''The Cycle: Frontier'' (formerly titled ''The Cycle'') is a 2022

first-person shooter First-person shooter (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the protagonist and controlling the pl ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

developed and published by

Yager Development Yager Development GmbH is a German video game developer based in Berlin. History Yager was founded in 1999 by Uwe Beneke, Roman Golka, Philipp Schellbach, Timo Ullmann and Mathias Wiese. They are best known for developing '' Yager'' (2003) a ...

. Yager describes this game as a "competitive quest shooter" and labels it with the cross-genre "PvEvP", a combination of

player versus environment Player versus environment or player versus enemy (PvE, also known as player versus monster (PvM)), is a term used for both single player and online games, particularly MMORPGs, CORPGs, MUDs, other online role-playing video games and survival game ...

and

player versus player Player versus player (PvP) is a type of multiplayer interactive conflict within a game between human players. This is often compared to player versus environment (PvE), in which the game itself controls its players' opponents. The terms are mos ...

. The game was released on

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

via

early access Early access, also known as alpha access, alpha founding, paid alpha, or game preview, is a funding model in the video game industry by which consumers can purchase and play a game in the various pre-release development cycles, such as pre-alph ...

in August 2019, and was launched in full on June 8, 2022.

Gameplay

''The Cycle: Frontier'' is a

, with a play style that's been compared to ''

Escape from Tarkov ''Escape from Tarkov'' is a multiplayer tactical first-person shooter video game in development by Battlestate Games for Windows. The game is set in the fictional Norvinsk region, where a war is taking place between two private military compa ...

''. Set in a future where interstellar travel is possible, the game focuses on a group of humans living on a space station called the ''Prospect Station''. Players take on the role of prospectors; mercenaries tasked with the job of landing on a dangerous planet called Fortuna III. Players have to compete against each other, as well as the unforgiving environment, scavenging loot and completing quests before extracting. Any equipment not insured will be permanently lost in case of death. Three major factions, the Independent Civilian Advisory (ICA), Osiris, and Korolev offer contracts they want the player to complete. Players have the option of dropping solo, in a duo or in trios; and game instances last six hours before refreshing. ''The Cycle: Frontier'' launched with two maps, and has features including crafting, customising load-out and character appearance, as well as a "

battle pass In the video game industry, a battle pass is a type of monetization approach that provides additional content for a game usually through a tiered system, rewarding the player with in-game items for playing the game and completing specific chal ...

" system.

Development

The initial development plans started shortly after Yager had finished working on ''

Dreadnought The dreadnought (alternatively spelled dreadnaught) was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her ...

''. ''The Cycle: Frontier'' ended up being revealed at Gamescom 2018, eight months after. The goal was to combine the narrative with social dynamics. It was released into

on the

Epic Games Store The Epic Games Store is a digital video game storefront for Microsoft Windows and macOS, operated by Epic Games. It launched in December 2018 as both a website and a standalone launcher, of which the latter is required to download and play gam ...

in August 2019. The Steam release initially set for December 2020 was delayed to some time in early 2021 due to changes in development plans and being hindered by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Reception

''The Cycle: Frontier'' received "mixed or average" reviews, according to

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

. ''

PC Gamer ''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games ma ...

'' lamented its formulaic design, writing, "Without any kind of narrative hook or any kind of subversiveness at all, and little moment to moment reward, a list of unlocks can't possibly compel me to invest that kind of time." It gained popularity when played by Summit1g on Twitch.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cycle (video game), The Video games developed in Germany Unreal Engine games Action games Early access video games Windows games Windows-only games Video games set on fictional planets 2022 video games Yager Development games