In this episode of THE BURN, hosts Aviv Icel Manoach and Omer Timetwister Kaplan go up the levels of a cyberpunk future in The Ascent, a new action RPG with hacking and guns. On the news: A new game from Firaxis in the Marvel universe and some interesting Magic the Gathering crossovers.

Original recording date - August 20, 2021.

Game of the Show: The Ascent

Published by Neon Giant, MSRP $30, Buy on Humble (Partner Link)

The Ascent is an action RPG in a cyberpunk, transhuman sci-fi setting that puts us in the shoes of an indent, owing our lives to corporations and sent on errands that include mostly killing a log of people, creatures and robots.

The good: the world is wonderfully crafted. Lots of little details, levels filled with people, amazing soundtrack and music. The space station we play at feels truly alive. The game does a good job mixing classic cyberpunk tropes with contemporary adaptations, such as switching the primary influence from Japan to China. We actually have a cyber-deck that is used to hack into systems!

The combat system works well. Moving around the levels shooting enemies is fun. There are some environmental destruction elements and you have to use the level design to win some of the battles. The game also employes a high/low firing stance that is needed to defeat some enemies.

Not as good: the main issue with the Ascent is variation. After a couple of hours, it starts repeating itself. There is not enough variety of weapons and special abilities – it takes around 5 hours to get some interesting stuff and even then the difference between them is not great. It lacks what makes ARPG great – a complex system of character customisation, with many abilities you can pick between.

The Ascent just doesn’t feel like our choice matters.

Play it through Game Pass; don’t buy at full price.

On the News

• Midnight Suns is a new Marvel tactics RPG from XCOM studio Firaxis


• Magic: the Gathering crossing over with Fortnite, Street Fighter, Lord of the Rings, and more

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