The Ascent

The Ascent is an action RPG with isometric shooter combat. On the planet Veles, a powerful corporation that has controlled its employees' lives collapses. You fight your way through a multilayered cyberpunk city, collect weapons and develop your character with implants and technical upgrades.

The Ascent was released on July 29, 2021 for PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. The PS4 and PS5 versions followed on March 24, 2022. A native Switch 2 version launches in December 2026 as the Ultimate Edition. Nintendo lists December 2 or 3 depending on region.

The main game has been released on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. The Switch 2 version is a separate release, not a backward compatibility version. On PS4 and PS5 there is cross-buy for the digital version, while the Xbox consoles support Smart Delivery.

In The Ascent you move through industrial facilities, streets and residential districts from an isometric perspective. You can aim high or low, switch between firearms, use cover and deploy tactical gadgets. Parts of the environment can be destroyed in combat. Enemies require different positioning and weapon choices.

The story expansion Cyber Heist was released on August 18, 2022. It takes the plot after the main campaign to another corporate city, adding new missions, enemies and, for the first time, melee weapons. CyberSec Pack and Cyber Warrior Pack mainly add gear and cosmetic items. Further free packs offer additional items.

For PC, Steam lists at least Windows 10 64-bit, an Intel Core i5-3470 or AMD FX-8350, 8 GB RAM and a GeForce GTX 660 or Radeon R9 390X. 35 GB of storage is required. 16 GB RAM and a GTX 1070 or Radeon RX 5700 are recommended to reach 1080p with high settings at around 60 frames per second.

The residents of a giant corporate city depend on the Ascent Corporation. When the corporation suddenly goes silent, supply and security start to waver. Rival companies and armed groups want to fill the gap. Your character tries to find out why the company collapsed, fighting through several social layers of the city along the way.

You earn skill points through experience and use them to strengthen your character. Implants and cyberware add new abilities to your gear. Different combinations of firearms, tactical gadgets and upgrades allow for both aggressive and careful combat.

The entire campaign can be played solo or with up to three other players. Depending on the platform, local and online co-op are available. On PC, Steam also supports Remote Play Together, which lets you use local co-op over the internet.

The city on Veles spreads across several levels. Down below are densely built, poor districts; higher up are the areas of the wealthy and corporate leaders. Besides fights, you'll find loot, meet characters and reach new parts of the city. The vertical layout shapes your routes and the sense of a vast megastructure.

After the end of the main story, your character takes on a new job from Kira. The target lies outside the familiar city, in the Malhorst-Gelb Group facility. There you'll find new main and side missions, enemies and melee weapons. In co-op, it's enough if the person hosting the game has completed the original campaign.

The Ultimate Edition for Nintendo Switch 2 includes the main game, along with Cyber Heist, CyberSec Pack and Cyber Warrior Pack. Nintendo lists solo play, online co-op for up to four players and local multiplayer. This version also supports mouse controls with Joy-Con 2.

On PS5, The Ascent supports 4K output at up to 60 frames per second, 3D audio and haptic feedback through the DualSense controller. Controller speaker and vibration are used for shots, hits and moving through the game world. The photo mode and New Game+ are also part of the PlayStation version.

The PC version includes German on-screen text and subtitles. Voice audio is available in English. Other supported languages include French, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Russian, simplified Chinese and Brazilian Portuguese.

Steam lists adjustable difficulty, subtitle options, color variants, camera settings and separate volume sliders, among other things. According to the features listed there, quick-time events are not required. Which options are available may vary by platform.

The Ascent was developed by the Swedish studio Neon Giant. The release on Xbox and PC began in 2021; the PlayStation versions followed in 2022. KRAFTON is named as publisher of the current store versions.