Savant is a Norwegian musician, known for his electronic music albums. This game is its own album of sorts, a musical experience first, game second.
I wouldn’t say anything about Savant – Ascent is particularly groundbreaking. The game allows the player to dodge left or right and jump left or right. Dodges have no invincibility frames, which bothers me immensely. Otherwise, the player shoots foes as they appear on the screen while ascending a short tower with a boss at the end. There are only four or so enemy types. Simple.
Sometimes, I don’t mind that.
The only reason it took me several tries to beat this game was that I tried to use a controller at first. Use mouse and keyboard, it’s the only way. Once I made that switch, I was able to get into the flow of the music and blast foes to my heart’s content, unlocking upgrades as I went.
After beating story mode, I tried a newly unlocked endless mode. While the prospect of further challenge and upgrades intrigued me, I felt like there was too much on screen at times. After a couple of deaths, I called it quits.
Is it a perfect game? No. Is it a fun diversion and musical experience? For two dollars, I’ll go with yes, absolutely. And I would gladly buy and play another game in this vein.
Verdict: Story mode completed – 22 minutes played.
Kyle Adams 