The Ascent - Shooty sci-fi co-op action RPG | PC, XBox (Gamepass) | 29th July - The Bear and Badger

JonB

So this is out later today:

Certainly looks pretty. And explosive.

Unlocks 6pm UK time. Reviews should be in after 2pm.

I've got a review copy on PC, but only played the first few hours so far. I wouldn't mind trying out the co-op with some of you lot at some point.

Yossarian

I’m keen on this, but want to finish Death’s Door first.

Will definitely be up for some co-op at some point.

tigersgogrrr

I'll certainly give this a go.

FranticPea

Really looking forward to it, but made sure to go in dark. I'm hoping for Diablo ish sci fi.

Verecocha

I can’t wait for this to unlock at 18:00, good 20 hour campaign not including side missions etc. Hope it’s just nice and tight without trying to be everything ever in one game.

SpaceGazelle

Xpass is ridic.

acemuzzy

20 hours sounds about four times as long as I was hoping

afgavinstan

I'll be on about 2300 if anyone wants late night pew pew.

MattyJ

Looking forward to checking it out myself. Hopefully it's a solid coop experience

hylian_elf

acemuzzy wrote:

20 hours sounds about four times as long as I was hoping

Dark Soldier

Averaging 7s and 8s in reviews

Yossarian

Glad it’ll be on Game Pass in that case.

hylian_elf

Yossarian wrote:

Glad it’ll be on Game Pass in that case.

Yep. GamePass is godsend for non-essentail games. Any essential games on GamePass are a sweet sweet bonus. That's my way of looking at it, anyway, as I would gladly purchase essential games anyway.

Dark Soldier

Metro gave it a 3. Reviews all over the place.

Matt_82

Eurogamer aren't impressed, either.

Yossarian

As mentioned in the Xbox thread, looks like the metacritic is settling around the mid-70s. Some people do seem to have loved it, but definitely not everyone. I’ll be finding out for myself whenever I’m done with DD.

JonB

I've only played it for a few hours and so far would say it looks stunning and the shooty action is nice and solid - I like the cover system especially. The world and characters are very generic cyberpunk though.

And it sounds like the repetition over time might be the big issue. But I haven't got that far yet.

Yossarian

DF have done a tech review:

I’ve only watched the first five minutes, but it sounds like it’s going to be worth a download for the visuals alone.

EvilRedEye

You missed an amazing bit where John starts playing Sonic 2 during the Xbox One loading screen and manages to get all the way to the mid-way point of Chemical Plant Zone before it finishes loading.

Verecocha

Quite enjoying this after an hour or so. Took a little while to get back to a twin stick shooter, had to switch back from southpaw which is weird, but feels a lot better now. Looks gorgeous.

FranticPea

Very much enjoying this. Looks gorgeous, the shooting packs a punch and the upgrades really meaningful. I think the cover system and shooting high etc works brilliantly. You really have to keep on the move and use the scenery or you go down pronto. Can't wait to play more.

MattyJ

I think I was expecting it to be a lightweight shoot shit and move on game, but seems it's got a lot of depth and way more walking about the hub / interacting with people than I was expecting. Graphics are lovely and the game play is great, just need to re-adjust the expectation of it

Wookienopants

I'm really enjoying it.

Matt_82

Played it for an hour or so. It's good.

Is it a MS exclusive?

Yossarian

For now at least.

FranticPea

MattyJ wrote:

I think I was expecting it to be a lightweight shoot shit and move on game, but seems it's got a lot of depth and way more walking about the hub / interacting with people than I was expecting. Graphics are lovely and the game play is great, just need to re-adjust the expectation of it

I mean, I think the missions will mainly just be shoot these people and then go shoot more people. But you're right, the open nature of it isn't what I was expecting. Not this much anyway. Certainly didn't expect side missions. Plenty of nooks and crannies to explore for loot too.

Combat is just an absolute joy.

Matt_82

Yossarian wrote:

For now at least.

Hmm. Assuming that this turns out to be a fairly run of the mill shooter in the end, it seems to me like a sequel could be very popular if it had a bit of backing.

The world is so well realised and it looks great. A bigger team and more cash could make better use of what's here.

I'll take a gorgeous run of the mill shooter in the meantime, though.

FranticPea

I've just found out it's a 12 man team? Impressive.

First boss encounter was cool. Just did the mission to take out the

Spoiler:

. My heart was pumping by the end.

Also, did I miss in the tutorial where it tells you that A is dodge/evade? Struggled a bit until I checked the controls to see if anything like it existed.

EvilRedEye

It looks great, the world has clearly had a lot of thought put into it, visually. But the script is really rough - it was clearly never checked by someone with native-level English proficiency and there are tons of basic proofreading errors in there - including ones that have been fully voiced, which I find a bit bizarre. Also, it's just a bit... naff? Lots of edgy swearing and childish attempts at scatological humour.

JonB

The script and character design aren't up to much, no.

The mission marker can be confusing at times too. I followed one towards a side mission yesterday that was supposed to be level 2 (picking up steroids) and it took me into an area full of level 17-18 goons that could kill me in one hit. Then when I reached the marker it ended in a door that I couldn't even go through. I assume I was supposed to go somewhere else, but, huh?

MattyJ

FranticPea wrote:

Also, did I miss in the tutorial where it tells you that A is dodge/evade? Struggled a bit until I checked the controls to see if anything like it existed.

I think there are a few bugs. Was playing coop and there were times when one person would get the tutorials and others wouldn't

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