Ascent - The Space Game Reviews

Ascent made mining fun!!. Imagine that. I can't tell you how many hours I played EVE PVE and Mining. God, such a simple task and just plain boring after awhile. What no Ganking?? Freaking awesome!!. So I can have fun without someone always trying to kick over my apple cart... I don't care much for in-game corporations or groups. I just want to play w/o chatting or having to attended meetings. lol Their are a tone of pvp games out there. No need to make this one as well. Just sick of the pvp debates. open vs solo play in Elite Dangerous, EVE etc. Ascent is truly a breath of quiet fresh air...! Runs really well, no crashes, and the wife says I'm playing too much, so there ya go. Its a hit!! Keep up the good work Mr developer. See u out there...

I've played Ascent for 2 months now and I'm giving it the flick. Frustrating, unfinished game with lots of potential. The everything is just too hard to do. Only the most basic trading and crafting what there is in the game to do it so damb hard to do. Try building an Outer Star Base! Good luck. The most disapointing thing is, nothing is getting fixed. Two months after release and nothing has changed. Prime continues to crash, your research takes forever to update, making you fly into and out of systems just to get the database to up date to tell you where your research actually is. Just annoyingly frustrating. Fantasic group of people though. might drop in and see how it is going in 6 months or so, it may be playable then.

Great idea for a game,..A very sandboxy PvE universe to explore and build your own little (or big) space empire in. I honestly really like it and will keep playing, but it has at least a couple big problems that I will deal with for the moment considering it's still early access but it would be a joke if they weren't addressed before the official launch. It pains me to give a thumbs-down but I will definitely change it if they work on these areas. 1. The Starship Computers: Holy Carap! I don't know if it is meant to be somehow more gritty and "realistic" or if it is just a placeholder until someone gets around to making a menu and/or GUI interface. The current situation involves a command console type interface (think DOS or UNIX) to interrogate the computer for a lot of important information and functions especially when it comes to exploration. It takes like 40 keystrokes to do what should be done in 4. In terms of gritty it doesn't get much better than this but in terms of realism I think in an age of faster than light travel they would have a post-Apollo interface for their computer systems. Getting to the point of making your own probes and figuring out what all the data means is hard enough...having to beat the info out of the computer is just plain unnecessary. They certainly don't have to dump the console for people who want to think they are computer scientists, but a more user friendly option should be available for the rest of us living in the 21st century. 2. Chat Channel: ...as in singular chat channel for the whole universe. No trade chat, no private chat...group or otherwise, no in game e-mail system....Wow! You'd think that kind of stuff would be in any MMO on day 1. 3. Galactic Market (player auction house) Apparently the galactic market computer system is much more advanced than the on board ship computers because at least you don't have to shop via command console LOL. ...but... The only way to search items is by keyword, quantity, and price point. Also, only 1 page can be displayed so if there are more results that you want to see you have to narrow your search to get them on the first page. The Good: 1. Friendly Community 2. Working Economy 3. Not overly buggy or crashy 4. Generally playable and fun 5. Freemium model at $3/month is reasonable

Let me preface this by saying that yes, this game does run on a premium system, however the pricing is quite reasonable, and the game comes with a generous 3 months of full Premium time already paid up. (The best part about this is that the Premium time from buying on Steam isn't immediately applied to your account, you can activate it whenever you feel you're ready to start using Premium features). After that, Premium is priced on what features you want to use - managing colonies on planets in the Inner Systems, managing large-scale Industry, and taking part in combat are all counted separately, so if, like me, you plan on mostly running a manufacturing operation, you can pay just $1 a month and still enjoy what the game's got to offer for you. Personally speaking, I'm planning on going the full $3 a month anyways, this developer can definitely use the support! As far as space games go, I've been looking for one that allows me to participate in trade and industry in a non-combative manner, and I've gotta say Ascent so far has pushed all of the right buttons! Think of a large galaxy and a player-run economy like in EVE Online, except entirely PVE, so there's no need to worry about more experienced players rolling by and ruining your fun. Quite the opposite, the community has been super helpful for me so far, and I've gotta say I appreciate that kind of spirit! The controls for flight are simple but not overly so - You can navigate between gates and stations using just the mouse, and flying your ship in combat uses the WASD keys to pretty solid effect. The mining in the game also feels just right - No sitting around like in EVE, and no chasing asteroid chunks like in Elite Dangerous, but you have to match the speed of the asteroid to get a good bead on it, and then use your mining laser to heat it up to just the right temperature to get the best yield out of it. I'm still just getting started with regards to building colonies and space stations in the game, but I really like what's been done so far! There are still some minor issues regarding framerate and loading screens, but the developers have been super active and engage the playerbase on a frequent basis, so I'd say even if you decide not to buy the game today, definitely keep a close eye on it!

