I was really enthusiastic to see the gameplay previews of Boundary, and now that it's here, I am hoping this game succeeds. Where a lot of other FPS titles on Steam have brought unique concepts to the table and stumbled in a few key areas (content delivery being a huge issue), I hope Boundary's dev team learns and is able to create a living game that improves over time. So far, I am pleased to see the developers responding to English-language feedback and I hope that continues further into the game's development cycle.

Since Boundary is releasing in Early Access and I'm writing this review on Day 1, I am hoping to write down a few thoughts to inform prospective players. Following are some plusses and minuses that I've experienced in the game as-is:

PROS:
-Delivers fantastically well on the premise. The sound quality is impeccable as well as the visual fidelity, and Boundary is very immersive as a result. You can see tracers and the Sun reflected off your helmet. Your character breathes heavily and you can hear the oxygen rushing out of your suit. Sound doesn't travel in space, and the game is starkly quiet as a result (but still full of rich sound design) I have spent the last hour in game goggling at my surroundings with my headphones at full volume to appreciate what this game has going on. It's really well done in all aspects, including in the menus.
-The game's visual design is great- the UI/HUD elements and ingame assets fit really well with the theme and everything goes together nicely. It remains to be seen where cosmetics will be taken (and I really hope against all odds they stick to the theme of high-tech space).
-The gunplay is extremely satisfying when it's flowing well- when everything clicks it feels really well done. AAA quality for sure.
-The movement is mostly well considered and feels very fluid despite your character being in a clunky spacesuit. The grapple and boost mechanic are great for getting around.
-I appreciate the small aesthetic flairs- the weapon animations are nearly fantastic throughout (with a few small janks here and there), and I am a big fan of the character flairs given to each class.
-Stability is great so far. Have not experienced any frame drops, lags, stutters, or crashes (thank UE4)

CONS:
-The translation quality to English is very poor at this time. A few things remain in Chinese, and the menu elements are pretty poorly translated throughout. The entire game needs a thorough pass by a trained localization team.
-The HUD (ESPECIALLY the customization menu) has some information but is lacking many critical details. I saw a community guide up earlier that EXPLAINED each side pod's function, which is notably lacking from the game itself. Good luck trying to figure out what anything does at this point.
-A lot of gameplay elements are questionably balanced and don't seem to serve a function at this time. For example, there is a medic class but there isn't really a tangible purpose to healing your teammates as everyone is very dispersed around the map- and it's really difficult to land the healing device (?) anyways.
-Some QoL stuff is missing, including what is mentioned above. You can't exit out of a match in the pre-game lobby, and the pre-round timer is too long.
-Some of the maps are not very good. The crash site one invites a lot of pot shots from across the map and a single choke point (a choke point in space! can you believe that?) contains a lot of the fighting.
-Engagement distances are kinda funky as CQC is rare- it's weird to figure out where the shotguns and SMGs will be effective compared to longer-distance weapons.
-For some people, the unlocked axes of movement could probably cause motion sickness.
-Some aspects of the movement are questionable- the landed state is clunky to move to and from, and the momentum brake isn't so useful when you can stop as is. Stick to the grapple for now.
-The tutorials are adequate but leave out lots of helpful info. See above regarding the lack of info in menus.
-The game desperately needs a region lock, and maybe more servers. I am playing against China/SEA players with 300+ ping on a regular basis.


NEUTRAL:
-A lot of the cosmetics in the game so far are directed towards a Chinese audience. Expect a lot of the items ingame right now to seem a bit strange out of context.
-I have heard some reservations from others about the Tencent anticheat but I would wager Tencent has as much data from me as Denuvo and EAC at this point. Download at your peril!!!

OVERALL:

The game is not anywhere near a finished state, which is to be expected in Early Access. I am still really excited to see Boundary improve over time, and I think it has the bones of a very solid, high skill gap, beloved competitive/casual FPS. The developers will undoubtedly encounter rampant sinophobia in a western audience and the challenge will be to warm people up to the unusual concept of space combat, but even in an early state, I can see a lot of love and polish in Boundary.


Verdict: Maybe wait awhile to purchase as the game is pretty unpolished on Day 1. The price is more than reasonable for what's on offer at $25. I will come back to update this review as the game changes.