One of the few indie games unveiled during yesterday's Inside Xbox episode, The Ascent is a gorgeous top-down action RPG due for release later this year on Xbox One, Xbox Series X and PC (Steam).
Set in a freely explorable cyberpunk dystopian world and powered by Unreal Engine 4, The Ascent is being developed by Neon Giant, a new indie studio formed by veteran developers who previously worked on hit franchises like Gears of War, Wolfenstein, and Bulletstorm.
Tor Frick, Art Director and co-founder of Neon Giant stated:
We wanted to create a sci-fi RPG where players can play in the way they like, building up their character with cyberwear, augmentations, and looting in a story-driven environment.
Arcade Berg, fellow co-founder and the studio’s Game Director added:
For us, creating The Ascent has been about us all taking what we’ve learned from working on Triple-A titles and bringing it to a highly focused project like this, redefining what gamers might have come to expect from a title developed by a small and flexible team.
The game will be published by Curve Digital. Publishing Director Simon Byron said:
It was obvious from the moment we met that Tor, Arcade and the whole Neon Giant team that they were doing something very special. They know how to make games where combat feels right, and even in its very early stages, The Ascent has been enormously playable. Everyone at the studio is determined to show how a tightly-focussed, passionate team can create something which will stand shoulder to shoulder with games whose credits run into the hundreds, and The Ascent truly is an audacious debut.
The Ascent will support both single player and co-op for up to four players. Check out the screenshot gallery below, alongside the official debut trailer and a 4K@60 gameplay footage posted today by IGN.
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A free-roam play style in a cyberpunk inspired dystopian world
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Classic RPG mechanics to enable players to build up their character including cyberwear, augmentations and looting
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An unprecedented sense of verticality within its world, with different levels and platforms discernible within play
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Double-aim mechanic enables players to utilise the full screen and choose between multiple targets anywhere in the environment
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A narrative-led adventure playable in single and up to four-player co-op modes
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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