Undeniably, the shoot ‘em up genre has marked an entire category of gamers, which coincides with the older ones; equally undeniable, the genre has run its course, especially in arcades, and now remains bound to a very narrow niche of enthusiasts. With the intention of satisfying the former, but also of not discouraging newcomers, the very small team at KeelWorks has thought of CYGNI All Guns Blazing, which is being published right now by Konami on PC and current generation consoles (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, but not on Nintendo Switch). Explaining what it is about is very simple: there’s a shuttle that continuously shoots, moves vertically on the screen, and opens fire on other alien ships; you’ve probably seen a myriad of similar titles in the past. But CYGNI All Guns Blazing is different, and focuses especially on three specific elements: the scenery, the technical aspects, and the complexity/depth of the gameplay. We recount it in our review.
CYGNI All Guns Blazing: like in an arcade, but more complex
Playing CYGNI All Guns Blazing evokes the experiences of arcades from the ’80s and ’90s, but it is undeniably more complex, and for some, “complex” perfectly combines with another adjective, “satisfying.” The immediacy is the same as many similar shoot ’em ups, but even the atmosphere, more serious and solemn, frames everything in a different light. In fact, it is impossible to start playing by launching the first level. Much better, if not strictly necessary in this case, to launch the tutorial first, which introduces not only the basic commands but also the specific mechanics of the production. In CYGNI All Guns Blazing, it may seem that possessing a good dose of reflexes and shooting at everything that moves on the screen is enough; however, the basic mechanics of the genre have been revised and somehow customized by the developers.
For example, the energy of the main shuttle – which has the curious acronym referred to as ORCA – can be redirected from the weapons to the defensive shield and vice versa. The role of both elements is obvious: the power of the weapons affects the amount of damage per second inflicted on enemies, but the shield is equally important because it protects against alien assaults before the shuttle is directly disintegrated onscreen (which leads immediately to game over, requiring a restart from the beginning of the level). Now, when you collect an energy power-up on screen (because it’s already present, or as drops from enemies), you have the option, at any time, by pressing the rear triggers on PlayStation 5, to “shift” the energy from the weapons to the shield, and/or vice versa. The amount of available energy is indicated by small light bars. What will be your approach? Offensive and boldly hostile, or cautious and wisely defensive? CYGNI All Guns Blazing aims to enhance your personal play style.
How to play: from minor enemies to bosses
In the element just described lies a great part of the complexity of CYGNI All Guns Blazing, which, however, is not limited to this aspect. The alternation between minor enemies and bosses complicates things significantly, and while on one side it recalls the classic structure of the genre’s forebears, on the other it encourages a “studied” progression through the individual levels of play (which are not very many, and anyway less than ten). Since once the ORCA is destroyed, players are forced to restart the entire session from the beginning, it’s obvious that players must study the behaviors of individual enemy ships, their positions, their resilience, and their synergies with the level bosses. Because there is always one, and it’s big, aggressive, and full of health; furthermore, it has specific attack patterns and vulnerabilities, as well as the possibility of being hit only by meeting certain conditions (specific weapons, openings, timing for recovery, and so on).
Both the encounters with the minor enemies in CYGNI All Guns Blazing and with the bosses utilize another aspect that adds complexity to the nature of the product, namely the alternation between standard cannons (which hit airborne enemies) and ground weapons (which can only inflict damage to ground-positioned enemies). Let’s clarify: the worlds of CYGNI All Guns Blazing, thanks to the graphic-technical aspects and a scenic artistic production, present a “vertical depth,” with some elements located at ground level and others in flight (the ORCA, of course, is always airborne). This justifies the alternation between two secondary weapons, which can fire simultaneously, or at alternating moments, at the two specific types of opponents: those in flight and those on the ground. However, both types must be annihilated, as both will always attempt to bring down the player’s shuttle simultaneously. For the bosses, the situation is more complex, as at the same time or at different times they can be wounded by one or both specific types of weapons. To this are added the special variants, like guided rockets (which remain a separate matter and are available in very limited numbers, as they are stronger than the standard arsenal).
Technical, but also scenic
Not that CYGNI All Guns Blazing couldn’t run on “old generation” consoles, but in our opinion, the launch on PC and concurrently on current generation consoles – PlayStation 5 and various Xbox, with the noticeable absence of only Nintendo Switch – has a symbolic meaning; in some way, it emphasizes that it is a title with notable technical aspects and significant graphics, while undoubtedly falling within a genre that is known to be well-crafted but certainly not considered “heavy” in terms of content or graphics.
In reality, the scenic care of the production seems to justify having done things on a grand scale because CYGNI All Guns Blazing is truly well-crafted and detailed in every aspect; moreover, while it guarantees high graphic quality, it must also maintain the rock-solid 60 fps, the care of the backgrounds, the numerous enemies onscreen, in truly frantic situations where reflexes are almost never sufficient to save your skin. All this attention is remarkable and evident from the start, but sometimes it reflects in a certain repetitiveness of the backgrounds, environments, and situations, as well as in the overall confusion, which veterans will be quite accustomed to (indeed, for them, confusion will even be an essential requirement linked to vertical shoot ’em ups). Overall, it is precisely to old-school players that the experience of CYGNI All Guns Blazing seems to be directed from the outset, although we also recommend that all other curious players give it a look.
That CYGNI All Guns Blazing constitutes the future of the shoot ‘em up genre seems a bit far-fetched, but undoubtedly the title reaches some significant heights within the genre, which could serve as a starting point for future developments of other productions. The complexity of the gameplay in the alternation of airborne and ground weapons, along with the management of energy between defensive shields and weapons, for example, is an innovative and notable aspect to which also ties the ability to customize the firing pattern of the weapons (available, however, once the main adventure is completed). The story mode is short (but it exists, which is not a given), as is the entire production, and sometimes the confusion takes over, especially in delicate situations that require millimeter precision to stay alive. Perhaps a greater accessibility and the ability to select lower difficulty levels would have been beneficial, as would a learning curve that did not clearly model itself after the more skilled players in the genre. But beyond what can be improved or revised, CYGNI All Guns Blazing is satisfying, fun, and works well… in fact, extremely well.