A Next-Gen Cyberpunk Diablo With Co-op

Revealed during the Xbox Series X gameplay livestream dedicated to third-party titles getting enhancements on the next-gen Xbox, The Ascent is a next-gen Diablo-style RPG. Featuting solo and co-op play and embracing a cyberpunk theme, The Ascent looks gorgeous from its rendered in-game footage.

The Ascent is currently in development from Neon Giant and Curve Digital alongside the Xbox Series X so footage in the reveal trailer is rendered in-game and represents what gameplay is expected to look like. The game will also be available on Xbox One later this year.

Related: Why The PS5 & Xbox Series X Launch Is Different From Past Console Gens

Watch The Ascent reveal trailer here:

Official synopsis for The Ascent:

The Ascent is a solo and co-op action RPG set in a cyberpunk world. The mega corporation that owns you and everyone, The Ascent Group, has just collapsed. Confusion and chaos ensue, security and order are in disarray, and without protection, everyone is left to fend for themselves. Stop gangs and hostile corporations from taking over and discover what really happened in this explosive sci-fi shooter.

Writing on the official Xbox Wire today, Jack Gosling, Senior Digital Marketing Manager at Curve Digital, describes The Ascent as a “real love letter to the sci-fi and cyberpunk worlds many of us grew up with.” The game can be played online or offline (local) with up to four players and the RPG gameplay will let players loot enemies for gear, upgrade, and customize their bodies with a “host of slick cyberware.“

As for the next-gen gameplay on the Series X, The Ascent’s effects hint at this in the reveal trailer but environments feature destructibility, compared to the infamous lobby fight sequence in The Matrix where bullet fire will wreak havoc on walls and objects.

The isometric camera angle, and co-op RPG gameplay immediately sparks comparison to Diablo but The Ascent is trying to be as unique as possible by borrowing cyberpunk elements for its alien-esque sci-fi backdrop. There are aliens and creatures from all over the galaxy, and Gosling explains that, “it’s up to you to stop rival corporations and crime syndicates from seizing control – by any means necessary,” within The Ascent Group, the self-contained GTA6.Mobipolis on Planet Veles where the game takes place.

Next: The first look at Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Gameplay (Sort of…)

The Ascent is coming to Xbox One and Xbox Series X later this year.

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About The Author

Rob Keyes manages content, business development, HR models, social media, strategic partnerships, and PR for Screen Rant and helps oversee its sister site, Comic Book Resources (CBR). You may know also him from various television and radio appearances covering the superhero beat, co-hosting the Screen Rant Underground and Total Geekall podcasts or founding and building Game Rant back in the day. Find Rob on Twitter @rob_keyes or @failcube and if you need to reach either site, he’s your guy rob [at] GTA6.Mobi [dot] com.

Rob Keyes is Canadian, the longest serving member of Screen Rant, has a Masters Degree in Economics and degrees is marketing and computer science, is an Adjudicator for the Canadian Videogame Awards, and is the world’s best TIE Interceptor pilot. You can see and chat with Rob live in the evenings at twitch.tv/failcube or see his videos at youtube.com/failcube.

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