The Ascent

This could have been a decent game if not for the constant freezes.
I had this in my backlog for a while, but once I decided to actually play it, it proved too broken to enjoy.
Last update was 3 years ago, so I have little hope it will be fixed.

Otherwise, acceptable shooter, nice atmosphere, and possibly interesting storyline from the little I got to learn.

Phenomenal game. The depth and detail in the visuals and sound design are amazing and it is still easily one of the best looking, best sounding and smoothing playing games out there. The animation and movement is really smooth, transitions are smooth, the music is very synthwave/80s. This game is more cyberpunk than 2077 is. Incredible lighting effects, even without the RT. It is also a joy to play. I've been using a controller and while it is a challenge for accuracy, turning on full aim assist really makes the game fun and doesn't take away from the challenge. You will die, no matter what, at some point. The only drawback in this game is the confusing map. That takes time to get used to. The game is worth any amount of money they are asking for. I already had the game on Xbox, but got the Steam version during a great sale.

it's fun, it's good BUT it has the same problems as these type games always have, getting shot by enemies you can see off screen and they always have PERFECT aim! 7/10

A fantastic shooter with a very good and well-voice-acted story with unique characters. New game plus adds an extra layer of replayability and gives you a second chance to explore everything you may have missed the first time around in a very detailed and lively world. Not all abilities are equally viable, melee isn't great but the weapons do provide decent diversity in playstyle to enjoy the ultimately very fun fast combat.

Game is great when it runs, but it seems to be a huge fan of crashing.

A great, unique twin stick shooter with at least twenty-five hours of gameplay (DLC included) if you do most of the side missions and take your time seeking out all the loot. The visuals are stunning as well.

However, co-op is unplayable (constant, unfixable crashes and desync; this is a HUGE bummer as I wanted to play with friends) and there are about ten crashes to be expected, including for the base game final boss (forcing you to do it twice).

The DLC is worth it if you enjoyed the base game, especially on sale. It’s short, but enjoyable and gives you more of the world and some unique elements.

Visually it is stunning , and the music compliments the atmosphere, however, the gameplay is mediocre. It is quite annoying to get hit by enemies that you do not see, due to how the camera placement works. Additionally, the voice acting could've been better.

I enjoyed the Gun fights alot
But the Weapon balance needs some work.
I Finished the Main storyline and most of the side quest after 19h.

Crashed more times in 4 hours than I have crashed while playing any game in the 10 years I have had this steam account.

Visually its stunning. Soundtrack is great. Gameplay is okay most of the time, lots of slow walking around.

Not a lot of weapon variety but its enough.

I cannot recommend this game because of the crashing, me and my 2 other friends basically played crash hot-potato until it became so often that we could not continue. Dog shit.

Life is swell. Life is hell.

You’re thrust as a mercenary, or better put an errand boy/girl, into one of the most astoundingly well made, believable cyberpunk universes I’ve seen in recent times. The amount of detail on display here is staggering. Rundown kebab joints, glitzy club entrances, favela-like neighborhoods, and pristine highrises all intermingle in giant arcologies, bathed in grimy neon lights, infused with scents, dirt, and sweat the multitudes roaming the streets produce. The amount of work that went into this is obvious, but it makes me wonder if a world this good was “wasted” on a game like this.

It’s a shame that you’re quite often interrupted in the enjoyment of it by constantly spawning, tedious, droves of enemies that are mostly your only agency here, since you can’t do much with the rest of the world. Unless you count the civilians you will mow down in the chaotic battles, where the game won’t miss to chide you for it at every opportunity. I find that a weird decision since it has no consequences. What’s even more cranky is the very inconsistent difficulty of mob spawns, sometimes resulting in cheap deaths, regardless of the game’s difficulty setting.

There are two ways of fast travel, metro stations and a taxi. But, there aren’t that many fast travel points, making backtracking quite a common thing. And you will backtrack a lot for all the loot and sidequests scattered around. All that without a run button and very little shortcuts. Slightly shameful.

The story doesn’t even try to be something deep, and neither do the NPCs. Both are shallow, one-dimensional, and here only to serve the progress of your ramped up killing sprees. All main characters are also excessively wordy, which wouldn’t be a problem if they had something noteworthy to say and weren’t constantly repeating themselves, only using different words. You just end up getting mauled with exposition and strange terms. Quests, items, and in-game lore descriptions found in the Codex fare much better and are an interesting read.