My updated video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0ZaF8WzqDo ------------------------------------ My older text review: Wow...where do I start? Absolutely amazing game. The game is very immersive. Asteroids orbit around planets, you can land on planets to build things there, the crafting system is very complex and interesting, and you can even build your own space station which you can expand with many different kind of modules. Pros: - Very immersive environments. The space art is very nice and the planets look cool. Asteroid fields feel 'alive' with a lot of movement. - Great mining system. Mining is terribly boring in EVE, X, Elite Dangerous and Starpoint Gemini. However, here the mining is spiced up due to two facts: 1) the asteroids have their own speed and your mining beam only has a 1km range, so you need to keep up with it (or fly very close to it) 2) The amount you mine is dependent on the temperature of your mining beam. Beam too little and your yield is bad. Beam too much and you get nothing at all! - 250 billion systems to explore, that get named after you if you find them first! These systems can contain planets, which you can do geological research on to find out what it offers in terms of minerals etc. Other people (and you) can then colonize these planets, building factories etc. on them to profit from this planet. - Player-made economy! Everything except for the most basic resources are farmed/mined/made by the players to sell on the market! - You have to work for your things, and feel accomplished after you get a new ship or some other nice thing. Some people might mistake this for grindyness, which I wouldn't agree with (this comes from a person that absolutely despises 'daily quests' etc.). Cons: - some people dislike the graphics. I must say, when you're playing it, I think it looks gorgeous. Yes, the shipmodels are undetailed, but somehow they still look nice when you play it. But then again, I never cared for graphics that much (love Dwarf Fortress for example), so I might not be the right person to ask - complicated at times. If you want to play this game, you'll have to be ok with reading up on the wiki. While features are being added, things like ejecting cargo is done at the moment through a command console. I expect buttons for this will be made at some point, but they're not implemented yet (you can program in keybinds to eject cargo etc. though, but for this you need to read up). All in all, I'm in love. I would summarize it as a PvE version of EVE online. It's very much focussed on industry etc. instead of PVP/ganking.

For such a small development team with limited funds and an Early Access state, the game is amazingly stable. Granted I've played for about 4 hours as of writing this, but I have the graphics maxed out and have not experienced a single crash. The game could be a bit better optimized, but I wouldn't expect that at this stage. There's a few little strange graphical glitches but nothing game breaking. For example, if you buy a new ship your UI doesn't reflect the new stats unless you go back to the Main Menu and then load the map again. On that note, this reminds me of Eve. It's a massive grind to get good progress and the game is insanely overwhelming; however UNLIKE Eve, you can get a solid grasp on the game within a couple of hours and it's all easy from then on. If you have questions, the community is very nice and mature and is always willing to help you. So far I haven't had the opportunity to build anything yet, the few hours seem to be all about delivering goods and giving people rides to other space stations so you can earn anough credits to buy bigger ships. I haven't even touched the surface of the game and so far it's pretty impressive. It's about as intuitive as you can get for such a massive scale space MMO. Until my view of this game changes, this post will reflect my current opinion. An excellent game with a very active developer.

