For anyone looking for more of the cyberpunk genre in their video game diet, The Ascent cuts right to the chase and delivers. It takes place in a gorgeously realized cyberpunk world. You spend the campaign, quite literally, ascending a tower. What more could you ask for from the brand new developer, Neon Giant, a team of only 11? That's no more than a soccer team.

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Plenty, actually. Despite a decently long campaign for a shoot 'em up and tons of reasons to return to the gritty, neon-lit lights of the megacorp-controlled Veles — whether that's to uncover more secrets of the game's surprisingly deep lore, or to enjoy all the co-op options available — The Ascent does eventually reach its peak and end. Good thing there are more games out there that can scratch some of the same itches.

Updated on September 8, 2023 by Grant Burton: Since publication, there have been more games similar to The Ascent. And there were some notable absentees in this original list. So, this update aims to include a larger variety of games like The Ascent, whether that be in terms of its cyberpunk milieu, or is isometric, twin stick gameplay. There are many games like The Ascent you will love.

15 Citizen Sleeper

One of the potential playable characters in Citizen Sleeper

If you’re looking for similar science fiction, cyberpunk vibes, but for a very different gameplay experience, Citizen Sleeper is a good choice. In this RPG, you play as an android who wakes up on a space station, with your memories absent.

The rest of the game has you befriending the locals, getting a job, discovering your past, making key decisions about your life and future, and more. In many ways, it’s a space station life simulator. It may lack the excitement and energy of The Ascent, but its themes and science fiction setting have some similarities.

14 Borderlands

Borderlands 2 psycho pointing their fingers to their neck and forming clouds showing other characters

In terms of gameplay, The Ascent is all about running, shooting, and looting. There are some RPG mechanics in there too. Borderlands is also about all those things. Borderlands is a first-person looter-shooter set in a quirky, science fiction world.

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Its world and characters have cyberpunk inspired aesthetics and stylings, which will appeal to your love of The Ascent. Mechanically, the perspective offers a similar, fast-paced, run and gun style experience. Also like The Ascent, Borderlands has a notoriously unique sense of humor.

13 Remnant From The Ashes

Remnant From The Ashes Art Depicting 3 Characters on a mound shooting at creatures that surround them

Like The Ascent, Remnant from the Ashes allows you to create your own character, and you can interact with others in the world, making decisions and so on. But, unlike The Ascent, Remnant is a third-person game. It is, however, an action-adventure, role-playing game like The Ascent. It has some Souls-like elements, too.

Another difference is that Remnant is set in a post-apocalyptic version of Earth. It lacks the overt, science fiction and cyberpunk look and vibe, but it makes up for it with its mutinous villains and monsters. Remnant’s similarities with The Ascent are distant, but its gameplay loop might remind you of The Ascent.

12 Alienation

Alienation Official Art

On first look, Alienation is a very similar game to The Ascent. It’s an isometric, twin-stick shooter with role-playing mechanics. It looks and feels like The Ascent. Earth has been overrun by aliens, with many people also mutating into monstrous creatures. You must do battle with them all.

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Alienation is set on Earth, it lacks the cyberpunk stylings of The Ascent, but the gameplay allows you to battle hordes of enemies with flashy weapons and explosions abundant. If the gameplay of The Ascent is what you loved most, Alienation is a must-play.

11 Katana Zero

Katana Zero gameplay screenshot of protagonist Zero attacking two enemies on a street

In Katana Zero, you play as an assassin with deep, lingering mental health issues from a scarred past. This is a side-scrolling, cyberpunk, hack-and-slash game, with some light role-playing elements too. It rivals the visuals of The Ascent, albeit in a pixilated form, and it matches the vibes of that game.

Unlike The Ascent, Katana Zero offers a deeper, more thoughtful story. There are big reveals, some emotional beats, and a much deeper focus on the central character. Its gameplay also matches the fast pace of The Ascent, although combat uses a sword rather than guns.

10 Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077 Sad Keanu sitting at his gravesite

While it is perhaps an obvious and uninspired recommendation, Cyberpunk 2077 is still an example of a cyberpunk game. If you're looking for the standard tropes of the genre (netrunners, cyber-ninjas, urban grime, and corporate malfeasance galore), CD Projekt Red's game has got it all and all of it is dialed up to extremely large proportions.

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It had a rocky launch and still performs poorly on many systems, but for some, the game presents a truly sprawling cyberpunk fantasy to get lost in. At the very least, Cyberpunk 2077 gave the world Judy Alvarez - one of the best characters in the game. Since launch, patches have refined the experience, and The Phantom Liberty expansion has made it what many people wanted/expected it to be.

9 Nex Machina

Nex Machina character on hover bike flying into gunfire

If your favorite part of The Ascent was the game's melding of '80s cyberpunk aesthetic with twin-stick shooting, then you will most certainly want to check out Nex Machina. Developer Housemarque's cult hit is simpler than The Ascent in terms of both graphics and narrative, but the combat is tight, satisfying, and full of nuance.

