Cygnus Racing League is another attempt at a vehicle based Battle Royale Game. The best one was probably 'Not my Car Battle Royale', even though the less traditional 'Eliminator Mode' from the Forza Horizon games could be mentioned as well. The only thing safe to say is, that Cygnus Racing League doesn't live up to them. In comparison to most other vehicle based BRs, you control a futuristic spaceship, instead of a car or a boat, in Cygnus. You can also aim and shoot freely during the races. This is in fact the very point of the races. Players will not only have to be the fastest, they also have to take out as many opponents as possible.
Here however lies my fundamental problem with Cygnus Racing League. The gameplay is just not very good. I am not immune to the charm of the game. Cygnus Racing League looks like a teenager's vision of a cool racing game with lasers. The problem however is, that creating a good racing game with a decent combat system is a very difficult task. There is a reason why practically nobody has managed to create such a thing so far. There are racing games with combat elements, but these are often less direct or at least involve some kind of aim assist system.
In Cygnus Racing League however I already have enough problems with just staying on track. The tracks are short, curves and corners are frequent, and the acceleration of the vehicles is really fast. The vehicles are generally very sensitive, reacting very strongly to any movement input. Therefore I had a difficult time in trying to not run out of the track, while all the Bots seemed to drive perfect laps without any struggles. Just racing would consequently already be difficult, but trying to use the free aim system, while keeping your vehicle on track, managed to be an absolute hassle. Even when driving rather slowly (for this fast paced game) I would have a difficult time in hitting enemies. Aiming, while driving quickly, on the other hand was completely impossible, unless you only wanted to shoot right in front of you, but even than you would have to fight the movement controls.
There are 10 different tracks, which look quite different. That being said the visuals are also rather bare-bones in this game. In the late 90s this would have been an under average looking game. In 2022, it is obviously completely outdated. I understand that Cygnus began it is life as a mobile game, but even on mobile devices it should be among the ugliest games. The track design also leaves much to be desired. The circuits are just way too small for such a fast paced game. A race lap usually doesn't take more than 20 seconds. Bigger and better circuits could have helped in hiding the game's flaws in the gameplay department.
There is at least a decent variety of vehicle models (6) and tracks to play on for a smaller game. You can play with 64 different players or Bots (much more likely). It is however quite questionable whether Cygnus actually qualifies to be a Battle Royale game. The devs classify it that way, but I don't really see the required elements. At the end only 1 driver wins, but all drivers can respawn after being taken out, while only receiving point penalties. Ultimately the win isn't determined by survival, but by the point score, which consists of completed laps and destroyed opponents. Therefore I would call this game more of a race combat game, than a vehicle based BR.
Pro:
- Cool concept (Futuristic racer with combat elements)
- Halfway decent variety of tracks and vehicles (for a small game)
Contra:
- Oversensitive movement
- Awful aiming system
- Neither real Racing nor Battle Royale
- Tracks design is subpar (tracks are too short)
- Severely outdated visuals
Result:
Cygnus Racing League has a very cool concept of racing in spaceships and battling each other in a big Battle Royale Race. In reality however Cygnus fails in execution. Movement and aiming feel awful and the game looks pretty hideous. Not every cool concept turns into a cool game. When looking at videos, I thought the gameplay might be fun, but in reality it was not.
2.5/10
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