The Ascent

The Ascent PC is a cyberpunk action-shooter RPG from Neon Giant, built around isometric exploration, aggressive gunplay, character upgrades, and a dense corporate arcology packed with hostile gangs, augmented workers, alien residents, and automated security forces. The current Steam storefront still uses The Ascent; no verified rebrand, renamed edition, or replacement PC title is listed. KRAFTON, Inc. is the current publisher shown on the storefront.

The game is aimed at players who want a story-driven action RPG with the immediacy of a twin-stick shooter. It works alone or with up to three friends, and its strongest identity comes from combining vertical aiming, tactical ability use, loot collection, and a handcrafted cyberpunk city rather than relying on procedural dungeons.

Combat built around high and low aiming

The Ascent uses a fixed isometric camera, but combat is not limited to firing across a flat plane. You can aim over low cover and barricades or fire at targets on the same level, making the high-low aiming system central to positioning. Enemies can use similar cover, so a good fight involves choosing when to shoot over protection and when to move into a clearer angle.

Movement is direct and responsive, with evasive actions, weapon swapping, and tactical equipment all contributing to the moment-to-moment loop. Firearms cover different combat roles, while heavier tools and special weapons can interrupt groups, control space, or punish enemies clustered behind cover. The result feels closer to an action shooter than a traditional click-to-attack isometric RPG.

Environmental destruction and combat arenas give encounters more shape than simple enemy waves. You can use cover, reposition around obstacles, and adapt your loadout as enemy types change. Boss fights and larger set pieces ask for more deliberate movement, because damage output alone will not solve every encounter.

Attributes, cyberware, and tactical abilities

Character progression is divided between core attributes, equipment, cyberware, and active abilities. Skill points improve areas such as health, weapon handling, critical performance, evasion, and other combat properties, allowing you to reinforce a preferred style without locking the character into a traditional class.

Augmentations provide active and passive benefits, while tactical abilities consume a charge built by dealing damage. This creates a useful rhythm: shoot, build tactical energy, then deploy a combat ability that can damage enemies, disrupt their formation, or create an opening. You can also equip two augmentations and two passive boosters, encouraging loadouts that support a specific approach.

The cyberdeck adds another layer outside direct combat. Upgrades improve your ability to hack doors, chests, and secured areas, so exploration gradually reveals more optional rewards and shortcuts. Cyberdeck progression is easy to overlook if you only follow mission markers, but it is one of the clearest reasons to revisit districts and inspect side paths.

A handcrafted arcology rather than a procedural dungeon crawler

The setting is Veles, a packed vertical metropolis dominated by the collapsed Ascent Group. The city is divided into districts with different social classes, industries, visual identities, and enemy populations. You move between crowded hubs, industrial infrastructure, corporate zones, markets, transit areas, and hostile lower levels while investigating why the corporation failed.

Unlike a loot-driven game built around randomly generated maps, The Ascent uses authored environments and fixed mission spaces. The main campaign, side missions, shops, vendors, and NPC encounters are placed throughout the arcology. That structure makes exploration more readable and atmospheric, but it also means the game is best understood as a guided action RPG with optional detours rather than an endless dungeon-run system.

Players who prefer cyberpunk role-playing with heavier stealth, hacking, and dialogue choices may find a more deliberate alternative in first-person cyberpunk RPGs such as Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut. The Ascent is much more combat-focused, with fewer ways to resolve a mission quietly.

Campaign, side missions, and progression loop

The central loop is simple: accept a mission, travel through a district, fight hostile groups, collect currency and equipment, improve your build, and return to the city hub to unlock the next objective. Side missions add optional combat routes, additional rewards, and extra context for the arcology's factions.

There is no character-class selection screen that permanently defines the run. Instead, the build develops through attribute points, weapons, armor, cyberware, augments, and tactical choices. This makes experimentation relatively accessible, although the inventory and upgrade systems are lighter than those in a dedicated loot-heavy action RPG.

