by DUB THE WUB. Don’t blink or your might miss it, it’s Savant – Ascent!
Savant – Ascent is a rockin’ game that comes out of the gate swinging. You play the role of a V for Vendetta cosplayer (the Savant?) who gets blown out of his wizard’s tower after some kind of magical sphere goes haywire. The Savant wastes no time bursting right back into his tower, fights his way up a crazy elevator ride and destroys the magical orb and the evil glitch Vario that is possessing it. That’s it–the game ends. No, I’m not kidding. Even as a beginner, it’ll take you about 30 minutes to play from start to finish. So you might be wondering, “Chezni, why on Earth did you put this in Tier 1?” Well, truly I have spent $2 and 30 minutes of my life doing much less valuable things and for those 30 minutes you feel like a badass. So just what do you get for those 30 minutes?
Combat in the game involves blasting incoming enemies in a radius around you, using the analog stick (or mouse). Special enemies drop pieces of a CD which grant momentary invulnerability when you pick them up. You can hop between one of two sections on each level to avoid attacks and death is met with the acquisition of new powerups and songs in the form of completed CDs that you’ve picked up and yes, the music is primarily dubstep. It’s not the most amazing dubstep that I’ve ever heard (I tend to listen to it more than a person of my age and standing probably should) but I must admit that it’s the first time I’ve played a game that used it as its primary soundtrack and it was pretty fun to rock out to it while blasting some drones away.
The drones themselves spill in perfectly–first you get the common quarter notes (ones that move every beat) but then you get the more durable half-notes. I was disappointed that this is where the music-synced baddies stopped since it really made the game feel cohesive to see them moving in beat, but there are only 4 enemy types in the game. Aside from the music though, the graphics are quick and crisp and fun to look at.
True, there’s an endless mode, a time attack mode a Vario mode–but really, there’s no need to play the game after you beat it. You’ve already seen everything by then and it’s just a rehash of what was already extremely light content. I think if I were to find an apt comparison, this game is like the chocolate mint on your pillow at a hotel. No, not wholesome, lasting or even that impressionable in any way but you’re still going to eat it. It’s a freaking chocolate mint, how can you resist it? Admittedly if you don’t like to dub the wub (or if you don’t like chocolate mints if you’re stuck in the metaphor) then you probably won’t like this game. Otherwise, I fully recommend just trying this out for a bit–it really won’t take you that long either way.
