The Ascent Reviews

Phenomenal game. The depth and detail in the visuals and sound design are amazing and it is still easily one of the best looking, best sounding and smoothing playing games out there. The animation and movement is really smooth, transitions are smooth, the music is very synthwave/80s. This game is more cyberpunk than 2077 is. Incredible lighting effects, even without the RT. It is also a joy to play. I've been using a controller and while it is a challenge for accuracy, turning on full aim assist really makes the game fun and doesn't take away from the challenge. You will die, no matter what, at some point. The only drawback in this game is the confusing map. That takes time to get used to. The game is worth any amount of money they are asking for. I already had the game on Xbox, but got the Steam version during a great sale.

I enjoyed the game however i cannot give it a positive rating due to the constant freezing issues. Having to restart the game every 30 minutes really takes away from the fun.

When enemies are on another level (upstairs/downstairs) you can't hit them. Enemies with pistols have auto aim, they shoot - you get hit. Fighting lvl 4 enemies then a group of level 8 enemies come, then lvl 4 enemies again. Game crashed so that's an uninstall.

Visually it is stunning , and the music compliments the atmosphere, however, the gameplay is mediocre. It is quite annoying to get hit by enemies that you do not see, due to how the camera placement works. Additionally, the voice acting could've been better.

it's fun, it's good BUT it has the same problems as these type games always have, getting shot by enemies you can see off screen and they always have PERFECT aim! 7/10

The environment is beautiful, and the combat was quite fun. However, neither the story nor the game's world were captivating to me in the slightest. So I played until I encountered something i didn't feel like trying hard enough to go through. As I said, gameplay was fun, so if you're the type of person to try any top down shooter. I'd say try it out.

It is a really weird game. Really cool concept. Really decent mechanics. Focused.. But the fact that it still has so many insanely lazy bugs is a disgrace. The amount of times I get stuck in the environment (likely on some sort of texture or something) is staggering considering the talent behind this game. It happens multiple times every single session I play it. So yeah. Not a bad game, but it seems to me like the devs didnt bother with ironing out the details. It don't have an expression for it, but the amount of dumb bugs in this game this seems to me to be a result of how people who are very talented at things see themselves as being above doing the dirty work, or is just too lazy to do the dirty work, painting in broad strokes.

I don’t recommend this to anyone, even if you’re a fan of the cyberpunk theme (which is the only reason I bought it). - The biggest problem was the final mission—it’s ridiculously hard. I would have rated the game 50/50 until that point. WTF, do people not test their games? Who’s the idiot that thought it was a good idea to ramp up the difficulty 10 times in the last mission? - The minimap is awful. It’s so bad that you frequently get lost. Since the minimap is absolutely chaotic, you never know exactly where to fast travel, so you’ll have to walk 1000 meters or even more to reach each objective. - Every mission is the same: go somewhere, kill everyone, grab an item, then return it to someone. - There is a bug in one of the missions where you have to find a stuck enemy, and if you don’t find them, you can kiss your save game goodbye. - Did I mention that you can only walk and roll? You can’t even run. - The only good things about this game is the world—it looks good. But you can’t interact with it, you can’t talk to people, only to those who give you side quests. Another good thing is the voice acting—it’s alright. And since the protagonist is non-vocal, you can’t talk in this game. I wish I could get a refund. Respect your money and your time—this game is a waste of both.

Life is swell. Life is hell. You’re thrust as a mercenary, or better put an errand boy/girl, into one of the most astoundingly well made, believable cyberpunk universes I’ve seen in recent times. The amount of detail on display here is staggering. Rundown kebab joints, glitzy club entrances, favela-like neighborhoods, and pristine highrises all intermingle in giant arcologies, bathed in grimy neon lights, infused with scents, dirt, and sweat the multitudes roaming the streets produce. The amount of work that went into this is obvious, but it makes me wonder if a world this good was “wasted” on a game like this. It’s a shame that you’re quite often interrupted in the enjoyment of it by constantly spawning, tedious, droves of enemies that are mostly your only agency here, since you can’t do much with the rest of the world. Unless you count the civilians you will mow down in the chaotic battles, where the game won’t miss to chide you for it at every opportunity. I find that a weird decision since it has no consequences. What’s even more cranky is the very inconsistent difficulty of mob spawns, sometimes resulting in cheap deaths, regardless of the game’s difficulty setting. There are two ways of fast travel, metro stations and a taxi. But, there aren’t that many fast travel points, making backtracking quite a common thing. And you will backtrack a lot for all the loot and sidequests scattered around. All that without a run button and very little shortcuts. Slightly shameful. The story doesn’t even try to be something deep, and neither do the NPCs. Both are shallow, one-dimensional, and here only to serve the progress of your ramped up killing sprees. All main characters are also excessively wordy, which wouldn’t be a problem if they had something noteworthy to say and weren’t constantly repeating themselves, only using different words. You just end up getting mauled with exposition and strange terms. Quests, items, and in-game lore descriptions found in the Codex fare much better and are an interesting read.

Crashed more times in 4 hours than I have crashed while playing any game in the 10 years I have had this steam account. Visually its stunning. Soundtrack is great. Gameplay is okay most of the time, lots of slow walking around. Not a lot of weapon variety but its enough. I cannot recommend this game because of the crashing, me and my 2 other friends basically played crash hot-potato until it became so often that we could not continue. Dog shit.