CYGNI: All Guns Blazing review

There’s something magical about the way CYGNI: All Guns Blazing plays, despite its unrelenting approach to shoot-em ups. Thousands of alien crafts bombard you throughout the short yet chaotic levels, and while you have seldom opportunities to breathe, the assault on the senses throughout every second of your time in the cockpit is nothing short of sublime. It doesn’t reinvent the genre, but it reminds you why it can be so damn exhilarating, even when you feel as though you could die at any moment.

Caught in an overwhelming war against a biomechanical alien race, you are one of the last bastions of hope for humanity. Every level feels like a suicide missions into enemy territory, with waves of ships firing at you from all angles of the screen. Keep moving, keep shooting, and keep yourself alive. Three simple goals are all you need to focus on, but the way KeelWorks provides such a stunning and exciting experience until the very end is remarkable. While the main campaign is short, the replayability is endless.

There are multiple difficulty levels to test you beyond belief, with badges to collect that always give you something to aim for, and an array of upgrades to your ship that offer new abilities and opportunities to strengthen what is already there. Then there’s the chance to play through the missions with a friend in co-op, adding another layer of thrilling gameplay to proceedings as you dash across the screen in unison with someone else. It helps that CYGNI: All Guns Blazing has such a tight and responsive control scheme, though.

While you can fire at the enemy ships flying around you, you’re also free to switch it up and fire at grounded vehicles that often shoot explosives at you from below. There is always something trying to blow you out of the sky, and while you feel vulnerable, piloting the ship with precision and purpose will keep you alive. Energy is a key resource in CYGNI: All Guns Blazing. When you destroy certain enemies, they’ll drop enemies and this helps to keep your weapons and shields powered up.

There’s one mechanic that offers a simple yet effective strategy for how you play. By pressing the shoulder buttons, you can channel your energy into either fortifying your ship and providing better shielding, or boosting the damage your weapons will end up doing. This can be done at any point, and learning when the best moments to do so can offer some much-needed support for your ship along with some extra bang in your bullets, especially when you come face to face with one of CYGNI’s exceptional bosses.

While the enemy can come in all shapes and sizes, the bosses are pretty special. Gargantuan beings with a range of weapons and offensive strategies make these encounters both terrifying and intense. One boss had huge mechanical tentacles. Another had walls of rocks that acted as a barrier. My favourite was protected by canons strapped to the side of a huge laser beam that could have easily blown Alderaan out of the sky. Each one has a percentage bar that shrinks from 100 to 0, and as it counts down, fights always get more stressful; you just have to hold your nerve until they’re defeated.

CYGNI: All Guns Blazing is gorgeous to look at. Whether that’s in the level design or some of the cutscenes, it’s impressive just how good it looks. Each level is bookmarked with short cutscenes that help to hit home the seriousness of humanity’s last hope. One striking image that still stands out is when I saw that tentacle boss appear suddenly as a shadow in a storm over one of humanity’s bases. The music is also epic, providing full orchestral accompaniment to a raging war from start to finish. I just wish there were more levels and the campaign was a bit longer.

If you’re after an old-school shoot-em-up that stands perfectly with the games of today, CYGNI: All Guns Blazing is wonderful. From thrilling gameplay to striking visuals, it has everything. I do wish the campaign lasted longer as I was thoroughly invested in the story, and I adored the cutscenes. Some of the ground combat isn’t as exciting, and it can be frustrating when you have to switch between blowing up enemies below and surviving the onslaught from the skies. Still, it’s a fantastic shooter that has everything you could possibly want from the genre.