The Returnal Ascension update is out now – otherwise known as version 3.0 – adding two big new features to the game. Co-op play and the new Tower of Sisyphus challenge mode are both added for free in the update.
Announced during Sony’s most recent PlayStation State of Play broadcast, Ascension brings this pair of new modes and features to the game. Last week, Housemarque released an 18-minute gameplay video we get to see Selene go up against the Tower of Sisyphus, a endless survival mode that gradually ramps up the difficulty as you move from one floor to the next.
The Tower of Sisyphus is for solo players only, but the main experience can now be enjoyed in co-op. The game is rebalanced to ensure that it’s just as challenging when there are a pair of Selenes on screen, but you can take it on with either a friend or by creating/joining a public session.
Housemarque have released patch notes for the update, but they’re more descriptive of new features and content, as opposed to a detailed of specific bugs that have been fixed. I might have exaggerated when calling them a “tower” of patch notes, but I quite liked the pun… Anyway, here’s the version 3.0 patch notes:
PATCH NOTES:
- Co-op: Combine forces with a second Selene
- Tower of Sisyphus: Endless mode, where Selene is drawn to climb the Tower and solve its mysteries, and the player is chasing the highest score
- Bug fixes and quality-of-life improvements
NEW FEATURES:
Co-op – Using the Chronosis portal lets you summon a second Selene from another timeline, so now you can combine forces with a friend and face the dangers of Atropos together. You have the choice of joining or hosting a public session, or alternatively hosting a private session.
Progression is tied to the host, but the client players who join a session will be able to keep some of the process they make – such as collecting logs and xenoglyphs – and they’re able to level up their Scout Rank based on how many players they help by joining a session.
In co-op mode the world of Atropos has been rebalanced, so Returnal remains the treacherous experience you know and love.
Note that the Tower of Sisyphus, House sequences and Daily Challenge are not available in Co-op Mode.
Tower of Sisyphus – True to our arcade roots, the Tower of Sisyphus brings an endless survival mode in Returnal. You strive to ascend the tower as high as possible, chasing a high score by increasing and keeping up your score multiplier, until Selene meets her demise in the hands of the many hazards of the Tower.
You make your way up the Tower of Sisyphus in phases, and each phase will lead up to a battle against the new boss, Algos. While there are optional routes and secrets to be found, in the Tower the emphasis is on survival, skill, and focused progression.
The Tower of Sisyphus brings new levels, new special weapons and a new boss, but also continues the story of Selene as you climb the Tower.
Looking back on our Returnal review on PS5, we scored the game a masterful 9/10:
“It feels immensely satisfying to be sat here in 2021, eons after playing Super Stardust HD on PS3, and see just how far Housemarque has come. Offering a visual bullet hell spectacle, a showcase for the DualSense controller and a rewarding sci-fi narrative woven around the roguelike loop, we can say with unflinching confidence that Returnal is the PS5’s best game to date.”
Source: Housemarque
Returnal guides & more from TheSixthAxis
- Returnal Review
- Watch us play 45 minutes of Returnal from the start of the game
- Returnal Items Guide – Parasites, Artefacts & Consumables, what do they do?
- Returnal – Phrike boss battle guide
- Returnal – Ixion boss battle guide
- Returnal – Nemesis boss battle guide
- How Returnal and Deathloop are evolving the roguelike genre
