The Ascent

The Ascent grabs you with a great action-RPG hook: you are a corporate-owned worker trying to survive after the company that runs your entire district suddenly shuts down. Its cyberpunk metropolis is built for a shooter with a little more tactical thought than simple run-and-gun chaos, letting you use cover, aim at different heights, and make a mess of destructible surroundings.

This is a solid choice if you want to build a character around guns, gadgets, cyberware, and co-op firefights rather than commit to a sprawling, dialogue-heavy RPG. Veles has a strong setup, and taking its crisis on alone or with up to three friends gives the adventure useful flexibility.

Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

The Ascent starts from a satisfying place: a fast-moving action shooter where standing in the open is not always the smart move. You can aim low or high, duck into cover, swap weapons, and use lethal gadgets while enemies press in. That mix promises fights where positioning matters, not just how quickly you can empty a magazine.

The destructible environments are an especially welcome fit for the setting. When a firefight breaks out in a crowded corporate city, being able to use the space to your advantage gives the action a meaner, more reactive edge. New enemy encounters are meant to push you toward changing tactics, so it is worth experimenting with weapons and gadgets instead of settling into one safe routine too early.

Its RPG systems add another layer without losing sight of the shooting. Skill points, cyberware, and augmentations let you shape a build around the way you prefer to fight. If you enjoy tuning a character and then immediately testing that choice against tougher opponents, The Ascent has the right kind of feedback loop.

You can take on the full campaign solo, but co-op is a major reason to consider it. Up to four people can play together locally or online, turning its tactical firefights into a more social, louder affair. Solo play suits anyone who wants to absorb the world at their own pace, while a regular group can get real mileage from coordinating guns, gadgets, and builds.

Graphics

From its diagonal-down viewpoint, Veles is a dense cyberpunk arcology rather than a single uniform city block. The journey runs from deep slums to luxury spheres high above, and that vertical class divide gives the scenery a more interesting shape than the usual neon-street backdrop. Alien creatures and inhabitants from across the galaxy help the city feel crowded and lived in.

Story

You play a worker enslaved by The Ascent Group, the corporation that owns everyone in your district. When the company abruptly shuts down, the premise immediately turns a familiar cyberpunk idea into a personal survival problem. You do not begin as a chosen savior. You begin as somebody whose whole life depended on a system that has just failed.

The threat to the district gives the central mystery some weight. Finding out what caused the shutdown is not framed as curiosity alone, because the people around you need to survive the fallout. That is a stronger motivation than a generic hunt for answers, and it suits a world split between slums and elevated luxury.

The story’s biggest strength is that corporate power remains at the center of the conflict. The question of whether you can survive without the corporation that owns you gives the action a pointed theme. If you like cyberpunk most when the city’s glamour is tied to exploitation and pressure from above, this setup has real pull.

Overall Experience

The Ascent is a good fit when you want an action RPG that treats shooting as more than a background activity between loot drops. Cover, high and low aiming, gadgets, and destruction give combat enough moving pieces to reward attention. The customization keeps that action personal, since cyberware and augmentations can change how you approach the next fight.

Its strongest practical advantage is choice of company. You can tackle Veles alone when you want a focused shooter-RPG, then bring in friends for local or online co-op without changing the core adventure. That makes it easier to recommend to either a solo cyberpunk fan or a group that wants a campaign with character progression attached to the gunplay.

There is also a compelling contrast at the heart of the game: a city that rises into luxury while its worker class is treated as property. The Ascent does not need a complicated pitch to earn your time. It puts you in a collapsing corporate world, gives you tools to fight back, and lets you decide whether that resistance is a solitary climb or a coordinated assault with friends.