ASCENDANT.COM hands-on preview — Grab your leg warmers, it’s shooting time

Shooting things in video games is a way of life. How you go about crafting the way you shoot things is always the question. Many try and fail to bring a memorable theme or design to their project, and sadly some don’t make it further than the planning stages. One that I’m glad to see has made it to beta is ASCENDANT.COM (conveniently the website as well as the game’s moniker). After an hour or so playing it, I’m sold on the vision PlayFusion has in mind.

The plan is both simple and complex in nature. PlayFusion wanted to give us a shooter, which are often straightforward in design, but find a way to make theirs unique. That’s not an easy task. The good news is the gunplay is sublime; it stuck out to me how crisp it felt, even if a bit slower than other shooters. Think Apex Legends, but closer to Halo in speed.

PlayFusion coined the term “adaptation” shooter to describe ASCENDANT.COM. While I don’t know that we need new buzzwords, the formula of the game doesn’t work for any of the other variants in the FPS genre I’ve played. It’s not a battle royale, even if it borrows certain ideas. It’s not an extraction shooter, although you can point to some obvious inspiration. I know for certain it’s not an arena shooter or classic 6v6 shooter, so PlayFusion has managed to create something fresh, even if you find some aspects familiar.

A great aesthetic theme makes the game stand out. If you’ve seen the trailers, it’s no surprise that the art, dialogue, and neon are ripped straight from the 80s. In the in-game hub there’s a dance floor, and you almost couldn’t hear your own teammates from the wailing of the jukebox. Seriously, Hot Blooded by Foreigner is still stuck in my brain, along with other tasty tunes from the era.

Speaking of the in-game hub, you begin in a little area that’s reminiscent of Destiny’s Tower base. You’ll create a character, run around with friends, speak with NPCs to gain your initial tutorial missions, try out the weaponry, and so much more. I don’t have the low-down on everything available here as we only played a little bit, but it’s a neat space that you can relax in between rounds. Also, there are a few party games to play while you wait for everyone, like a Hide and Seek mode that plays like Infected, where one shoots a pistol at the other to make them hunters as well. It’s a fun little distraction from the usual monotony of the game lobby.

When you get into the actual gameplay of ASCENDANT.COM, you’ll find a cool world with a neat backstory. Disaster struck in the 1900s from a terrible event called The Cascade, which destroyed the world’s ecosystem. Given the downward trajectory, a heavy focus on biotechnology was implemented, with new weaponry and such coming about which dealt more damage to the planet. Soon, everything was uninhabitable, so humans went into cryosleep to hopefully snooze through this apocalypse.

They manage to wait it out, but arise to an intriguing change in the environment. The systems in play plant humongous Earth Trees, a marvel of biotechnology, that clean up the corrupted locales they’re planted in. As the humans take stock of everything, a fight between them breaks out to control the resources – you know, just like humans do. There are also monstrous creatures around, a by-product of the previous earth polluting, to battle with as well. Thank goodness for these Earth Trees, because their shade and sap is what’s keeping you alive, even though everyone is in a tizzy trying to take from each other.

This is the build up to where you’re at. The city of Harmony has fallen, and you are in a war against neighboring teams to grab the resources of the city, which are called Biocores. It all plays out on a singular map, but with the points of interest being remixed every match. This means you won’t play things exactly the same way every time, as shops, biocore units, and even your base will be in a different spot every match.

The main mode for ASCENDANT.COM has you playing a pseudo Capture the Flag match between four teams of three players. There are three Biocores to grab, and whoever has the most of them at the end wins. There’s a lot going on between loading in and leaving with your Biocores, and the steps along the way make this an interesting game.

After you drop into your base, getting some power from attacking the PVE nasties is a good primary focus. You’ll be able to upgrade with these at shops, and I love banking these points while there. Banking allows your team to have a shared account for shopping, meaning if I drop ten points in and my buddy drops in another ten, we have twenty points each in the shop to use. It’s a nice way to reward everyone for the work they put in, while also requiring effort to get it all there.

