Ashen is just passable for a quality game.
From the get-go, it feels like there should be more there... like there could be, but somewhere along the line they got lazy. The plot seems to have enough foundation to shape up to something good but instead, it winds up being little more than a generic outline for just another uninspired shooter. At least, I think that's what it is. It's hard to tell. The narrative is just awful.
Once you get past that though, you'll find that the true playability of Ashen is actually part of what makes it a decent title. The graphics—while pixelated and blocky—are animated quite well and things like the revolver reloading look pretty cool. There are a number of nifty guns to play with and generally, ammo is pretty evenly spread out. The monsters however, are fairly unimpressive. They are generic as all get-out and the animation is mediocre. They're also pretty dumb. They run forward and fire, and that's about it.
The controls are set up in a dual-axis scheme as if the 2, 4, 6, and 8 buttons were a second d-pad, and it actually works quite well save for the occasional bumping of another button while trying to look quickly. All other vital FPS controls have been properly allocated on the number pad including weapon switching, reloading, jumping, and of course firing.
Interesting is the concept of "Ghost Vision" which is used to spot otherwise-invisible monsters. It's basically a blue night vision setup but it doesn't seem to be a concept fully realized. It's just sort of there to be used every 5 minutes or so.
By the end of the day, Ashen breaks no new ground where it should have, and leaves you wondering if perhaps the developer would have been better off attempting a full-on console game of the same concept, but with some actual effort. It would have been nice to see more done with this title but since N-Gage games can now be found as cheap as 7 dollars, you would not be out very much if you were to pick a copy up. It's definitely a decent way to kill time.