This game is like previous game i played "Satellite Reign" but you only can direct control 1 characters and with closer zoom to your character and its abit annoying since u can shoot kinda far but u cant see the enemy because of the zoom levels in this game...you can customize it via mods but the dev should patch it and make in x3 more zoom out level...the game is kinda linear story but good OST and the ambient is nice also the graphic detail looks beautiful but use too much resource and the engine is not really optimized and have lag issue sometimes and even at the start loading start menu.....
the game got too much repeat mission but there's sub-mission u need to plant some plants and harvest it...the (T key) for taxi is nice fast travel mechanic then running around from point A > B
/ 8 graphic
/ 6 story / sub mission
/ 8 OST
/ 8 weapon design
/ 6 armor design
/ 6 game mechanic

Good game but foul language and adult themes, maybe not for kids.

The environment is beautiful, and the combat was quite fun.
However, neither the story nor the game's world were captivating to me in the slightest.

So I played until I encountered something i didn't feel like trying hard enough to go through.

As I said, gameplay was fun, so if you're the type of person to try any top down shooter. I'd say try it out.

I want to like this game, it's sci-fi, its amazingly looking, however as a single player, I got stuck in early levels where you are supposed to do a big fight with lots of enemies and I just couldn't progress longer, they are impossible to beat.

This is not a good game. The controls are awful. I got it when it first came out and it was buggy to the point it shouldn't have been released. I picked it back up hoping the game had gotten better but I can definitively say no, it has not. Get it for free maybe but otherwise this game is terrible.

Decent gunplay and good story and visuals. Any fan of cyberpunk should have a look at this.

Proper cyberpunk stuff. Reminds me of the original Syndicate game from Bullfrog

This is an excellent game. The negative reviews are really just from people complaining about issues that are either minor, related to multiple player or are those that are fairly easily resolved. For a single person experience, the game is great fun and very rewarding.

This game could be great. It has a huge variety of weapons, equipment, upgrades, customizations, and different enemies that oblige you to alter your combat strategies. It’s really funny to play, especially with friends. However, I can’t really recommend this game because it has horrible, nasty, unbearable bugs. I’m not talking about minor issues that don’t really affect your experience, but big fat bugs that really doom your entertainment.

The game crashes. It can also use too much of your CPU that it will just shut down your PC (and I’m far from having a horrible CPU and power supply). There are items that you can’t take. In online co-op, two players can’t access a store at the same time (the second player will just need to restart the game). It freezes and you need to restart the game. In one stance, after clearing up a military base, the boss just did not appear. We had to exit the game, enter again just to restart from the start, that meant we lost 30-40 minutes of gameplay. We finished the main campaign and we’re doing other quests, I was thinking about buying the DLCs to make more progress in the game, but I think I’ll spend my money on something else.

To a game that was released over 3 years ago, it’s unacceptable that these bugs are still around. Unfortunately, I don’t recommend it; it’s a great game plagued by horrible issues.

Excellent single player twin stick shooter. It has among other things, the best office shootout I have experienced. This game just does so much right. Even if the game did nothing else, it is still worth playing for the incredible (not exaggeration) level of detail of the environment. Fun to practice your skills in combat, hard to master, and always something new to enjoy.

All the weapons I've tried yet have all feel good to at least practice with. Some weapon are tiers above the rest so you do end up using the more effective ones for the rest of your playthrough. Lots of perks and upgrades to play around with. Exploration and combat flow and complement each other. The voice acting great, story very engaging. The other stuff the game does are hard to notice since you are enjoying your experience. There not too many bugs, and none gamebraking.

A few thing are annoying. Sometimes the game will start randomly spawning enemies just offscreen too much, something which takes away from the immersion. Some story mission involve very difficult holdout fights that require specific loadouts to win, something that you will be completely unprepared for, and that will require you to fail and fail until you figure things out. The quality of content and engaging story keep those little things from ruining your experience. Every time you try something new the game becomes something you take possession of. Also the game locked up my video card a couple times, but it might have been on me.

Excellent, made by pros 9.5/10

played through the game on xbox, looks alot cleaner on pc, but still a good time..good story also.

It's not a bad game. I played it before on my Xbox, and I really enjoyed it. Bought it on sale, and despite how much I enjoy the game, I'd still say to get it on sale when you get the chance. Haven't tried the multiplayer yet, so I'm not sure how well it holds up.

