The new tactical space FPS game Boundary, from Studio Surgical Scalpels, was released into Early Access this morning on Steam, and the reviews are currently mixed. Subject to a slew of negative reviews, most of which criticize some obvious flaws in the game, it’s likely not the reception that the developers were hoping for. So why exactly is Boundary getting review bombed?
For context, Boundary released into Early Access on Steam on April 13. At the time of writing, the game has over 1,700 reviews, 55% of which are positive. The game reached a peak of 24,840 shortly after its release.
Why is Boundary Getting Review Bombed?
Here are the main negative criticisms of Boundary:
- High latency and lack of region lock in matchmaking
- Server errors after every match
High Latency and Region Locking
Several Steam users are complaining about Boundary’s matchmaking and lack of region-locking. Players are often put into games with others that have 300 ms. The cause of the issue appears to be a poorly designed region-based matchmaking system. Currently, players simply choose which regions they want to play on, but the problem is that all regions are selected by default.
The placement of this region option is not exactly obvious, and it should probably default to your closest region since most players won’t even notice it. In its current state, you can expect servers full of players with a mix of 40ms to 300ms. Not ideal for an FPS.
A developer responded to a Steam review complaining about this exact problem, and their solution is to reiterate that players need to select their appropriate regions. Unfortunately, this doesn’t stop other players with high ping from joining your games, lagging around space, and one-shotting you without being visible.
Server Errors
Another criticism is that it’s tough to gain XP. An issue I confirmed myself is that the server seems to error out after nearly every match. Imagine top fragging, only to get to the match results screen and see a server error that prevents you from gaining experience. The result is that it’s nearly impossible to level up your characters and unlock new equipment.
My initial review of the game is that the gunplay feels great, and the mechanics of the grapple and multidirectional movement gel nicely. It’s nice to see an innovative shooter like this hit the market. Unfortunately, online FPS games need reliable, region-specific servers for an enjoyable experience — something Boundary is seriously lacking at the moment.
These two issues seem addressable, but only time will tell if the developers will fix them. If they can iron out the kinks, I believe Boundary may have a promising future.
