skills to reloading weapons take some time and having a melee attack not constrained by a gauge would help you when cornered. This aspect does add to the challenge of the gameplay and when levelling up you can improve on some of them, but a melee attack would still be very welcome.

When you do flatline, respawning can get disorienting as you can respawn at another location a bit further off from where you died (or sometimes in an area you don’t recognize). I’m not sure why it’s like this but it’s likely due to how the game sets its checkpoints and these might not be fully indicative of where you were before flatlining. Or maybe the issue lies in the early review copy I had access to but it’s a frequent occurrence.

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What’s also slightly disorienting is the fast travel option. You have the choice between using the free public transport or spending a whopping 1000 uCreds in a taxi (which provides the convenience of being available at almost any time, anywhere after the 3rd mission). But when embarking in either mode of transport, you’ll be thrown some locations to choose from and if you aren’t fully invested in The Ascent’s lore, you might not be aware of which stop is closest to your destination. Including a map while selecting your fast travel destination would have fixed this issue together and help you gauge better the route to take.

Another issue I came across with this early copy is a bug that wouldn’t let me progress during the third mission "Speak with Stackboss Poone”. A bridge seemed unfinished and I couldn’t walk further in that direction, although the game’s navigation trail pointed straight ahead. Thankfully, a restart fixed the issue and it didn’t turn out to be such a big deal.

There are also some animation glitches during cutscenes, but nothing like that other cyberpunk game suffered from at launch. But a rather notable aesthetic issue is the odd design for the dialogue prompts. These look bland compared to the fancy graphics rendered in Unreal Engine 4.

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The "bridge bug" I came across

As a whole, The Ascent delivers decent fun with fast-paced battles in a vividly-portrayed cyberpunk world. There are some gripes with the controls, combat mechanic and the main character’s lack of… character but coming from an indie team, the effort is well commendable.

The Ascent | Rise Up

Verdict

What We Liked ...
  • Vivid cyberpunk world
  • Fun combat sessions
  • Varied offense strategies
  • Online and couch co-op add a layer of fun
What We Didn't Like ...
  • Protagonist lacks character
  • Aiming with control stick is a bit wonky
  • Respawning can be disorienting
  • No melee attack
7
Gameplay
While the gameplay mechanic is a rather simple and effective one, it's not without its issues: aiming - even with aim assist on - feels wonky with a controller and has a learning curve to it, respawning can be disorienting and the lack of a gauge-free melee attack is felt over time.
8
Presentation
The cyberpunk universe of The Ascent is vividly portrayed with sights that breathe life to the fictional, corporate-run districts of Veles.
8
Lasting Appeal
With its fast-paced combats that offer decent challenges and satisfying wins, The Ascent will prove fun to turn to, whether you play solo or in co-op.
8
out of 10

Overall

The Ascent strikes the right cyberpunk and action-shooter chords to make a strong impression as Neon Giant’s debut title.
A game like this tends to live and die on its controls for me. That said co-op dungeon crawler/shooter with a nice cyberpunk flavour holds some considerable appeal so thanks for bringing this one to my attention.
 
What surprised me about this game is the performance. Even my old laptop with MX250 graphics can run this game at 60fps (Vsync) with a setting of 720p and everything at Ultra.
 
Review cover
Product Information:
  • Release Date (NA): July 29, 2021
  • Release Date (EU): July 29, 2021
  • Publisher: Curve Digital
  • Developer: Neon Giant
  • Genres: Action-shooter RPG
  • Also For: Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Game Features:
Single player
Local Multiplayer
Online Multiplayer
Co-operative

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