CYGNI: All Guns Blazing out in August

It’s fair to say that fans of the arcade shoot’ em up genre haven’t been exactly spoiled for choice over the last few years, especially when it comes to modern, fresh examples of this niche: sure, there’s been a number of remakes of old favorites, as well as a handful of notable efforts to bring something new to the table, but owners of powerful personal computers or home consoles who love these games have yet to see a truly, unmistakably “next-generation” production of this kind. Well, it seems that they won’t have to wait much longer, as CYGNI: All Guns Blazing will be out for the PS5, the Xbox Series and the PC in less than four weeks.

CYGNI was announced back in June 2020 but, with the world going through a pandemic and all, many shoot’ em up fans, yours truly included, kind of forgot about it – until recently, that is, when Scottish developer KeelWorks made a demo of the game available during Steam Next Fest. That’s when the shmup community got to find out just how special CYGNI: All Guns Blazing really is: a cinematic, Unreal Engine-powered, audiovisually spectacular twin-stick vertical shooter looking unlike anything the genre has offered before. A lot has happened in the meantime, obviously – IGN’s developer interview and PlayStation’s Making Of are both worth checking out to know more about KeelWorks’ journey – but gamers should get a good idea of how technologically advanced and masterfully art directed this arcade shoot’ em up is by watching the release date announcement trailer and the Immersion trailer just published, down below.

KeelWorks members note that their inspiration “was sparked by the enjoyment they found in playing shoot’ em ups on arcade machines in their youth: a fun experience that brought joy to all, regardless of high scores”. They aimed to recreate this exhilarating experience using next-gen technology afforded by the power of modern gaming platforms: this allowed them to deliver “a fresh take on the shoot-em-up genre, with an epic story and innovative gameplay features for a new generation of gamers”.

In a post recently published on the official PlayStation blog, KeelWorks outlined the most interesting features of their upcoming game, including:

Energy Management: Switching between shields (health) and weapons (more firepower/missiles) on the fly.

Combat: Air-to-air and air-to-ground combat includes a real-time crowd system – not just a background prop; they are gameplay-related, where players can interact with allied forces on the ground. This mutual assistance is not only crucial for gameplay but also aids in obtaining pickups and increasing the players’ score.

Weapon Enhancement: Players can upgrade and prepare their weapons (even equipping their ships with two additional side-drones) before engaging in battle.

Designer Mode: Allows players to create, save, and manage projectile patterns on the go. This feature adds a layer of customization and strategy, enabling players to toggle between saved patterns on the go.

Three Difficulty Modes: Easy (being more accessible, by having 3 lives per level) Medium and Hard.

Local Co-Op: Players can revive each other at the cost of sacrificing shield points, while enjoying double the firepower.

Arcade Mode: Tailored for high-score enthusiasts. Players start from Level 1 and continue to the game’s end without any interruptions or cutscenes, but with only one life. This mode caters to those who enjoy a relentless challenge, and the highest scores can be recorded on global online leaderboards.

Colossal Bosses: CYGNI features large bosses each with their own unique combat mechanics, providing players with challenging and memorable battle experiences.

CYGNI: All Guns Blazing is published by Konami and will be available for the PS5, Xbox Series S/X and PC on August 6th for $29.99/€29.99. It’s currently available to preorder at a discount on Steam and the Xbox Store, while PlayStation Plus subscribers get 10% off by preordering it on the PlayStation Store. It promises a smooth 4K/60 FPS experience and full DualSense support for the PS5 version of the game, whereas the PC version’s system requirements seem to be rather reasonable according to the title’s store page on Steam – so it should not be hard for many PC gamers to match or exceed what the PS5 version promises.

Yours truly is excited to find out whether the gameplay, controls and content variety of CYGNI: All Guns Blazing match its amazing visuals and soundtrack, so stay tuned.