Loot is useful, but The Ascent is not designed around an infinite endgame chase. The main mastery loop is improving your equipment and learning how to combine weapons, abilities, and tactical tools against increasingly demanding encounters. Players looking for procedural replayability or deep seasonal progression should set expectations accordingly.

Base game and optional content

The base game is a paid premium title. Steam currently lists three substantial paid additions alongside the main product: CyberSec Pack, Cyber Warrior Pack, and Cyber Heist. The first two focus primarily on additional weapons, tactical gear, armor, and weapon skins, while Cyber Heist adds new missions, environments, enemies, and melee-focused combat content.

The storefront also lists free cosmetic or bonus packs, including the Chongqing Pack, Winter Pack, and Halloween Pack. Soundtracks and an artbook-plus-weapon package are separate non-campaign items. The Cyber Edition bundle combines the base game with CyberSec Pack, Cyber Warrior Pack, and Cyber Heist, while the Complete Edition bundle adds soundtrack and artbook-related extras.

Cyber Heist can be played solo or cooperatively, but it requires the base game. It is the meaningful content expansion in the current catalog, while the two smaller packs are better viewed as equipment and customization additions rather than separate campaigns.

Co-op and PC platform details

The Ascent supports single-player, online co-op, and shared or split-screen co-op. The complete game can be played alone or cooperatively with up to three friends, making four-player PvE the practical maximum. Steam also lists Remote Play Together, which is useful for shared-screen play when local players are not physically using the same PC.

Steam lists achievements, cloud saves, Family Sharing, controller-related storefront support, and a required third-party EULA. The current listing identifies Steam as the PC distribution and launch environment. It does not advertise a separate publisher launcher, dedicated server tools, mod support, or a standalone anti-cheat system.

Localization includes English full audio, interface, and subtitles. French, German, Spanish from Spain, Japanese, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, and Korean are listed for interface and subtitles. Players should not assume that non-English language options include voice acting.

Who should play The Ascent?

The Ascent is a strong fit for PC players who want cyberpunk world-building, fast ranged combat, flexible character upgrades, and cooperative PvE without committing to a long-running service game. Its best moments come from the combination of vertical city design, cover-aware shooting, and the satisfaction of turning a fragile indent into a well-equipped combatant.

It is less suitable for players seeking a traditional party RPG, extensive dialogue branching, stealth-first missions, or a procedural loot treadmill. The city is large and detailed, but the role-playing systems remain focused on combat effectiveness rather than social simulation or radically branching quest outcomes.

For players who want another isometric cyberpunk setting but prefer investigation and dialogue over firefights, isometric cyberpunk detective RPGs like Gamedec offer a sharper contrast. For a more conventional loot-and-ability structure, class-based isometric action RPGs such as The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing: Final Cut provide deeper traditional build systems.

The Ascent FAQ

These answers cover the practical questions PC players usually have before choosing the game and its optional content.

Is The Ascent still the current PC name?

Yes. The current Steam product is listed as The Ascent. No verified storefront rebrand, renamed classic edition, or replacement PC title was found.

Is The Ascent single-player or co-op?

It supports solo play, online co-op, shared or split-screen co-op, and Steam Remote Play Together. You can play with up to three friends for a four-player cooperative campaign.

Does The Ascent have local co-op on PC?

Yes. Steam lists shared and split-screen co-op. Remote Play Together is also listed, allowing supported shared-screen sessions through Steam.

What does the base game include?

The base game includes the main Veles campaign, side missions, character creation, weapons, armor, cyberware, augmentations, tactical abilities, cyberdeck upgrades, vendors, and solo or cooperative play. The CyberSec Pack, Cyber Warrior Pack, and Cyber Heist are separate additions.

What is Cyber Heist?

Cyber Heist is the story-focused expansion. It adds new missions, locations, enemies, and melee combat content, and it can be played alone or in co-op after obtaining the base game.

What languages are supported on PC?

English has full audio, interface, and subtitle support. French, German, Spanish from Spain, Japanese, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, and Korean provide interface and subtitle localization.