Buried in Backlog
Buried in Backlog
Asscent of Ashes is a Rimworld clone that lacks the content, performance, and quality of life of Rimworld. It’s in an extremely early access state and was released way too early. It’s supposed to stand out in its exploration. Making key resources and items only available by sending out your colonists to new areas to find backpacks, armor, guns, and ammo until you can craft some of them.
Image Source: Steam Store page
As far as gameplay, it plays like a stripped-down version of Rimworld. The colonists take way too long to accomplish anything. I queued up tasks to build a starting shelter, and it took them thirty minutes to complete. I spent thirty minutes watching these five colonists build a nine-by-nine hut. The fog of war is overkill in my home territory. I should know what is in my home territory. I understand and actually like the fog of war when out on expeditions. It adds a layer of mystery.
Let’s talk about the expeditions/exploration because that and the combat are what are supposed to separate this game from Rimworld. You can go on expeditions to gather materials, gear, and weapons. Some items are only obtainable through exploration, which is fantastic. It gives the player a reason to go out on these expeditions. You can learn about new locations from wandering scavengers. Each area is different. It generates a random map based on the location type. I’ve been to a clothing store and a hunting lodge. The lodge was a single building in a forest, and the store was on a city block. When your team arrives at the expedition map, time pauses in your home territory, and you only have to worry about the expedition map. After completing your expedition, you return to the home map, and time resumes from where it stopped. You then have to wait for the duration it took to complete the expedition map and the travel time to retrieve your colonists.
Image Source: Steam Store page
The combat adds an extra layer with the fog of war and ammo. I found myself moving cautiously through the maps to clear them of enemies. While it lacks sounds for melee combat, the gun sounds are impressive, with a really impactful sound. One way the team could enhance the combat system beyond just moving and crouching the colonists is by implementing an advanced movement system, similar to what's found in games like Door Kickers, would be a great addition. .
Performance on release was abysmal—crashes, stuttering, frame drops, and Colonists getting stuck doing the same animation on repeat. As of writing this, there have been three hotfixes since release, addressing a significant number of bugs, although not all of them. The game was unplayable until the first hotfix.
Image Source: Steam Store page
Overall, Asscent of Ashes has the potential to be a great game with its additional features for combat and exploration, but right now it’s in a way too early of a state. It’s lacking in content, quality of life features, tooltips, tutorials, and just things to do and strive for. With all of its current content, a player can see nearly everything in just a few hours. Considering everything it has, including its bugs and performance issues, I’m giving it a two out of five. I’d like to provide the game with a second review in the feature when it’s much further in development.