I thought this Cyberpunk game was original. Reminds me of a game from a distant era called Syndicate, a classic game from 1993.[b] ( Developed by Bullfrog Productions )

-Graphics very good
-Intense firefight
- Flexible skill system
-Varied enemies
- Good story
-Co-op

Can be acquired very cheaply 2-5 Euro.
Try it if you like Sci-Fi.
[b]It's a Blast !

Enjoyed this so far, no crashes or issues as other pointed out. Besides some crazy difficulty spikes (or maybe i'm doing something wrong) this is a great top down shooter.

I really like this game, the game play, the visuals, the story, great stuff!!

Unfortunately the random crashes and save game erases have wasted my 40 hours into this game. Community seems to be experiencing the same with no timeline on resolving, so play at your own risk!

Final Verdict: 73/100

Poor: 0-74 (0-74%)
Performance or gameplay falls significantly below the passing mark.
Requires substantial improvement and may have critical flaws or issues.

Exercise Discretion - ✘✔

Player Opinion Steam Review

Gameplay Experience (15/25)

Intuitive Controls - Easy to use.
☐ Very Difficult (+1)
☐ Difficult (+2)
☑ Moderate (+3)
☐ Easy (+4)
☐ Very Easy (+5)


Balanced Gameplay - Fair and equal.
☐ Poorly Balanced (+1)
☐ Somewhat Balanced (+2)
☑ Moderately Balanced (+3)
☐ Well Balanced (+4)
☐ Perfectly Balanced (+5)


Player Engagement - Involving and captivating.
☐ Not at all (+1)
☐ Slightly (+2)
☑ Moderately (+3)
☐ Very (+4)
☐ Extremely (+5)


Decision Relevance - Meaningful choices.
☐ Meaningless (+1)
☑ Not Meaningful (+2)
☐ Somewhat Meaningful (+3)
☐ Quite Meaningful (+4)
☐ Highly Meaningful (+5)


Rewarding Progression - Satisfying advancement.
☐ Very Unsatisfying (+1)
☐ Unsatisfying (+2)
☐ Neutral (+3)
☑ Satisfying (+4)
☐ Very Satisfying (+5)


Presentation & Immersion (19/25)

Compelling Storyline - Engaging narrative.
☐ Not Interesting (+1)
☐ Slightly Interesting (+2)
☑ Moderately Interesting (+3)
☐ Very Interesting (+4)
☐ Extremely Interesting (+5)


Immersive Atmosphere - Captivating environment.
☐ Not Immersive (+1)
☐ Slightly Immersive(+2)
☐ Moderately Immersive (+3)
☑ Very Immersive (+4)
☐ Completely Immersive (+5)


Visual Aesthetics - Stunning graphics.
☐ Not Appealing (+1)
☐ Slightly Appealing (+2)
☐ Moderately Appealing (+3)
☐ Very Appealing (+4)
☑ Extremely Appealing (+5)


Audio Quality - High-quality sound.
☐ Not Engaging (+1)
☐ Slightly Engaging (+2)
☐ Moderately Engaging (+3)
☑ Very Engaging (+4)
☐ Extremely Engaging (+5)


Polished HUD - Clean and functional interface.
☐ Very Unfriendly (+1)
☐ Unfriendly (+2)
☑ Neutral (+3)
☐ Friendly (+4)
☐ Very Friendly (+5)


Design & Technical Aspects (18/25)

Game Design - Well-crafted mechanics.
☐ Poorly Designed (+1)
☐ Somewhat Designed (+2)
☐ Moderately Designed (+3)
☑ Well Designed (+4)
☐ Excellently Designed (+5)


Content Quality - Rich and diverse.
☐ Poor Content (+1)
☐ Limited Content (+2)
☑ Moderate Content (+3)
☐ Extensive Content (+4)
☐ Abundant Content (+5)


AI Behavior - Intelligent and realistic.
☐ Very Poor (+1)
☐ Poor (+2)
☑ Average (+3)
☐ Good (+4)
☐ Excellent (+5)


Settings - Flexible and customizable.
☐ Very Limited (+1)
☐ Limited (+2)
☐ Moderate (+3)
☑ Flexible (+4)
☐ Highly Flexible (+5)


Technical Issues - Minimal or no problems.
☐ Numerous (+1)
☐ Moderate (+2)
☐ Limited (+3)
☑ Minor (+4)
☐ None (+5)


