I don’t often pick up shooters on the basis that when it comes to bullet hell games, I usually get frustrated before too long. There are, of course, exceptions to that rule. One such exception I discovered at EGX 2022, CYGNI: All Guns Blazing. Developed by KeelWorks and published by Konami.
CYGNI: All Guns Blazing is a twin-stick, vertical shooter that brings epic visuals and more to the genre.
Background
The story sees you as a lone pilot (or you can team up in local co-op) to plunge into an all-out war and fight for survival. The official blurb for the game sets the scene: Encamped within the remains of a long-lost civilization on the planet CYGNI, the colony is decimated by a surprise attack from a powerful, biomechanical, alien race. As one of the last pilots on one of the very few remaining carriers in the fleet, you are the only line of defence against the unyielding alien bombardment.
CYGNI: All Guns Blazing Gameplay
What I particularly loved about this game is that it’s more than just shooting – while you have unlimited ammo, and a variety of weapons, you need to employ some tactical thinking. You can route energy from defensive systems to offensive ones and must manage this closely to get past the onslaught. Featuring air-to-air combat and air-to-ground attacks CYGNI: All Guns Blazing is a shooter like none other. It’s a shooter for the modern era.
As well as flying your ship in a vertical scroller to dodge ships, attacks and more you also come up across gargantuan bosses in epic space battles.
Once you get used to the controls, the controls are straightforward, and I can’t help but hope that this game has controller and maybe even joystick support on PC. The game is also coming to console so this may be an option if you prefer sticks to mice.
I cannot stress enough how difficult this game is! However, no matter how many times I died in my brief gameplay session I wanted to respawn and try again. Try new maneuvers, weapon types, and tactics. Play with my energy output more and try and beat the alien onslaught. In that respect, CYGNI: All Guns Blazing is addictive.
CYGNI: All Guns Blazing Audio and Visuals
What this game promises, and from the experience I had delivered, is breathtaking visuals. The game is simply stunning and a complete visual and aural feast. To call it cinematic is almost an understatement. The ships are well designed, and the SFX for the weapons is bright and punchy and will come at you from every direction – giving you the sensation of being in the most insane dogfight of all time. The aliens themselves are also unique in design and at no point did the experience feel repetitive.
When you can catch your breath for a moment between onslaughts you can appreciate the equally epic soundtrack.
Final Thoughts and Release Information
This game changes my attitude to bullet hell shooters, maybe I should avoid less of them because CYGNI: All Guns Blazing is shaping up to be a complete next-gen gem. It’s fast, it’s loud, it’s visually stunning and it will test your hand-eye coordination to the next level. Wishlist on Steam now and be ready to lock and load. The invasion is coming!
CYGNI: All Guns Blazing is currently in development and set for release in 2023. The game will be released on PC (Steam), PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.
