Play Station Official Magazine - UK (2019-12)

032

BOUNDARY

Onesmallstepforonlineshooters

tolatchontoa station’shullandzip

tocover,releasingearlyanddirecting

ata tangentseesuszippastthesafe

spotfora tacticalboost.Similarlythe

zero-Genvironmentcanbeharnessed

innewcreativeways:needingtoget

a suit-sealingmedikittoa teammate

withoutleavingcover,weattachit to

anairgunandfireit tothem.

MOONSHOT

Whatreallyaddsa freshlayerof

strategyarethemapenvironments.

Eachis basedarounda spacestation,

andfeaturesmazesofabandoned

containers,metalframework,and

gleamingsolarpanelling.Atfirstwe’re

desperatetofindnooksandcrannies

tohidein,butthisCOD-ismsoon

escapesusasweembracethethree

dimensionsspace-basedcombat

offers. We blast bullets into a solar

panel, shattering it and sending shards

of metal and glass sailing outwards,

handy for clouding our position when

spotted but also leaving a gap we can

boost through and escape.

Even in our short hands-on with

this preview build we’re constantly

discovering new ways to play – and

the addition of motion controller

aiming makes every tracked kill feel

natural. Sharp in its core conceit,

Boundary should be in your orbit.

FORMATPS4/ETA 2020 /PUBHUYA,SURGICALSCALPELS/DEVSURGICALSCALPELS

FACTRICK

Therewillbesixclasses

atlaunch,andeachhas

a uniquespecialability

tomaster.

1.CLASSSIZE

The team is a mere 20 devs,

but they’ve foundtimeto

getthegamerunning

in PSVRtoo.

2.TINYTEAM

Customisationis a bigdeal,

with decals andsuitson

offer. We lovethehelmet-

mounted unicornhorn.

3.UNICORNY?

Above The maps are

impressive when moving,

and one location’s lighting

changes dynamically as you

rotate the Earth, and the sun

sets and rises.

“WE’RE GLIDING IN

THREE DIMENSIONS

• THERE’S NO UP

OR DOWN.”

The real- world aesthetic

ensures this space-bound

shooter has a refreshing

art direction.

We had a taste of zero-gravity

gunplay in Call Of Duty: Infinite

Warfare, but it always felt limited.

That it’s taken three years for

a dev to chew on the problem

of transferring full space-based

first-person shooting into a workable multiplayer

experience suggests it’s no simple feat. But

Surgical Scalpels has done just that.

The premise is simple: two teams shoot it out

amid the floating debris of various space stations

orbiting our blue planet. The final game will feature

around six modes, but for our hands-on

we’re gunslinging in zero-G in 2v2 team

deathmatch. On release Boundary will

support 5v5 in all modes.

What impresses from the get-go is the

ease with which we slip into the rhythm

of the action. We’re spinning and gliding

in three dimensions, rotating the screen to

achieve a perfect line of sight on an enemy

• there’s no up or down, just space – and
  at no point do we feel out of control. Far
  from it; the controls ape Call Of Duty so
  we’re immediately zoned in. Jump and duck
  are replaced with up and down, shoulder
  buttons rotate the screen, while ‘run’ boosts
  forwards. Boundary is instinctive.
  That’s not to say it’s as simple as Call Of
  Duty in a spacesuit, as the game has its own tactical
  rules to master. Gadgets such as EMP projectiles
  will fry a suit’s systems, stalling them and leaving
  us floating helplessly. While the grapple enables us