From the “Fallout” franchise, to series spin-offs like “Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon”, gaming doesn’t lack its dystopian experiences – games where the future is bleak for most and horrific for even more of the remaining populace. But a sub-genre in dystopian works has slowly filtered its way through, cyberpunk. A genre division that focuses on the growth of technology mixing with the folly of humanity has produced some incredible games such as “Deus Ex”, while also providing gamers a stinker or two (ironically enough, “Cyberpunk 2077” being one of the latter). Instead of simply following the lead of other developers who have crafted universes just meant for high-end technology, sadistic murders, and mysteries afoot, the small team at Neon Giant looked to meld the gameplay styles of RPGs, twin-stick shooters, and “Metroidvania” dungeon crawling.
Set in a world where a mega-corporation fails to maintain power of the people it has enslaved to keep power, “The Ascent” sees players taking control of a created character in hopes of getting completely free while shooting through a copious amount of enemies either by themselves or with friends. Get your augments implanted, upgrade your gun, and get these first impressions of “The Ascent”.
