Boundary – Spotlight

Boundary is a cooperative first-person shooter set in outer space. It really is as easy to understand as that explanation. You’ll learn the fundamentals of gunplay, equipment use, and—most importantly—traversal over the course of four brief sessions. Due to the lack of gravity in space, Boundary is played somewhat differently from your normal first-person shooter, to its undeniable benefit.

You’ll drift around a lot in a match, bump into random structures, and accidentally aim up at a similarly disoriented opponent the moment you jump in. The designers have done a fantastic job of transforming spacewalking into fun first-person shooting mechanics. You can now barrel roll in either direction by pressing the appropriate buttons, and traditional sprinting has been replaced by a burst of O2 that launches you in a designated direction.

Even though it’s still in Early Access, the game’s gunplay seems polished and responsive. Bullets will be sprayed in a tight formation from assault rifles, and tiny asteroids will be fired from a large machine gun into the blackness of space. The difference between the finest players and complete failure lies in their ability to land shots, which requires a fair bit of talent due to the need of understanding where to aim and taking travel speed into account.

Boundary is quite rapid in terms of its mechanics. Firefights erupt like a matchstick meeting an aerosol can, and combat engagements are common. This game raises the bar for how far circle strafing can take you during encounters, if you thought it was low before. It’s terrible and fantastic in equal measure, but it will drive you crazy as you launch your conflict into deep space.

There are up to six different types of fighters to choose from before each encounter. Normal fare like assault equivalents, snipers, medics, tanks (called Forts), scouts, and stealthers. Weapons and basic gear for each class are distinct. The first weapon used by the assault class is an EMP grenade, which interferes with the enemy’s movement and controls, while Fort uses an ADS grenade to designate his adversaries.

The choice of class is crucial for customising the game to your preferences, as each has its own unique set of attributes in terms of health, armour, and mobility. Fort may be crucial in Domination, but unnecessary in the search-and-destroy equivalent, Purge, therefore choosing a game mode might add another layer of strategy to this option. It adds a fun aspect to games as opposing teams try to counteract the advantages your own side has.

One problem I’ve seen with the system so far is that snipers tend to dominate the options available. Because there is no air resistance in space, they can kill you with a single shot and attack you from wherever on the battlefield. Everywhere has a clear view, as the map is also space.

There are also issues with team balance. As Boundary does not rebalance sides mid-match, it is not uncommon for matches to have one-sided battles, such as the time I and another player took repeated hits from a team of five. In addition, any existing skill-based matchmaking systems should be launched to the farthest reaches of the cosmos. It became a nuisance to play because of how skillfully unfair some matchups were. Matches are currently not always even, however this may even out as the player count increases.

There is a significant lot of space battle to be had, with 7 terrain, 5 game modes, and 6 classes of astro soldier now accessible. However, each mode is obviously based on dozens of previous first-person shooter variations. Search and Destroy, Sabotage, and a Rush/Conquest analogue join fan favourites like Team Deathmatch and Domination.

The modes are enjoyable and do what they’re supposed to do. Because of the positions of the space stations and the 360 degree rotation, the map design is unexpectedly engaging. A few goals, especially in Domination and the rush mode, feel unfairly weighted towards one team and may use some tweaking. There were a few instances of bottlenecked objective locations, but these were actually quite exciting, allowing for the kind of spontaneous pandemonium that is typically reserved for multiplayer first-person shooters.

After enjoying the game for a while, though, I began to feel the lack of variety in locations, game modes, and even weapons and equipment. Obviously, a lot of work remains to be done before Boundary’s final release, but the current build shows a lot of promise for what’s to come. At least six hours of fun might be had here if you’re really into the mechanics, but I imagine many people will become bored quickly until more is added.

The game has solid progression systems, which is a plus. You gain experience and levels in both your overall rank and specific weapons and soldier types while playing any class. As you go through the game, you’ll gain access to a wide variety of new weapons, armour, and other goodies. Boundary’s “pick 10” style customization system allows players to explore and tinker with their characters by combining weapons, attachments, and equipment up to a maximum of 20 points.

Boundary, like many games in Early Access, lacks the meaty material necessary to stand the test of time as a competitive first-person shooter (FPS) option. However, if you’re a huge fan of the genre, you should give it a shot because the gameplay, story, and gunplay are all solid.

One of the most important aspects of a video game set in space is conveying the feeling of weightlessness and the ambiance of the limitless nothingness. This boundary slams into it like a black hole colliding with matter. The visuals are stunning, with lighting that shimmers across every surface, planets that tower over the engagement arena with momentum, and bullet tracers flaring across the spotless space stations you’ll be traversing.

It’s so stunningly gorgeous that I lost consciousness on more than one occasion, staring in awe at the artistry on display. Shooting through glass solar panels and swooping into internal hallways via ducts are two examples of the dynamic aspects that provide a grounded realism to an otherwise otherworldly encounter.

Because you’re in space, the only sounds you’ll hear are beeps and garbled noises coming from the ISS itself. While the lack of an epic backing track at the climactic climax of a match can feel like a missed opportunity, I believe it is a necessary sacrifice to keep the theme of isolation and the expanse of space intact.

Boundary is currently performing exceptionally well for an Early Access release. The action is crisp and exciting, the visuals are breathtaking, and the feel of outer space is perfectly conveyed. However, there are a few drawbacks, including balancing issues, a lack of persistent content, and a steep learning curve for novice players.

I also experienced a handful of problems, one of which caused my game to freeze before the start of a round, and another in which I kept annoyingly cutting into a certain wall. Getting some insanely bad pings from other players, causing instances where I’d plainly be blasting their suits apart only to somehow finish up drifting lifelessly into space, is the largest problem it needs to fix. Oh, and the pairing off, that needs to be fixed immediately.

On the surface, that seems like a lot of concerns, but I expect that many of them, especially the smaller ones, will be resolved in the next weeks and months. Since Boundary’s space station is fundamentally sound and aesthetically pleasing, its current problems fade in comparison to the wonder of interplanetary gun battles.