I adored The Ascent a lot, as it delivered solid, honest and murderous action; you can read my review for it, after all. Thus, I was naturally looking forward to trying out its new expansion called Cyber Heist. Yet, my thoughts are bittersweet after finishing it. That would be because it does not really bring anything new, as it only prolongs the already enjoyable gameplay loop from the base game, so if you want more of it, you will get it here.

Still, its price seems a bit high just for that, especially since it lasts about two hours at best, maybe three if you snoop through every nook and cranny. That is not much for ten euros in my eyes, especially since it does not offer anything you already have not witnessed.

The new location looks like a mishmash of unused assets rather than a different, competent area, even if some of its smaller parts are beautiful. Some of the quests even send you back to the original map, so that says something. Where The Ascent’s city felt like an interconnected, organic place with some thought behind it, Cyber Heist’s one seems like a mix of what would simply look cool. It is underwhelming, without that glamorous spell anymore.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2859386959
I would say the same about the new enemy types, as they are just a reskin of already existing ones, differing only by the new armour they wear. Again, not enough. For sure, it is still fun and satisfying to fight them; no doubt about that, but I expect something new from an addition like that, some kind of twist that would make me want to revisit it in the future.

That was apparently supposed to be the inclusion of melee weapons, like a large hammer or katana, that were suspiciously missing from the base game. Still, I will admit that I absolutely loved using the said hammer and yeeting all kinds of foes with it. I mean, I adored it so much that I used it during the whole expansion—not that it would be difficult to do so given its length… What a simplistic form of entertainment, right? Running around and slapping everyone like a good ol’ Bobby B in his prime.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2859387491
Maybe the narrative got better, at the very least? Nah, it suffers from the same issues, where stuff just happen while your character blindly follows anyone who gives the order. However, I kinda fancied the sidequests, as they felt a tad bit longer and had a more interesting plot, like trying to transfer an AI into a robotic body. Not that it would be extraordinary, but it was a nice change from interacting with druggies.

So… yeah, that would be all. I would not recommend Cyber Heist to the fans, as you will not miss anything by not playing it. For sure, I had a lot of fun with my hammer, but overall, I am still disappointed by this addition’s execution. Maybe it is worth it in some cheap bundle; otherwise, do not waste your money on it.

PC Specs and Performance

I played it with an i5 8300H, GTX 1060 6GB, and 16GB RAM, at high settings, at 20-60 frames per second, at 1920x1080 resolution. The framerate issues were basically the same as in the main game, meaning an occasional drop down to twenty frames but usually only to forty, so it seems that the optimization issues remain.

Acknowledgement

This expansion was gifted to me by a dear friend of mine. Thank you!

Curator link

If you do not wish to get a bounty on your head, then follow my curator, Blue Lips and their Quips!

[h1][b][i]I mean, it is fun, but…[/i][/b][/h1] I adored [i]The Ascent[/i] a lot, as it delivered solid, honest and murderous action; you can read my [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/1AviaRa1/recommended/979690/][b]review[/b][/url] for it, after all. Thus, I was naturally looking forward to trying out its new expansion called [i]Cyber Heist[/i]. Yet, my thoughts are bittersweet after finishing it. That would be because it does not really bring anything new, as it only prolongs the already enjoyable gameplay loop from the base game, so if you want more of it, you will get it here. Still, its price seems a bit high just for that, especially since it lasts about two hours at best, maybe three if you snoop through every nook and cranny. That is not much for ten euros in my eyes, especially since it does not offer anything you already have not witnessed. The new location looks like a mishmash of unused assets rather than a different, competent area, even if some of its smaller parts are beautiful. Some of the quests even send you back to the original map, so that says something. Where [i]The Ascent’s[/i] city felt like an interconnected, organic place with some thought behind it, [i]Cyber Heist’s[/i] one seems like a mix of what would simply look cool. It is underwhelming, without that glamorous spell anymore. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2859386959 I would say the same about the new enemy types, as they are just a reskin of already existing ones, differing only by the new armour they wear. Again, not enough. For sure, it is still fun and satisfying to fight them; no doubt about that, but I expect something new from an addition like that, some kind of twist that would make me want to revisit it in the future. That was apparently supposed to be the inclusion of melee weapons, like a large hammer or katana, that were suspiciously missing from the base game. Still, I will admit that I absolutely loved using the said hammer and yeeting all kinds of foes with it. I mean, I adored it so much that I used it during the whole expansion—not that it would be difficult to do so given its length… What a simplistic form of entertainment, right? Running around and slapping everyone like a good ol’ [i]Bobby B[/i] in his prime. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2859387491 Maybe the narrative got better, at the very least? Nah, it suffers from the same issues, where stuff just happen while your character blindly follows anyone who gives the order. However, I kinda fancied the sidequests, as they felt a tad bit longer and had a more interesting plot, like trying to transfer an AI into a robotic body. Not that it would be extraordinary, but it was a nice change from interacting with druggies. So… yeah, that would be all. I would not recommend [i]Cyber Heist[/i] to the fans, as you will not miss anything by not playing it. For sure, I had a lot of fun with my hammer, but overall, I am still disappointed by this addition’s execution. Maybe it is worth it in some cheap bundle; otherwise, do not waste your money on it. [b]PC Specs and Performance[/b] [quote]I played it with an [b]i5 8300H[/b], [b]GTX 1060 6GB[/b], and [b]16GB RAM[/b], at high settings, at [b]20-60[/b] frames per second, at [b]1920x1080[/b] resolution. The framerate issues were basically the same as in the main game, meaning an occasional drop down to twenty frames but usually only to forty, so it seems that the optimization issues remain. [/quote] [b]Acknowledgement[/b] [quote]This expansion was gifted to me by a dear friend of mine. Thank you![/quote] [b]Curator link[/b] [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41545671][quote]If you do not wish to get a bounty on your head, then follow my curator, [b]Blue Lips and their Quips[/b]!