Final Considerations (21/25)

Overall Satisfaction - General enjoyment level.
☐ Very Dissatisfied (+1)
☐ Dissatisfied (+2)
☐ Neutral (+3)
☑ Satisfied (+4)
☐ Very Satisfied (+5)


Microtransactions - In-game purchases.
☐ Extensive (+1)
☐ Substantial (+2)
☐ Moderate (+3)
☐ Minimal (+4)
☑ None (+5)


Replay Value - Longevity and replayability.
☐ Very Low (+1)
☐ Low (+2)
☐ Moderate (+3)
☑ High (+4)
☐ Very High (+5)


Cost-to-Play Ratio - Money spent vs hours played.
☐ Overpriced (+1)
☐ Poor Value (+2)
☑ Fair Value (+3)
☐ Good Value (+4)
☐ Excellent Value (+5)


Recommendation.
☐ No (+0)
☑ Yes (+5)

Generate your review at https://playeropinion.com

Amazing game and absolutely amazing visuals. You can just stand and stare at the mutliple levels of detail and verticality in the levels and get lost in the atmosphere of the world.

Disclaimer...I'm a Cyber Punk style game nut. With that said, This game had a little hiccup in the beginning but smoothed out after a couple of patches. The visuals are awesome and the story line is ok. The map gui needs some love but once you work with it a couple of times it's manageable. Over all 7.5 out of 10 IMO. I would recommend the game.

not understanding the 'mixed' score for thos game, it's pretty awesome, I think. The atmosphere, the setting, the world, the gear, the way it looks is top notch, gameplay is simple but a lot of fun.

While the gameplay can be good, and when it is good it's great, all of the game breaking bugs completely destroy that goodwill. Abandoned as far as many of us are concerned when it comes to bug fixes. If by some random chance this game goes on a 80% off or better sale, pick it up, otherwise steer clear and heed well this word of caution.

The worldbuilding and RPG elements of this game really shine in this dystopian-themed game. I was so impressed with the world and the details brought into designing your character, the world, and the various guns and abilities. All that said, the combat and trekking through the world can get a bit repetitive. Additionally, the late game gets a little old. All in all, the game was fun and worth a shot for the storytelling.

The fiancee loves it more than me and I was the one who forced her to play it...

Played in coop through the campaign.
Buggy mess (stuck in walls, hud disappears, crashes).
All quests include padding running over the same area over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.

I really enjoy the Cyberpunk vibes, gear, gunplay; All of that. I just wish I could enjoy it without watching my hardware give a final "thumbs up" like "The Terminator" while it's being lowered into molten liquid.

This game perfectly emulates what it's like to be a happy squirrel. Life is great! There's morning dew on the ground, vibrant colors all around, and a big beautiful world to explore. You happily survey your surroundings, discovering new territories that other places just can't bring you. You find even more wondrous things... Everything feels absolutely great. You have your whole life in front of yo----- BAM! You just got ran over by a f***ing 13 year old Prius. 13 years old, like the team who must be responsible for fixing all of the game breaking bugs on this project.

I'd pay another $20 for a DLC that just stops this game from turning your $2500 machine into a fire hazard.

Well, the graphics especially the detailed environments are a sight to behold, gameplay is thrilling with a bit of power fantasy in the late game. The game is not as bad as the reviews said as long as you can tolerate some jank:

-You might take on some side-quests to areas that are locked. Most can only be opened after progressing the main quest.

-Lots of walking at first until you progress further and unlock fast travel.

-Even though the game can show you where to go to fulfill quests with a press of a button, you can't place down custom markers.

-It's easy to mistake this game as a Diablo-like but with guns. However, this is purely a twin stick shooter with light RPG elements.

-Your mileage may vary but the game crashed twice. Good thing the game autosaves. However, there are some areas where autosaves are rare. There's no manual save.

A good game to buy on sale. I bought it for the pocket mech (which was useful but meh), stayed for the immersive environment and music.

I cannot recommend this game enough. My playtime is short roughly 120 hours, as I previously played it on GP before getting it on Steam.

The atmosphere of the game is incredible, the world they created, with all of the visual and audio details, pulls you right into the game. You pass by NPC conversations, look through background windows into apartments, and it all draws you in. There are other moments as well, something like set pieces, when you first enter zones or after certain triggers, that bring even more life to the world. The music does a great job as well, with certain zones and specific locations having unique music cues, moving from calmer, more zen music to the amped-up combat music.