Getting upgrades is paramount to winning in ASCENDANT.COM. You only have three lives total, which makes this a bit of a mashup of Apex Legends and an Escape from Tarkov style mode. To make the most of your lives, getting shields, ammo, and better weapons will help, although you at least begin with an initial selection right away. Good news: once it’s bought, it’s yours for the match, even if you die.

There’s a good mixture in the armory, with sniper rifles, submachine guns, shotguns, and more, along with a rarity system to get better ones as you go. In our presentation before the matches, a system of weapon modules was mentioned that will outrageously change each weapon. The idea reminds me of the recent Aftermarket Parts introduced in Modern Warfare III – stuff like turning a battle rifle into a poison spewing SMG. Given how much I love the idea in MWIII, it’s a great choice in ASCENDANT.COM. Variety is the spice of life, and there are plenty of seasonings in your arsenal.

From here, getting the Biocore involves defending the site, then absconding with said core to your base. The person carrying the core won’t be able to move as fast, and your position gets revealed on the map, but you do get a pre-chosen super ability to use at least once. I had a blast that radiated around me and shattered shields, and while it isn’t really a win condition, it’s a good way to give you and your teammates an upper hand. There are others you can pick from as well, and though I never got to change mine out, they could prove even more useful than what I had.

Once you arrive at your base, you’ll work to defend it as it processes your Biocore. The endgames are tense, as an enemy team could steal your Biocore if you aren’t on your game, or have to fight to grab one before the match timer runs out so you aren’t left without a Biocore. My team managed to grab one each round early, but struggled to close things out due to some massive slayings by another group.

I’m throwing a lot of praise to the endgame, but the mid-game can have a similar impact. After we grabbed that first Biocore, the intensity of the engagements were fierce. A lot of that comes from teams having the time to build up their power, upgrade their kit, and finally be in the fight. But, the choice to go with an Apex Legends-esque time to kill also elevates it, allowing for a lot more maneuverability and playing your life: important as they are limited.

Seeing the intentionality of this design makes another aspect more enjoyable, the strategic gameplay. You don’t want to throw away lives, you want to build a kit, but what if you go too slowly and end up behind in Biocores? Having to think your actions through carefully ups the ante, and communicating with your team will be the key to your success.

Your teammates will be the reason you make it to the top. The banking power system is crucial as it will be the difference between the team with the best loadout or the one still looking at the same weapon the whole match. I know it’s possible to solo carry in some games, but ASCENDANT.COM requires working together to cross the finish line first.

The choice to go with only four teams is a great one. Never on the map did I feel overwhelmed going for objectives or trying to utilize the tools in place. The main point of ASCENDANT.COM left me right in the middle. There aren’t too many engagements, and there aren’t too few either.

Lastly, I know I’ve mentioned the aesthetic, but the 80s choice works so well for ASCENDANT.COM. It’s crass in introduction and throughout, which works to the motif, but also just in the irreverent way that something like High on Life managed. The vibrant colors of the game make it a visual feast, and also lets it breathe amongst its more serious brethren. I don’t want to call it a cartoon, because it’s not, but it’s definitely less focused on realism and more on fun. This will also work its way into customizing your character; I think you’ll like the options available.

I’d like to have had more time playing ASCENDANT.COM, but I feel hopeful after what I experienced. There’s a lot here, and plenty I didn’t have the opportunity to play or discuss. I do have some questions about the viability of the pay to play model they’re going after with how tough it is to break into the shooter space, but the core gameplay is great. The future roadmap for the game is also something I’m curious about in terms of whether we’ll see new maps and modes quickly. There’s a lot of questions to answer, but the good news is you can try the game August 3-4 in an open beta on Steam. Do yourself a favor and wishlist ASCENDANT.COM as a good reminder.

See below for our list of partners and affiliates: