Friday 9 August 2013

Savant: Ascent (PC)


Holy shit. It isn't often a game makes me say that. Out loud. However, Savant: Ascent by D-Pad Studio, did exactly that.

Inspired by the album covers and artwork created for - and music created by - EDM/dubstep/glitch hop artist extraordinaire Savant, this game is truly unique. It storms onto your screen with the presence of the horned child of a lusty Skrillex after a sweaty three-way romp in a motel with Castlevania: SoTN and a bullet-hell shooter.


Fire up Savant: Ascent, grab your mouse and ready your hand above WASD on the keyboard, and get ready to blast away. Jumping nimbly between two platforms/elevators in a beautifully presented steampunk tower, our hero is tasked with destroying wave after wave of a variety of flying robot nasties, resulting in score counts and fragments exploding everywhere to the boot-stomping beat of some pretty fine dubstep tracks designed to assault your speakers (and eardrums). As the hero progresses through the ascent of the tower, CD pieces must be collected to gain powers to aid further progress.


My description of this game utterly fails to describe what it is like to play. This may seem as simple as pointing a mouse cursor and feuer frei!, but this is not the case. Attributing to the numerous enemy types, each with different attacks, and their propensity to appear in sequence, requires players to remember which appeared when, maneuver and blast accordingly, striving to make sense out of the visual and aural madness. Those with a sensitivity to flashing lights should probably avoid this one.

Anyway, I happily gave my Saturday morning away to Savant and I think you should too. This game is awesome in the literal sense, and captivates me in a way few other games have. The simmering stew of gorgeous art and animation plus non-stop bullet hell, brought to a boil against a fantastic soundtrack is not to be missed by anyone who likes games, even those who don't like shooters (or dubstep).


Purchase the PC version for $1.99 here (from the official website).
3.5 out of 5

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