Nex Machina has got a dose of nostalgia going for it, too, as it is essentially a spiritual successor to the arcade classic, Robotron: 2084. It's a tough game, but the excellent synth soundtrack is not one you'll likely get tired of soon.

8 West Of Dead

West of Dead William Mason opens a chest

If you're less beholden to the cyberpunk genre specifically and more just generally interested in a twin-stick shooter with an extremely confident sense of style, then West of Dead is the direction you'll want to head. The art style of this surreal Western is positively sublime, although hardly subtle — the main character's head is a burning skull, and he is voiced by legendary actor Ron Perlman.

To complement the twin-stick mechanics, West of Dead also implements roguelike elements to constantly keep things as fresh as can be, even when death and purgatory are the running themes of the game.

7 Enter The Gungeon

Enter the Gungeon bullet-hell sequence

Enter the Gungeon might not be new anymore, but anyone who missed out on this indie darling when it was launched in 2016 will now find it available on all major platforms. Enter the Gungeon, like the best roguelikes out there, creates a compelling loop to keep you pressing on despite the difficulty spikes.

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Like The Ascent's innovative use of cover, Enter the Gungeon also makes use of terrain in an interesting way. For anyone craving the chaos of bullet-hell gameplay, there are few better places to look than this modern classic.

6 Ruiner

Ruiner hub world

For a twin-stick shooter arguably even more stylish than The Ascent in its depiction of cyberpunk aesthetics, Ruiner would be an easy game to recommend — if maybe it were a little easier.

That said, if you're willing to put in the time and energy to invest in Ruiner's challenging gameplay loop, you'll find a deep combat system with plenty of cool abilities that offer more than the standard shooting mechanics. This game will really make you feel like a time-manipulating cyber ninja. Good thing that demand is being met somewhere.

5 Resogun

Resogun spaceship flying and shooting

If you're not yet tired of shoot 'em ups, Resogun is a modern classic of the genre that should be checked out for the way it uses voxel-based destructible environments alone. It's not exactly an example of cyberpunk, but controlling a spaceship is cool in its own right, and there are certainly plenty of neon lights and fog effects in between all the shooting.

Made by Housemarque — the creators of other bullet-hell masterpieces like Nex Machina and Returnal — the developers definitely know what they're doing when it comes to lights, explosions, and gunplay.

4 Divinity: Original Sin 2

Divinity-Original-Sin-2 Character class menu

Divinity: Original Sin 2 is neither sci-fi nor a shoot 'em up, but if you were into the RPG mechanics and world-building aspects of The Ascent, then you will want to check out this fantasy stalwart. In this massive CRPG, you create your own character, party, and epic story.

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Few games give you as much freedom as Divinity: Original Sin 2 does. Good thing every corner of the game is beautifully designed and exceptionally well written. It might take some time to get the hang of the rather challenging turn-based combat, but it's worth giving the game a shot if you have about 100 hours to spare.

3 Ghostrunner Series

ghostrunner cyber-ninja holding katana

As any cyberpunk aficionado knows, cyber ninjas are not to be messed with. In some of the most totemic examples of the genre, like William Gibson's seminal cyberpunk novel, Neuromancer, they're often only side characters, but Ghostunner and its sequel let you fully inhabit one.

No surprise: it is extremely fun. Ghostrunner delivers a slick first-person ninja experience that proves that melee combat can be done well from the first-person perspective. It doesn't have terribly much in the way of story, but if you're looking for an indie game with some high production values, this is not one to be missed.

2 Cloudpunk

Cloudpunk scene of HOVA flying through city

For something heavier on story than gameplay, Cloudpunk more than delivers. In the game, you play as Rania, a delivery driver and new immigrant to the metropolis, Nivalis. Once there, she gets wrapped up in the standard cyberpunk tropes of corporate espionage and artificial intelligence gone wrong, but Cloudpunk is more than the sum of its parts.

Where the game really excels is in the line-by-line writing and characterization of both the citizens of its world and the world itself. It might not be the most technically marvelous game, but its art direction works well to create a place that feels lived in and worth exploring.

1 The Deus Ex Series

Deus Ex FPS holding gun with soldier standing in front

The fact of the matter is that cyberpunk fiction, more often than not, is bonkers. Bonkers in the amount of imagination on display as well as in the mix of various jargon and ludicrous plotlines. This stuff is often challenging to follow, and the Deus Ex series is no different.

While fans of the long-running series might debate on where is best to start, wherever you do begin, you'll find a deep series of gameplay systems and an elaborately twisting plot that matches even the best of William Gibson's writing.

NEXT: The Ascent: Best Side Missions And Where To Find Them