When The Cycle came out in 2019, MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus had a lot of fun with the game. But then it was scrapped and fundamentally revised. He didn’t like the new version at all – until he tried it again. Now he can’t get enough of it.
My biggest mistake in 2022 was reinstalling the MMORPG The Secret World. Perhaps the second biggest was the completely unnecessary purchase of a gaming tablet. And somewhere in the top 5 is The Cycle: Frontier Not to have played earlier than now.
Because damn, the game is really fun! I used to play The Cycle back when it was still an Epic exclusive. In my play test, I was sure that The Cycle could convince everyone with its unique gameplay.
But in 2021 there was a major rework that made The Cycle put a much higher emphasis on PvE. Since I preferred to hunt other players in a duo with a friend or in a trio with the Community & Player Support Lead Florian Rohde, the new direction didn’t suit me at all.
I was correspondingly disappointed when I tested The Cycle 2022 for the first time. Somehow everything was tougher, more boring. Now I spoke to the developers at gamescom 2022 and tried the game again for research. Luckily.
Because now a round of The Cycle is part of my almost every evening ritual after work. Here is the announcement trailer for The Cycle: Frontier:
The Cycle: Frontier gameplay in the trailer
The Cycle: From Pseudo Battle Royale to Tarkov in Space
A little digression on what The Cycle used to be:
In the match itself, new weapons and vehicles could be bought for credits earned while playing. Plus loadouts with suits that had special abilities like improved jumps and things like that. This provided dynamic and exciting PvP battles.
Today, The Cycle: Frontier is a completely different game. There’s still a space station from which all raids are planned, and you’re still supposed to bring back certain items from the inhospitable planet.
The big difference, however, is that there is much more focus on looting. Similar to Escape from Tarkov, the aim is to salvage particularly rare or required items and bring them back safely.
Random events that grab the attention of players and beckon with big rewards are gone – or not yet. But more on that later. The core is about plundering the ruins on Fortuna III and looting materials.
It sounds easy, but it isn’t. Because everything and everyone on this godforsaken planet wants to kill you, including the planet itself. There are tons of NPC monsters lurking around, even the weakest of which will eat your face if you’re not careful.
There are other players out there who may be looking for the same resources as you. But since they’re scarce, there’s bickering. And if that weren’t enough, after a while a storm would come up, making escape temporarily impossible. So time pressure is an additional aggravating factor.
A greater challenge, although PvP is almost entirely absent
What makes The Cycle: Frontier so exciting now is the mix of Tarkov gameplay with a sci-fi setting and elements from the underrated hardcore shooter Hunt: Showdown. Because one of the most important features of the game is the sound.
As in Hunt: Showdown, gunshots and even footsteps can be heard what feels like miles away. If you fight monsters that corner you without a silencer, this will attract players who want to finish you off.
At the same time, you stomp and strum louder when your backpack is heavier and after a sprint, the character has to gasp audibly for air. For icing on the cake there are bloody birds that will startle and screech to reveal your location as you walk by.
I can’t play as ruthlessly as I used to. There are no revives either – if I die, everything that wasn’t in my security bag is gone. And it’s tiny.
The gameplay has become significantly slower, less fast-paced, which is engaging in a different way. There’s always the thrill that someone who heard me might be camping around the corner. The longer I’m on the road, the greater the fear of losing everything.
This paranoia that accompanies me provides me with a permanently elevated level of adrenaline, which in previous versions of The Cycle was only so intense in combat situations. And best of all: A round usually takes about 20-30 minutes. Ideal for a few rounds in the evening.
For the skeptics and experts among you: the TTK, i.e. the time it takes to kill opponents, is relatively high. Good players can still avert an ambush with a bit of luck.
I especially remembered how an apparently experienced player waved at me to give me something. He threw loot on the ground and when I tried to pick it up he stabbed me straight away with his knife.
I haven’t known any friendship in The Cycle since then. Whoever runs in front of me gets a load of shot. Without compromises. And I like the playstyle a lot better than the careful prance around.
I spoke to the developers of The Cycle at gamescom 2022. See our highlights from the fair here:
MeinMMO at gamescom 2022 – These are our highlights
Developers are actively working on the biggest problem: cheaters
Even though I’m really celebrating The Cycle again now, there’s a big problem that annoys even the community. The number of cheaters is a big point of criticism and even I came across at least one player who suspiciously knew where I was sitting.
At gamescom 2022 I had the opportunity to chat briefly with Creative Director Dan Banefelt and Game Designer Armando Gracia. There, the two confirmed to me that exactly this cheater problem will be tackled more intensively with the upcoming Season 2:
We’ll get the big guns out now when it comes to cheaters. […] I can’t talk about exactly what software we’re going to use now, for obvious reasons. […] We ensure that our Auto-Detect becomes more and more reliable. We’re making auto bans more reliable, hardware bans and stuff like that.
Apart from that, we are starting to work with other software that is specifically designed to make cheating hell for cheaters. That it just gets harder, more annoying, less rewarding, less lucrative, takes longer.
Interview with Armando Gracia
According to Gracia, the upcoming new map also plays a major role. It throws the biggest rewards so far, but is not immediately available. You have to play the campaign to unlock them.
Cheaters who create new accounts (“burner accounts”) would not have an easy time here and would not be able to access the new map immediately. The fight against the cheaters would be an ongoing conflict that is constantly being worked on.
In addition to the measures, the future of The Cycle brings some new features, as the two explained to me:
Here’s the trailer for Season 2:
The trailer for Season 2 of The Cycle: Frontier
There are also new weapons in Season 3, but I haven’t found out anything more about them yet. First of all, Season 2 with many new features is scheduled for September 28th. However, it also comes with a wipe – a double-edged sword, I think.
The Cycle periodically clears all progress. Only content bought with real money then remains in the game, everything else has to be played again from 0 onwards. On the one hand, this ensures that the frequent players don’t shoot everyone down immediately. On the other hand, all the work of the last few months is gone.
I don’t know yet how good I think that is. For now though, I think The Cycle: Frontier is great and I’m glad I gave it another try and I encourage everyone to give it a try as well. Even the pros have to start over by September 28 at the latest, so it’s definitely worth taking a look.
By the way, if you like hardcore shooters like Tarkov – and apparently The Cycle – you should also take a look at the new project from the studio behind GTFO:
The new game from the Payday makers relies fully on multiplayer and is said to be “less hardcore”.