(Photo Courtesy of D-Pad Studio)Ever wanted to dodge a flying robot worm while on a skyrocketing elevator, while also shooting and dodging other flying objects that want to kill you?
If the answer is yes, then I may have a good idea as to where your next $2 should go.
"Savant - Ascent" is a PC game that tasks you with controlling Savant, a masked man who has intentions of climbing a massive tower to grab the Philosopher’s Stone at the top. It sounds much easier than it is, and the addiction of such a task makes it all the more enthralling.
The core element of the 2-D shooter doesn’t have you flying left to right like a bullet. Instead, you need to jump and dodge between two speed-driven elevators as you climb and shoot in a 360-degree pattern through the tower to reach the top. It isn’t easy, and death will come often as you get a handle on the twitchiness of the gameplay. Movement is key — after shutting down a group of flying heads for example, you’ll need to immediately dodge an oncoming ball of spikes that crept up behind you.
Thankfully, the controls are reliable, as is the framerate. Even with a screen full of enemies, there’s no lag at all to contend with. The game keeps up with your mouse movements as you move the mouse to control your sidearm. The game is keyboard only, however, as the W, A and D keys are used to jump and dodge from place to place.
The game also doesn’t look half bad, with 2-D sprites at the forefront of a 3-D background. Unfortunately, said background is a drab tower replete with stone in a nighttime setting. It's meant as a mere frame and setting for the game's high-speed action — if you're looking for a lot of colors, they won't be here.
Along the way, certain enemies will hold CD pieces that, once collected, can grant new powers and abilities to Savant that make the ride easier, and add a new song to listen to as you make the climb. Selecting which CD to play is purely an aesthetic choice, however. It took me a while to realize that was the case, as I thought picking a disc granted you a certain power to use. The game doesn’t make clear that powers are added on top of other powers as you collect them, adding to your arsenal.
Speaking of arsenals, your offensives are quite varied. You’ll start off with a single bullet before moving on to split shots, charge shots and even a chain move that traps enemies and destroys them at once. However, the game doesn’t back down from your ever-increasing powers. While you’ll feel like a badass with nearly each new power-up, there’s still that even keel between your abilities and what is thrown at you.
To me, that’s where the addiction comes from. If you find yourself getting into a groove with dodging, attacking or using certain shots at the right moment – even when your death count rolls into the double digits or you survived for a mere couple of minutes, you still want to keep trying. The twitch movements encapsulate that feeling of “just one more try.”
The game is divided into three modes: Story, Time Attack and Endless. The second and third modes are self-explanatory: beat the game as fast as you can, and survive for as long as possible, respectively. Story mode, graciously, has a stage select screen, so your prior work won’t be in vain if you quit. There’s even a neat little surprise for beating the final boss, which I won’t spoil here.
Savant recently gained a free update just in time for Halloween. The update contains a new level after the main game has ended, and comes with a new boss. I wish I could tell you about that new boss, the Samurai, but the level amps increase the difficulty to where it has taken longer than I’d like to reach the end. I will say that there a few new variances that are hair-pulling maddening but still addicting.
"Savant - Ascent" is easily worth more than the $2 price tag on Steam. While it can be hard and deaths may feel cheap, that blaring in your head of “one more time” doesn’t get old for a while. And with a killer soundtrack, you really can't go wrong. "Savant - Ascent" is definitely worth your time.
"Savant - Ascent" is available on Steam now.
Share your favorite elevator speech with the reporter at Damion.Julien-Rohman@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @legendpenguin
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