With this week being Steam Next Fest, I’ve been spoilt for choice when it comes to exciting upcoming titles to sample.
Coming as a recommendation from our very own Mike, one game that stood out from the pack was the voxel-based, time-bending roguelite Ascend to Zero. Set to launch on PC and Xbox next month, the game’s central premise asks a simple but enticing question: what would it feel like to stop time in the heat of battle?
While the Steam Next Fest demo isn’t the first public slice of Ascend to Zero, it offers the most substantial look at the game yet, featuring an entirely fresh area to explore, expanded enemy move sets, and a playable character making their debut.
What is Ascend to Zero?
In Ascend to Zero, you play as humanity’s last survivor after a devastating mechanical invasion wipes out civilisation. Armed with time-bending powers, you must fight to undo the events that brought mankind to the brink of extinction.
During each run, you have just 30 seconds to eliminate hordes of attacking robots. Your greatest advantage, however, is the ability to freeze time at the press of a button. This can be used to evade deadly attacks, collect fallen upgrades, and preserve precious seconds on the clock as you fight to survive.
Each room is marked by the level of enemies lurking within, encouraging you to farm XP and strengthen your character before pushing deeper into the run. The catch is that every time you restart the clock, those precious seconds begin ticking away once more, making careful time management essential. Taking damage also carries hefty time penalties, turning every mistake into a costly setback.
The combat felt like a blend of Brotato and Hades. Your weapons fire automatically, but survival hinges on carefully timing dodges to avoid incoming attacks telegraphed by visual cues. I loved how nail-bitingly intense these close-quarters encounters could become, with split-second decisions often making the difference between success and failure. That said, the sheer volume of enemies, effects, and projectiles on screen could occasionally make the action feel a little cluttered.
Progression and upgrades
After a failed run, you’ll return to a hub area populated by a cast of blocky characters, each offering new ways to strengthen your future attempts. Here, you can unlock new weapons, gadgets, and pieces of armour, as well as expand your available equipment slots, giving you greater freedom to experiment with different builds.
You can also invest in upgrades for the time machine itself, granting temporary buffs provided you have the funds to spare. These enhancements can significantly ease the challenge, boosting key stats such as your starting time, XP gain, and gold income, making future runs far more manageable.
There’s also a sizeable roster of playable characters, each with their own unique skills that can significantly alter how you approach a run. During my time with the demo, I didn’t get the chance to explore this system in depth, but it’s clearly an area with plenty of potential worth highlighting.
The Verdict
If you’re a fan of more action-focused roguelites, I’d highly recommend downloading the Ascend to Zero demo or checking it out on Xbox Game Pass when it launches next month.
Its time-bending mechanic adds a satisfying layer of tension to combat, forcing you to carefully time your strikes and think strategically about when to engage. There’s also a wealth of meta-progression options that allow you to shape your build over time and gradually adjust the difficulty as you fight to save humanity.
Ascend to Zero launches July 13, 2026, on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC and Xbox Cloud.
