#The ascent fast travel series#

For example, after having my skills bested by a particularly difficult boss, I immediately wanted to try out a new tactic and see victory through to the end. There’s an addictive quality in its difficulty. What made me come back to The Ascent repeatedly was its smooth combat. However, players who are more enthralled with the game’s world may find a lot of value there. Personally, I was never compelled to dive into it. For lore junkies, The Ascent has a rich codex to read through. Whether I was fast travelling or using the many elevators to venture from one level of Veles to another, I was back into the game in mere seconds. There is so much attention to detail to making Veles feel like a downtrodden and polluted landscape that I found myself admiring my surroundings as I advanced through the game.

#The ascent fast travel series#

Playing on Xbox Series X, the style and art design of The Ascent looks superb. I had no attachment to anyone I met which is a shame because Neon Giant sets up such an interesting world to explore. Even the main narrative touches on many cyberpunk tropes but never stuck or resonated in a meaningful way. Most NPCs are nameless aliens and their quests are ultimately forgettable. Unfortunately, beyond a chosen few, you aren’t introduced to anyone of consequence. All this to say, be prepared to retrace your steps again and again as you complete quests across Veles.Īs a chromed-out mercenary, you’ll interact with plenty of folks deep within the underbelly of Veles. Once again, though, the navigation system doesn’t always provide a reliable destination. The Ascent offers two fast-travel systems, both of which will bring you to one of the many hub areas. The map itself is pretty cumbersome and leaves a lot to be desired in terms of pinpoint accuracy as quest markers will often be in the incorrect spot. The overemphasis in delivering a robust RPG even affected navigation and character interactions. Though, I never felt like I was playing a role more than I stepped into the shoes of a generic gun-wielding merc. All these options are supposed to make you feel empowered by the character you’ve made. As such, The Ascent features customization in the form of appearance, cosmetics and armor. It was as though these passive traits were a bit more passive than I’d have liked them to be.īeing a game set against a cyberpunk backdrop, it’s expected that there are character modifications and augmentations. But throughout my playthrough, I never felt like I reaped the benefits of investing skills into any one segment aside from health and energy. The Ascent features a levelling system where I could invest skill points into anything from health, energy, aiming and critical hits.

That said, less could certainly be more in this case. For a team of roughly around 11 people, the pure ambition on display here must be commended. Neon Giant implemented a vast array of systems and customization options into The Ascent. However, as soon as I had to flip through numerous tabs and menus, my enjoyment took a dive. It’s fun toying around with each weapon and discovering their quirks and upgrading them along the way. You’ll come across many different weapons from pistols, to SMGs, to rifles - all with their own unique stats. “What made me come back to The Ascent repeatedly was its smooth combat.” In every instance of combat, I found myself having a legitimate blast firing shots and dodging attacks. Randomly generated ambushes will ensue as you cross the sprawling map of Veles, completing your next quest. I found myself fighting off hordes of your standard fair of underworld gangsters, robots and other threatening foes. This mechanic adds a lot to the combat and keeps it frantic. To avoid gunfire, I crouch behind cover and manually raise my weapon to inflict critical damage and stagger enemies. There’s an interesting cover system at play.

Fans of Helldivers, Dead Nation, or Hotline Miami will understand what they’re in for the moment they pick up their first weapon. From the moment-to-moment gameplay loop, the game features a familiar hook. The Ascent is a fast-paced twin-stick shooter that wears its heart on its sleeve. Assuming the role of the main character, I stepped into this grimy, neon world and offered my help to anyone paying. This then causes anarchy between guns for hire and rival corporations that are fighting for control.

Set in a futuristic dystopian world known as Veles, The Ascent Group, a corporation that controls the larger population, mysteriously collapses. Though, once I scratched the surface in this top-down twin-stick shooter, I couldn’t help shake the feeling that the game was getting in the way of itself in some ways. The Ascent, from indie studio Neon Giant, checks off everything you’d expect to see in a cyberpunk-inspired game.