

Explore decrepit towns, dank sewers, industrial work zones, futuristic cities, and much more. A big part of the reason The Ascent never fails to amaze with its graphics is due to the wide variety of environments on display. It features a wide variety of levels and environments.You'll never be bored by The Ascent, which draws the eye with ludicrous amounts of detail, dynamic lighting, destructible pieces, high-quality textures, vivid effects like volumetric smoke and explosions, and much more. Neon Giant truly knocked it out of the park with The Ascent's visuals and aesthetic, which centers around a large number of vertical levels and environments. The Ascent features morbidly gorgeous cyberpunk visuals.Here's what we know about The Ascent's gameplay and features so far. Neon Giant's plan seems to be to draw you in with breathtaking visuals and environmental details, then hook you on brutal and addictive combat. There's truly a ton going on in The Ascent to lure players to its brutal cyberpunk-esque gameplay. The Ascent is an isometric RPG, which means it offers a more fixed third-person viewpoint in a similar vein to Diablo games.
The ascent series#
The Ascent will be released on July 29, 2021, on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC, and will launch straight into Xbox Game Pass.Source: Curve Digital (Image credit: Source: Curve Digital)
The ascent full#
The Ascent may indeed be remembered as one of the best independently released games of 2021, if the full game is anywhere near as good as what I experienced with the fairly limited demo. The developers' name "Neon Giant" is really apt. The Ascent gave me the most basic tools and level 1 weapons, and I still had a total blast. Many AAA game demos at these types of preview events put you somewhere in the middle of the game, giving you access to the more "impressive" weapons to create hype in the content creator. I didn't get to try out any of the crazier abilities shown off in those vids, or the more epic high-end weapons like flamethrowers, particle beams, and beyond. I felt like I had barely scratched the surface of what the full game has to offer, given some of the trailers. The Ascent looks utterly stunning, with a world that feels lived-in and vast. It really did feel like The Ascent bucks the trend in this area. Too many AAA games showcase gameplay that doesn't live up to expectations in reality, both in terms of visual quality and gameplay variety. The Ascent's early trailers looked so good, I couldn't help but be skeptical. Source: Neon Giant (Image credit: Source: Neon Giant) I'm pleased that The Ascent is trying to create a balance of both. Too many action RPGs of this nature seem to reduce gameplay challenge in favor of giving the player a stream of endless shiny loot instead. The challenge left me feeling incredibly rewarded at the end, and not just due to the loot. Managing cover simultaneously with the massive shockwave hazards created by the alien hammers presented an impressive challenge, leaving me dead multiple times before the stars aligned, where I was able to clip several enemies at once in a grenade blast. With a trail of shattered gangster bones and viscera in my wake, I eventually reached a boss room, where two large alien armed with massive hammers chased me around an arena, while various lackeys sprayed bullets in my general direction. This is exactly the sort of progress I want to see as we head further into "next-gen," with games that live up to their cinematic trailers for interactivity and visual quality. Explosives similarly create all sorts of environmental destruction that gave the game a truly elevated feel. I was impressed by the 3D projected textures and volumetric smoke produced by the attack, which also caught the light dynamically.
The ascent torrent#
One ability I unlocked in the demo was a power punch sort of attack, sending a shockwave of unfettered force, shattering enemies into a torrent of giblets if they were caught in the blast. You can still shoot from this position of course, albeit at reduced accuracy.Įnemies may have strength in numbers, but your abilities serve as a great equalizer. Taking advantage of this mechanic becomes paramount when you're facing several enemies armed as well as you are, crouching behind a wall or something similar can and will save your life. The left trigger lets you shoot over elevation, which includes cover, or enemies that are on a higher platform. This is where you get the first taste of real human enemies, and that's when The Ascent stopped feeling like a typical action RPG, and a bit more like a tactical cover shooter with explosive sci-fi abilities. The Ascent preview (Image credit: Neon Giant)Īfter the first segment, you're given a task to traverse the outskirts of the arcology and back up a local gangster, as he brokers some sort of deal.