So, I spent just shy of $20.00 to give this game a chance. And after 46 hours of total play time, I think I have seen enough. While there are a few good points to this game, it is clear that its sole function in the gaming world, is to provide ideas and lessons to other indie game developers out there of what not to do. Lesson 1: Have a plan for revenue development before launching a game. This game clearly suffers from lack of funds to be properly developed. And little sign of any significant updates down the pipe. The local diehard community of the game (all 4 or 6 of them) discuss in global chat ‘Go Fund Me’ schemes to be able to provide more content to said small community. Yet the last game news, dates to Nov 7th of 2016. If you are developing anything at this point. It should be for a wide audience. Not people who have clearly ground the hell out of the game, to be where they are now. Unless your point for having the game, is to have a small group provide you with beer money. Lesson 2: Hooks do not maintain interest, if they are just that. This game advertises 270 Billion stars to explore. If that is your thing, you will be supremely disappointed to discover that the 99.9999825% (that is a real number btw) are completely out of reach. There are only approx. 48 systems available to a new player. 9 are NPC systems, and another 39 or so that have gates to systems presumably built by thos diehard players. You do get a ‘jump drive’ that allows for limited access to stars not yet connected (I was able to get to about 10 other systems, but the galactic map is 'over the top' bad to use). It requires Hydrogen for fuel though, and the only ship it can be fitted on, holds all of 8 units of Hydrogen. Greatly limiting your ability to go forth and explore. Also the only way to get more hydrogen after jumping is to 'scoop' it from gas giant planets. If you land in a system that has none, you can only emergancy warp back to the start system. There are a couple of them like that I found. You also need a certai skill level in gas mining as well to even mine Hydroge. So one more thing (of a HUGE list) to grind. To get a better ‘jump drive’ and go farther with a higher cargo capacity ship, requires a litany of things and time to accomplish (Did I mention more things to grind yet?). Making the game very cumbersome. Currently I have just ‘researched’ a level 2 one, and after building a large space structure required to manufacture one, I finally got one in production. But a this point I have no interest in bothering to see how far that will take me. am sure it won't be much farther. So, while the concept of a tremendous galaxy to explore is intriguing. The fact that it is just a gimmick to get you to spend money and time to get there, is a tremendous letdown. Lesson 3: A player based market only works if you have enough players in the first place. It seems simple enough, but if you have to manufacture virtually everything in this game, there should be a working market to trade that stuff. There is attempts by players to do this, but the limited number of them, combined with the lack of a good system in the first place, leaves the new player with a HUGE grinding curve. You can trade from NPC stations, and you can set up your own station with trading in it(If you pay money to maintain something other than the free starbase). But, there is limited ways to find what you are looking for. Also, the game mechanic that is supposed to let you know what is for sale, does not work well at all. Just searching for something simple like Electronics turns up nothing. But you can find plyer stations selling electronics if you look in the right place. It takes a tremendous amount of time however, to find something like that available. If you even know where to look. Simple solutions would be to 1) provide a better trading system. And 2) seed more items through NPC markets until enough players are building the things themselves. Of the 9 previously mentioned NPC systems, each local market only sells 1 item. And those are items at the lowest part of the production chain, like Iron, or Grain. So, Electronics or Mechanical parts are nowhere to be found. Unless the “Galactic Market” tab happens to work and show you something available. There are some good ideas here in the game. Going seamlessly from space to planet surface is a good idea. But with little to do on the planet other than setting up a base, makes it unfinished. All you can do is land on a planet, leave your ship, and take a soil sample. That tells you what kind of surface base you can build, and what resources are available (By build btw, I mean queue where in a grid you would like the Factory or whatnot to be built). There is literally nothing else to do. No flora or fauna to explore. You can’t mine it, unless you set up a base (which by the way, requires real money spent to keep and maintain). So, the idea in this game is incomplete. And/or it falls under the hook/gimmick lesson. Ultimately, while I tried to like it (I did put a work weeks worth of time playing it). The real lack of content, and the promise of what the game coulda, shoulda, woulda been, are too much for me to give it anything but a thumbs down.

