2020-01-01_PC_Gamer_(US_Edition

Crudely speaking, this is Call of Duty in

zero-G—two teams of five pick loadouts,

jump into a map, and shoot at each other

a bunch... in space. But over the course of

my hands-on, I’m delighted to find that the

setting is far more than just a gimmick.

A generous jetpack allows for all

the freedom of realistic zero-G

movement without any of its

frustrating limitations. Where the

Outer Wilds earlier this year revelled

in the humor and challenge of struggling

against physics, Boundary is more

interested in the possibilities unrestricted

3D movement opens up.

SHOOT FOR THE MOON

Your controls are all grounded in the

familiar. You’re free to move forward, back,

left, and right as normal. To move up, you

press space, as if jumping. To move down,

you press ctrl, as if crouching. You can

even ‘sprint’—actually a little jet boost—for

quick remaneuvering. The only unusual

thing is the ability to spin your body left or

right, allowing you to turn upside-down—

or, rather, to recognize that upside-

downness is relative.

You’re a little cumbersome, but in a

way that’s convincing rather than

annoying—you feel like an astronaut. And

the resulting game isn’t one where speed,

or even a quick aim, are always king.

Because anyone can be anywhere,

there’s a huge emphasis on sightlines.

Hide between chunks of floating

space-station, and you’re relatively safe,

but you’ll struggle to find enemies. Fly out

into the emptier space around the edges

of the map, and you gain a fantastic view

of the action, but you’re also a sitting duck.

Each bullet is modelled with accurate

physics, but in space there’s no bullet

drop, so there’s little safety gained from

distance. Anyone you can see, you can

snipe, even with a lowly pistol. So the trick

is in knowing when to prioritize vision or

cover—and figuring out what cover even is

when enemies can be above and below.

The maps play around with this core

idea brilliantly. One is divided by a huge

field of solar panels, obscuring one half of

the map from the other. But with the

environment being destructible, you can

shoot out segments to create openings to

peek through. In one match I stalk from

‘below’ before bursting up in

ambush—one of the devs identifies it

as “playing like a submarine”.

The emphasis is firmly on

strategy over reflexes, and it’s a

wonderfully mind-bending kind of

strategy. Understanding not only where

you should be at any given moment—and

even which way up you should be—but

also where enemies likely are is a constant

challenge, with a real rush to cracking it.

I’m rubbish at shooters normally, but in

this strange, slightly slower world (or lack

of world), I find myself ruthlessly efficient.

As I hunt around spinning stations, I feel

like some kind of horrible space shark, a

zero-G predator out-maneuvering my prey

until they quite literally don’t know which

way is up. It’s hugely satisfying.

So ‘Call of Duty in zero-G’ is apt, but it

turns out removing one of the essential

forces of the universe from the equation

makes more of a difference than you

might expect. While the gunplay is nothing

new, it’s entirely recontextualized by the

movement and the areas you’re

traversing—and the result is the most

compelling multiplayer game I’ve played

all year.

F

inally, a game brave enough to answer

the question on all of our lips, “What

would happen if there was a gunfight on

the International Space Station?” This

multiplayer shooter tackles its pleasingly silly

premise with a surprising seriousness, kitting out

its astronauts with plausible near-future tech and

maintaining a clean, NASA-appropriate aesthetic.

A multiplayer shooter that thinks

in 360 degrees

BOUNDARY

AS I HUNT AROUND SPINNING

STATIONS, I FEEL LIKE A

HORRIBLE SPACE SHARK

RELEASE

Spring 2020

DEVELOPER

Surgical Scalpels

PUBLISHER

In-house

LINK

surgicalscalpels.com

NEED TO KNOW

PLAYED

IT

Cosmetics and loadouts can

be customized extensively.

Boundary

PREVIEW