Okay so I've been playing it coy so far. Of all the games that were shown off, the only ones I reacted to were cookie-cutter or titles that I was already excited for; but this, right here, is something new and original which is entirely, bonafide, directly up my alley! And perhaps that is because CDPR has managed to shift the meta of the day from Battle Royales into Cypberpunk dystopias (Are those synonyms? I'm not sure...) but a good part of that is also down to the gameplay which positively tickles my delight glands in all the best ways. (I swear that sounded better in my head.) Today I want to take a look into the wildly exciting world of 'The Ascent'. (Title could use a little work, not gonna lie.)
Firstly, I must say that I'm a little surprised to see that this game, made by 'Neon Giant', appears to be a genuine Next Gen launch exclusive. That is to say, as it's not a first party title it doesn't have to conform to Microsoft's 'support the last gen for 2 years' promise, and therefore I believe it will be a Series X only title. Perhaps that's why the trailer seems to delight in showing us a viscerally rendered future Cyberpunk city. (As the new hardware can likely reliably recreate it.) This team have put together such a perfectly archetypal future-dystopia world that it's actually transcends being mere trite and lands in the realm of 'rather impressive to see'. We get to see skyscrapers of unrelenting neon; perpetually moody night skies; and there's even one shot of a pyramid megastructure poking above the skyline, betraying the obvious Bladerunner influences that the team worked from. This is exactly what people envision when they hear the words 'cyberpunk'. (And, incidentally, what CDPR are trying to step away from in their marketing, in order to prove their diversity.)
But 'The Ascent' isn't a title that needs to worry about 'diversity', because it's not trying to simulate a world, but rather provide a glittering and arresting backdrop for a classic, brutal, top-down shooter frenzy. That's right, 'The Ascent' is eager to tap into that same energy of games like 'Ruiner' and 'Ghostrunner' by being an adrenaline-fuelled, blood-soaked romp through a ruinous collapsing futuristic society. (although, maybe not quite as 'Blood soaked' as 'Ruiner'.) And let me tell you straight that this is the sort of insanity that I absolutely live for in my games. Sure, Stealth games, RPGs, and storybased games are the nectar that elevate me to an almost divine sense of being, but unabashed, unashamed, chaotic action titles are the bread and butter that take up my day-to-day. I can't be blown away by narrative excellence everyday, sometimes I just need to grab a controller and blow some demons into little meaty chunks!
And for that simple pleasure it seems that 'The Ascent' is more than equipped. The trailer was resplendent with gunfire, explosions and waves upon waves of swarming enemies all from a pleasing top-down angle that seems reminiscent of old school twin sticks. I've already caught glimpses of flamethrowers, machine pistols, shotguns and gauss guns; all responsible for various splatterings of innumerable cannon fodder. This is all rendered in a pleasing gritty manner, whilst not being too in-depth or gory for it's own good. (Don't expect DOOM levels of carnage going into this. That wouldn't fit the perspective angle anyway.) The enemies seem to be rather diverse too, with robotic spider-like enemies swarming the player at one point in the trailer and mutant-alien fire-spitting monstrosities in another moment. They'll surely be enough to keep the player on their toes and that's all we really ask for in a game like this.
However it seems we're not limited to the constraints of a 1.5 minute trailer with this particular title, as the folks over at IGN were kind enough to host a decent gameplay presentation where the Inside Xbox event could not. (Way to get shown up, Microsoft.) From this raw footage we see something even more exciting about this game; the fact that's it's a Diablo clone! Yep, that means wandering about huge environments, slaying everything that moves and stocking up on items to forever stack upon your build. Now as far as I'm aware this doesn't exactly translate to the core of the game, in that at no point in the gameplay did we see rivers of loot (meaning this is more Diablo in terms of raw action than in mechanics) but this still leaves plenty of room for potential replay-ability.
I was particularly interested to see the Sci-fi twist to abilities and tactics that we'd usually expect from a Diablo type game, such as the localised time disruption shield which could slow down bullets mid-flight, or the on-the-go hacking that we see the player partake in to get some extra rewards or open up previously locked-off passages. But if there's one aspect of the game that this gameplay really nailed home for me it was the grimy slant toward that aesthetic. Usually in cybperpunk it's quite easy for the 'societal breakdown' element of the theme to get slightly obfuscated through all the bright lights and shiny surfaces, but here we literally see stacks upon stacks of trash bags piled in the streets. It really nails home this muted grungy feel that clashes with the inherently exotic concept and creates something uniquely real-feeling. You can even see it in the toned-down gore which has enemies shoot out small spurts of blood, enough to be satisfying but not quite to the degree where you can start painting the floors. It creates this aura of verisimilitude that feels like it should be misplaced inside its setting but for some reason I'm really responding to it. (Maybe I'm the broken one.)
It should be remembered, however, that the gameplay is still very much in Alpha, as such we aren't yet privy to a final look at everything, just a taster. One consequence of this is that we don't get to look at the HUD, which sucks because, as weird as it is to say, quality HUD design is actually a huge part of games like these. Developers need to nail a look that conveys information adequately even from the corner of one's peripheral, and that's no easy task. Another issue with this is that the audio is noticeably unfinished, with dialogue sounding tinny and the actually sounds that bullets make when they're fired being, in my personal opinion, unbearable. (For a game that's going to feature a lot of shooting, it's pretty darn imperative that they change that.) All of this is forgivable, however, because the title's still half a year, or so, from launch. When the concept seems so solid, the world is this well constructed, the gameplay looks this tight; you've already earnt my confidence in your project.
'The Ascent' has very much proven to be that little something-I-didn't-know-I-needed in my life until the moment I saw it, and now I do. Perhaps that comes from the various outlets who have spread the seed of 'diablo-esque' in their early coverage, but I think a decent amount of this game's obvious talents also play a part alongside my constructed expectations. This game looks to have the pick-up-and-play factor that so many titles lack, and that isn't just something I look for, it's something that everyone should be ecstatic for in a launch line-up for a new console. Yes, give me something that isn't just there to be eye-candy with only has 4 hours of gameplay! Give me something that is designed, first and foremost, to knock my socks off! And with this game, and this team behind it, (Neon Giant's credits are SOLID) the next gen might just be off to a decent start.
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