The story is pretty good in my opinion, though I'm sure aspects of it can be found in other sci-fi/cyberpunk stories. Again the attention to detail is on display, with the story relayed through fully voice-acted scenes and messages. Along with that, you'll generally get additional prompts that flesh out the world further and address newly introduced topics, and these as well are voice-acted. Story is something most games have, but coupled with the world/atmosphere surrounding it, moves it to a whole other level.

The game play is also great, the combat mechanics are simple but compelling, with a variety of guns, grenades, and abilities to keep things interesting. I'd say there are a few "lull" moments, where it might feel like it's been awhile since you've come across a new weapon or ability, but overall you unlock things at a good pace and eventually will have a number of options to choose from to suit your playstyle.

I do have some issues, largely with what I'd call the final act of the game. Without giving too much detail, while the story and missions remain interesting, some of the final areas feel lacking. I really don't want to go into much detail to avoid any spoilers, and it's purely a world/atmosphere thing so it's not affecting the game play, but I wanted to note it.

Again, I cannot recommend this enough, to me, this is one of the most memorable gaming experiences I've had in over 30 years of gaming.

one of the worst game i've had the displeasure of playing, two of the first side quests you can get are bugged and the map just points you to a random corner in the map, there is 30 to 40 minutes of walking between missions because the fast travel is so useless that you dont even know which of the few waypoints will take you closer to your objective, oh, you also cant run, just jog, the literal only good thing about this game is the graphics.

Its a standard indie effort for creating a cyberpunk action-RPG.

Gameplay balancing needs more tuning, quest design is "fetch/deliver/destroy" and weapon upgrading is a bit frustrating in its design; its not clear that there will be better versions so when you spend all resources upgrading a weapon to then find the next tier exists in a new weapon which you could have spent your resources on... well lets just say frustrating is the gentlest word to describe the emotion.

When you get a good build it is fun but this does not last long before you hit a brick wall and have to grind again or get swarmed by enemies 3-4 levels higher.

The map does not make it easy to identify a route you need to take consequently you end up fast-travelling which means you do get to miss out on the good visuals and environment immersion.

Freezes too many times on steam deck to be reliable - FPS hits 0-1fps for no apparent reason and the only fix is to exit the game (very slowly) and restart.

Beautiful cyberpunk world, but the story and quests were bit of a meh.

In multiplayer, game crashes all the time. Unplayable. Tried fixes posted on the internet. Bought to play with friends.

Very buggy game. Sudden crashes, significant FPS drops requiring restarting the game, "Trading places" quest from the main line is bugged so that progressing is impossible.

bugged first level. quit. another worthless purchase from steam. game map is a joke and overall game is a waste of time and money.

This game looked a lot cooler than it played. The combat is meh, there is waaaay too much walking and the story is bearable if you hold down the skip button.

This game deserve a thumb up.
The aesthetic is pretty.
They nailed the cyberpunk feeling.
Good action.

But, the optimisation of the game is pretty bad and the game crash every 20 or 30 minutes for me.
Because this is an auto-save, I can lose pretty much 20 minutes of gameplay.

really fun game, crazy detailed and great looking, played a few hours with a mate and looking forward to more, the game did crash quite alot but since disabling steam cloud, it hasnt crashed once

Basic, Boring, Repetitive, Unbalanced at times, Uncreative story, with a pretty skin on top. Wait for sale.

great game very cyborg punk or smthing i rate it a 2077/2025

honestly a great game just wish there was a bit more to the story line. other than that, great game-play and fun weapons and enemies. would love more modules but yeah loved the game.

Sooo... close to be a great game but too many crashes, bugged achievement and just a general lack of care and polish in the development. Great idea poorly executed.

I do not endorse this game for there is a major bug where the save file can disappear out of the blue.
Today, 27th Jan, as a I returned from 9 hours of work, I found out that my save was gone.

I cannot endorse a game which provides anxiety or requires me to bypass known issues. All I want to do is hit play and chill; no other gimmicks (i.e. save locally or desync Steam save).

Regardless of how good something is (and this game is good), if it does not serve its purpose (which is a gate-away), then so long. Reading a book is anxiety-free and without workarounds. And, coming to this, I endorse American Gods.

I am upset and requested Steam for a refund. Hopefully they provide it, giving the game-time.