CYGNI: All Guns Blazing launches on PS5 on 6 Aug 2024
Meher Kalenderian – CEO and Co-Founder of KeelWorks.
[This article was published on the PlayStation Blog on the 8th of July 2024]
The journey of developing CYGNI hasn’t been easy, especially as a start-up with this being our debut game. Nevertheless, every step of this journey has been filled with passion.
Our inspiration was sparked by the enjoyment we found in playing shoot’em ups on arcade machines in our youth - a fun experience that brought joy to all, regardless of high scores! We aimed to recreate this exhilarating experience using next-gen technology, with the power of the PlayStation 5.
Ava's Fight For Survival:
CYGNI, a planet colonized by humans, thrives on ancient technology found in ruins left by an unknown civilization. These remnants serve as a vital power source and catalyst for technological progress. Our protagonist Ava, a recent recruit in CYGNI’s Air Force, pilots the Orca in a desperate struggle against a sudden, potent attack by bio-mechanical aliens— potentially CYGNI's original inhabitants.
Beyond the Bullets:
ENERGY MANAGEMENT: Switching between shields (health) and weapons (more fire power & missiles) on the fly.
COMBAT: Air-to-Air and Air-to-Ground, 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 your score.
Weapon Enhancement: The upgrade process takes place between stages rather than power-ups within the levels. You can upgrade your weapons and even equip your ship with two additional side-drones.
DESIGNER MODE: Allows players to create, save, and manage projectile patterns on-the-go. This feature adds a layer of customisation and strategy, enabling players to toggle between saved patterns on the go.
THREE DIFFICULTY MODES (Easy, Medium, Hard): “EASY” being more accessible, providing players with three lives per level.
LOCAL Co-op: Players can revive each other at the cost of sacrificing shield points, while enjoying double the firepower.
ARCADE MODE: This is tailored for high-score enthusiasts – In this mode, 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.
INNOVATION WITH INDIE PASSION:
Using our past experiences in filmmaking and animation, we wanted to push the visual storytelling boundaries in CYGNI without compromising gameplay. This includes short cutscenes in-between levels and creating full scale high-quality CG cinematics (Intro and Outro to the game), uncommon to most indie games, and the genre. CYGNI takes full advantage of the PS5’s power and its SSD allowing for crisp visuals, fast loading times and a smooth experience running at 60FPS/4K.
We wanted to create a shoot’em up that’s not entirely a bullet hell experience – sometimes you WILL get hit, but that’s OK! The core gameplay mechanic of balancing your ship’s power between its weapons and shields means you can strategise your offensive vs defensive gameplay (firepower vs. shield). We have utilised the Dual Sense’s directional haptics to help elevate and enhance this in a tactile, but logical way.
CYGNI: All Guns Blazing launches on PS5 next month on August 6th.
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