Savant - Ascent

If you've never heard of Norwegian musician and DJ Savant, you're probably not alone.

Thankfully, you don't have to be an aficionado of European dubstep to appreciate that Savant - Ascent from D-Pad Studio is a damn fine video game experience.

This is a full-on last man standing-style blaster with lots of heart. Think ZiGGURAT with slightly more tactical play.

If only it were a little heavier on content, I'd be recommending it outright.

Savant takes place in a dark tower, where evil forces are invading. Your lone hero must blast them out of existence while standing in one of two available spots.

The game is centred on firing and then switching position whenever the enemy gets too close. As you progress you'll gain additional powers that mix up how you'll want to tackle enemies.

It's a really simple yet rather exciting action-packed blaster that will have you hooked from start to end. There doesn't appear to be much to it technically, but you'll quickly pick up certain techniques and fun quirks.

Savant - Ascent just feels very fun and explosive throughout, imparting a gratifying sense of power as you roll through enemies, emptying fireballs into their faces.

It's also extremely stylish, with a fantastic pumping soundtrack and gorgeous slick visuals to boot.

The main course will take you around 20 minutes to complete - maybe even 15 minutes if you're good. A couple of additional modes are opened at this point, but they aren't exactly varied.

Time Attack is just the same thing again except against the clock, while Endless mode is the same yet again, except it ends when you die. Then there's Vario Mode which - well, it's pretty odd.

I'm not usually one to complain about the length of a game, but Savant - Ascent feels like it ends just as it's getting going.

Apparently, there are more levels on the way (and for free, too), but in it's current state Savant - Ascent is just too light on content to keep you entertained for more than half an hour.

When Savant - Ascent has been enhanced with more content, it'll be a phenomenal mobile game.