27/11/2023
The Ascent.
The Ascent is the debut game from Neon Giant, a studio founded by people who worked on Bulletstorm, Far Cry 3, Gears of War, Wolfenstein: The New Order, and even DOOM. The genre is action/RPG in perhaps the most popular setting now, namely in the neon lights of cyberpunk. The game is incredibly beautiful. But is it fun to play?
The Ascent is not only visually stunning, but it sounds great too. Imagine a city from Cyberpunk 2077, only in isometry. There are people all around, advertising signs, shops, bars, clubs, computer terminals, gloomy industrial complexes and skyscrapers drowning in neon. And the city itself is a huge vertical complex, where, running through the upper levels, we see the cars of the future flying below. And all this is noisy and full of life - there are a lot of people around who are doing something, discussing something, or trying to punch you in the face.
The setting is most similar to what we saw in the game from CD Projekt RED. This is primitive, brutal, devoid of neo-noir romance from Blade Runner, dirty cyberpunk, where human life is not valued at all, everyone is chasing drugs and cyber implants and working like slaves for corporations and gangs.
The authors added robots and representatives of alien races here, and they fit perfectly into this uncomfortable and motley world of the future, where a lop-eared dwarf will upgrade your gun right on the street, and on the contrary, some green giants (orcs?) are selling shawarma.
