The Ascent

The Ascent is Neon Giant's debut project. The team was founded in 2018 and was made up of industry veterans who worked on titles like Bulletstorm, Far Cry 3 or Doom. The developer's first work is an isometric cooperative shooter with RPG elements in the style of cyberpunk and pure science fiction. Curve Digital is responsible for releasing the game.

Plot

The Ascent is set in a fictional futuristic reality, on the planet Veles. The world is ruled by a huge corporation The Ascent Group, controlling everything and everyone. The adventure begins when the almighty corporation collapses in mysterious circumstances - which, despite appearances, is not a cause for joy. A society deprived of supervision and protection is at the mercy of bandits and small companies fighting each other.

It is in such circumstances that we meet the main hero (or heroine) - a prole, i.e. one of the millions of mercenary workers de facto enslaved by the Ascent group. Carrying out successive orders, the protagonist tries to regain his freedom and at the same time discovers the circumstances of the corporation's collapse.

Gameplay

The Ascent uses the classic gameplay of isometric shooters, spiced up with elements characteristic of hack'n'slash action RPGs. In the course of the main and side quests we explore various locations in the semi-open world, where we deal with numerous enemies using a wide range of firearms, gadgets and cybernetic enhancements. The combat is semi-tactical in nature - the key to success is using cover and dodging attacks. In addition to loot (especially weapons and armor pieces), the rewards for winning battles and completing missions are experience points, which we invest in improving our character's stats.

Co-op

The Ascent allows you to go through the campaign alone, but at any time up to three friends can join us in co-op mode (over the network or locally, on a shared screen).

Technical aspects

Neon Giant Studio took advantage of Unreal Engine 4 technology to develop very detailed locations and give them a distinct character, e.g. thanks to the multitude of lighting effects. Also noteworthy are the streets populated with crowds of NPCs, often falling victim to the protagonist and his opponents during exchanges of fire, which can occur virtually anywhere.

Last updated on 12 July 2023