The Cycle Frontier Review

Venturing into the frontier of The Cycle Frontier is an absolutely wild ride. Never have I been so utterly enthralled with my environment while also being so afraid for my life. The surface of Fortuna III is brutal and unforgiving but heartbreakingly beautiful. Looking at the promotional material for the game, it was difficult to understand why it wasn’t more popular. So, despite the genre not really being in my wheelhouse, I went for my first landing.

The premise of the game is simple enough, you’re a prospector that has come to work on a planet, known for its abundant natural resources, that was the victim of a massive radioactive storm. Abandoned settlements, construction zones, laboratories, and so on are ripe for looting but you aren’t the only one that’s come sniffing. You drop down onto the surface to scavenge for treasures but as it’s PvPvE it’s not only the natural wildlife that threatens you.

Speaking of the natural wildlife, Fortuna III is home to a few pretty nasty beasts. I will say I am disappointed in the number of creatures there are. It’s difficult to complain too much as the design is incredible and they are well made but there are only five species that you will come into contact with. The environment and map design are excellent, and the assets and textures they’ve used are truly very high quality. Finding secret caves and making your way through abandoned buildings is the highlight of the game as it is easy to tell how much effort has gone into their design.

It is unfortunate that after the initial awe of your first landing and encounters it becomes quite monotonous. It does not take long before you’ve seen pretty much all there is and you won’t be surprised anymore. In general, there is a definite focus on quality over quantity and, in my opinion, The Cycle Frontier has swung too far in just one direction.

As far as playable content goes, you get missions from the three factions in the hub and you can explore the three worlds (once you’ve unlocked them) for resources, killing monsters as you go. That pretty much sums up the PvE content though. It doesn’t take long before the limited content becomes fairly boring which has created a strong leaning towards PvP for most long-term players.

The further in I get, the more I understand why this wasn’t as big of a hit as it could have been.

At the very least so far I have not encountered any major bugs, a few audio glitches and empty mineable rocks but nothing that would majorly detract from my enjoyment. What does interfere with many players’ ability to enjoy themselves is the amount of cheaters and hackers. It is a regular complaint amongst players that they are being placed in unfair matchups. To ensure there are no queue times there is an instance system in place so you can drop in instantly, which is great, but has created a new problem of a major disparity in skill. High-level players, as well as those using cheating systems, have free range to pick on new and lower-skilled players, which understandably makes them reluctant to return.

I suppose the best comparison I can think of is The Cycle Frontier is like one of those absolute masterpieces of a cake that looks incredible but when you bite into it you discover it’s 90% fondant (barely edible playdoh). Overall it simply feels like an unfinished, early-access game that just doesn’t have the early-access tag. It is free-to-play and a fun experience so can’t be too harsh on it. Not to mention the developers do seem to be tackling the game’s various issues and are actively improving it over time, so there’s hope.