
Another nice touch is that when a fight breaks out, non-hostile NPCs will run away and seek cover, thus adding to the overall chaos.Īs you venture through all of the different environments, the destructibility of them becomes more clear. While some will fight from a distance, others will rush your location, constantly keeping the player on their feet. Due to how the arcology is designed, enemies can spawn from different locations, sometimes busting through walls. Instead, they’ll threaten you to leave, which allows for backing off and either taking a more tactical approach or getting the drop on them with some explosives. You may wander into a district with a group of enemies but they won’t immediately start shooting.

What’s especially interesting about The Ascent is how enemies behave. The best example is firing a single homing missile or scaling the accompanying attribute to fire several off at once. Augmentations scale off of different attributes – as you level up and gain skill points, you can increase an attribute and make the accompanying Augmentation that much stronger. These provide unique abilities like summoning a robot minion to increase weapon damage, homing missiles and even a rejuvenation field that will heal allies within it.
#The ascent review embargo upgrade#
Weapons can be upgraded with different resources and if you venture into more dangerous locations, then you’ll net even rarer upgrade materials.Īugmentations are where the build variety really shines. Everything is hand-crafted, though you can expect to see some more “exotic” or “excessive” varieties of weapons on top of the regular ones. One thing is for sure though – there’s no random loot in The Ascent. You can also acquire different armor and backpacks with their own stats. Melee combat is also available and you can spec into Augmentations for battering foes with your fists. Neon Giant hasn’t outlined all the different types of weapons that players can acquire but there are pistols, shotguns, submachine guns and assault rifles along with different types of grenades. On top of combat, players can also use their cyberdeck to hack and detect nearby foes. The gunplay is more akin to a twin-stick shooter but with the option to aim low or high, taking cover whenever necessary in the environment and making use of different abilities. You’ll explore the arcology, meet different NPCs and take down enemies with a variety of different weapons. Players can fully customize their appearance with different tattoos, hairstyles and so on. Gameplay-wise, this is a top-down action RPG.

The arcology is reportedly open-world with no loading screens and the player can fast travel between different locations – like sewers, industrial zones and whatnot – using the subway system. As various syndicates and rival corporations attempt to muscle their way in, it’s up to the player to effectively hold them back (and maybe find out what caused The Ascent Group’s downfall as well). One day, however, the group collapses and the arcology descends into chaos. Those who work for the company are basically enslaved, including the player.

The Ascent takes place in a futuristic dystopian arcology run by The Ascent Group in the world of Veles. So let’s take a look at 13 things you should know before picking it up.
#The ascent review embargo Pc#
It’s out on July 29 th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC along with launching day one on Xbox Game Pass. Announced last year, Neon Giant’s The Ascent has become one of the more anticipated indie titles thanks to its sharp-looking combat and aesthetic.