Ascent is a fantastic concept, a PvE version of EVE Online without the real time skill training. It is still early access, but it is my opinion that the direction of the game is going in such a way that a negative review was needed as a warning for future purchasers. If there was a "neutral" button for the review I would have used it. User Interface The game’s user interface is horrid. You will notice it the minute you hit the startup screen. Instead of a login and character selection screen it has a button series that looks like a single player game, up to and including a “LOAD” button. Fitting ship modules is a complex and clucky text selector box maneuver. Community The community is friendly, and will answer basic questions in game chat. There is only one “global” game chat, and no in-game guilds or other such mmo “norms”. Graphics The game uses stock Unity graphics for the most part. The ships and starbases may have been a unity resource pack purchase. The game had a kickstarter specifically to add ship graphics, but everything else is very simplistic. Planets are little more than a multicolored globe and your character avatar is a guy in a tee shirt and jeans. Still early access. Player Cooperation The game might as well be single player. Your “cooperation” with other players will be limited to buying stuff from them off a market board. Even such grand ventures such as building a new jump gate basically boils down to hauling loads of minerals. There is no “grouping” for combat, no sharing ownership or access to buildings, no real reason for other players to be in the game aside from a chat based social and game-economy aspect. Ship Design Each ship “class” is just a different skin. The only technical difference between the base ship “skins” is that each class increase basically doubles the cargo space. There is a marginal difference in turning, but basically the only real game mechanic-based difference in the ships would be cargo space. A higher level ship can equip higher level modules, such as a better mining laser. Grindy and Repetative Ascent is extremely grindy. You will buy and sell resources via NPC contracts, or buy and sell resources for other players, or mine. Your ships cargo is the only limiter, when you purchase a new ship you gain more cargo space, thus the grind starts anew for the next ship. You will also need to grind to purchase blueprints, planet plot deeds, and a hyperdrive. Exploration This seems like a fun concept, and the developer brags about 300 billion star systems; however, you need cargo space to carry fuel for the hyperjump so you will need to grind a lot of money to purchase a decent sized ship and hyperdrive (ships on the NPC market do not come with them). The ship’s hyperdrive allows you to explore and discover new star systems; however, they get more expensive the larger your ship is (almost always being the same price as the ship itself). For a game that brags about exploration, they sure do make it hard. Also, you get a star system named after you just for being the first person to jump to it. No real planet exploration is required. Basically, you are getting credit for a "discovery" that was already made by some guy with a telescope years before. Pay To Win You can skip the grind and buy a bowhead, one of the largest ships in the game. Complex The game has a steep learning curve. I did not mind this too much, but it is worth mentioning. You will be doing a lot of wiki research and youtube video watching.

I've been playing this game for about 2 weeks now. First I want to address the most common complaints: a) It's pay to win? The DLC Bowhead certainly gives you a lot of cargo space with which to make money, since the game doesn't lock ship size to any player stat other than affordability. But the game has access to bigger ships than the Bowhead, all without the DLC. Making credits is ridiculously easy. I have the next ship in size to the DLC one, the Archon, and could have an even bigger one if that's what I chose to focus on. That's after 2 weeks play. b) hidden subscription? The game does tell you that the $20 current purchase price includes 3 weeks of premium. Not having premium does restrict what class weapon you can mount (meaning you mount more, smaller weapons) and other restrictions. But the sub price is 1, 2, or 3 dollars a month depending on what you want to do in game. Really, I spend that much daily on coffee. Ever since I've been playing MMO's I've been used to $15 a month subscrptions, and that seems fair. About the positives- love the depth of the game. The longer you play the more you realize there is a lot out there to do, and to learn, and to build! I even tried combat route, which isn't my forte, and found it interesting. There are updates coming to the UI and the combat system. Me, I love the building starbases and colonies aspect of the game. It's crazy interactive. Take mining for example. Find the right asteroid, match speed and direction of travel, open up your mining beam and heat it up to the precise temperature- less and you reduce the yield, more and you might explode it. All while moving! Swap out ship modules to optimize the ship to your playstyle, balancing space vs utility. It's.. huge. At my stage of the game I look at the systems far away waiting for me to investigate... and procedurally generated space means there will be more when I get there, generated as I arrive- named after the discoverer! That is still a month away game wise for me. The dev is extremely involved, and very positive. Check the game forums, won't cost you anything, and see the bug reports and the actions taken. The community is extremely helpful, in advice as well as hands-up, and will steer you right. They are eager to make the game as good as it can me. Hey, this is where I spend my free time. IF you like social interaction, building, mining, combat, this is it. If you prefer to play with cooperative players and away from player harrasment, this is definitely the place.

***NOTE**** GAME HAS PREMIUM ACCESS which is not made clear, the free version of the game is availiable on the website and runs EXACTLY the same as this version ie with the lag and bugs. By buying the game on here you are merely paying a 3 month subscription to the game and getting nothing any differnt to the unity browser game on the website. The game has amazing potential but atm its a total rip-off. All the people writing comments regarding my playtime, i played many hours BEFORE i got the steam version...... To state that the steam version offers more features less bugs etc is total balls, it plays exactly the same the only thing you get is MORE of the same whcih in an mmo these days is akin to Pay to Win. As stated hiding the fact its premuim access you are actually buying on steam is the issue that no one really has agrued with......