Bound

 PlayStation 4
User Score
7.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 155 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 81 out of 155
  2. Mixed: 47 out of 155
  3. Negative: 27 out of 155

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  1. arfashnarfer
    Nov 23, 2016
    3
    Pro:
    Graphics - The art style is great. I really like how the whole world moves as you move.
    Cons: Story - This game is the most pretentious game I've played since The Witness, but unlike the Witness, which was fun, this game is not. At all. Gameplay - This game is so boring. Just so unbelivably boring and easy. You walk around at an incredibly painfully mindnumbingly slow pace and    Pro:
    Graphics - The art style is great. I really like how the whole world moves as you move.

    Cons:
    Story - This game is the most pretentious game I've played since The Witness, but unlike the Witness, which was fun, this game is not. At all.
    Gameplay - This game is so boring. Just so unbelivably boring and easy. You walk around at an incredibly painfully mindnumbingly slow pace and do some very basic platforming. That's the whole game. It never adds anything in or gets any harder. Every level is indistinguishable from the others.    … Expand
  2. hoogafanter
    Nov 16, 2017
    4
    Beautiful game. Absolutely gorgeous. The graphics are so nice I regularly would stop and just take it all in. Now I'm sure you hear that alot during reviews, but this is rare for me. I'm not a graphics whore and rarely appreciate landscapes like those who praise witcher 3 and whatnot. However this game was an exception due to it's incredibly unique art style, and the flawless execution ofBeautiful game. Absolutely gorgeous. The graphics are so nice I regularly would stop and just take it all in. Now I'm sure you hear that alot during reviews, but this is rare for me. I'm not a graphics whore and rarely appreciate landscapes like those who praise witcher 3 and whatnot. However this game was an exception due to it's incredibly unique art style, and the flawless execution of said style...

    Tight and unique controls as well. You always feel like you are in full control, most impressively during camera angle changes which usually screw things up in most games. The only control flaw would be no fault of the game's at all, the R2 button on the Dual Shock 4 being so sensitive. You simply can't rest your finger on there without accidentally pressing it and dancing for no reason. Otherwise, control is practically flawless...

    Music is also great. Nothing super spectacular, but it does have a great habit of picking up and following what's happening on screen. It adds to the "wonder" element of going through these cool looking(albeit repetitive) areas. It does however also have a habit or abruptly changing at weird times due to the same mechanics, so it can be wierd when that happens...

    But that's pretty much where the praise ends. There basically is no gameplay, just moving forward with the odd jump every now and then. Do not be fooled by those calling this a platformer. There is more platforming in the first level of super mario bros than in this whole game combined. And if you fail, you start at the exact same place you failed, meaning the few jumps you may accidentally miss due to nodding out falling asleep at this snoozefest are meaningless. You literally just go through the motions moving forward. There is more gameplay in the carrying ladders sections in the last of us than in this entire game...

    All to present a rather silly and pretentious story. I get that it resonates with some people so they may enjoy that aspect, but this is a video game, not the sundance film fabulous festival. This is more of an art piece than a video game. Something that fits better in a museum or gallery than a digital download game store. I was able to play this game "free" via PSplus, and it was certainly worth the short time I spent on it. It's not worth money at all though, maybe 5 bucks tops if you are extremely bored and want to try something different that you can run through with zero effort...    … Expand
  3. Underpants158
    Aug 18, 2016
    4
    PROS:
    -Artstyle.
    -The dancing is pretty CONS: -Controls: it is like they had intended to create a platformer but the controls were so cumbersome that they just decided to go with walking simulator. For example there was a part where I couldn't run jump from one beam to another. I tried multiple times and I made sure I hit jump at just the right moment but it never worked. I had to go    PROS:
    -Artstyle.
    -The dancing is pretty

    CONS:
    -Controls: it is like they had intended to create a platformer but the controls were so cumbersome that they just decided to go with walking simulator. For example there was a part where I couldn't run jump from one beam to another. I tried multiple times and I made sure I hit jump at just the right moment but it never worked. I had to go to the edge of the beam, stop, and jump forward. Why? Idk. Then there is one section (one small section!) in the game that is straight up a platforming section in the midst of this walking simulator and it handles like crap. The camera is fighting you and the jumps are inconsistent. There are ribbons at the end of each level that you slide down and you quickly realize you don't need to control it. You can move yourself around the ribbon but there is no point! Put the controller down and gawk. So pretty right? What really annoys me most about this game compared to similar games like Journey and Abzu is the illusion of gameplay. Just be a walking simulator. This half hearted attempt is doing you no favors.
    -Enemies are more accurately described as environmental hazards. The cure? Dance! You hold R2 and nothing can hurt you. The dancing actually has no gameplay purpose it's solely there to communicate to you something about the story. Dancing just slows you down and the necessity for it becomes annoying
    -The story is so simple a child, albeit a slightly disturbed child, could write it. Even the scant dialogue is right out of a 3rd graders storybook project.

    Conclusion: I really disliked this game. Nearly every aspect. I'm not a fan of the genre, walking simulator, but I don't actively hate on it. The "emotional" story is cheesy, the controls are cumbersome, the style is directionless, and the dancing feels tacked on so as to seem more artistic.    … Expand
  4. torq314
    Aug 21, 2016
    3
    One of the gaming disappointments of the year. A game that promises so much and delivers so little.

    In its core, it is a platform game with unpolished mechanics. You move, jump and occasionally climb ladders. You barely need to dance, only when attacked you hold R2 for a moment and the danger goes away. The path is linear, not much to explore sideways. Sometimes you need to jump between    One of the gaming disappointments of the year. A game that promises so much and delivers so little.

    In its core, it is a platform game with unpolished mechanics. You move, jump and occasionally climb ladders. You barely need to dance, only when attacked you hold R2 for a moment and the danger goes away. The path is linear, not much to explore sideways. Sometimes you need to jump between several narrow platforms and possibly die multiple times as the object detection just doesn't work perfectly here. Although a missed jump and a death just restarts you in a nearest spot, it just introduces an unwanted frustration.

    The art. style is somewhat specific. The surroundings is mostly built with cubes of different sizes that constantly pulse with waves and various shades of the gray colour. This looks beautiful, for like first 10 minutes and then you start to realize something is missing - it is the diversity. Name any top platform game and you have light, shadow, platforms, water, enemies, puzzles. Bound doesn't have any of these. There are short sequences between levels where you fly around messy polygons and as you fly, they form a static scene depicting a family in their daily activities. This was supposed to tell a story but unfortunately much of the story you tell to yourself on your own. And it's just ordinary and kind of boring.

    There are other indie games that will steal your hear. Bound isn't among them.    … Expand
  5. drlowdon
    Jun 26, 2018
    3
    Even just playing on a normal TV, as I did, Bound is a visually striking game that looks unlike anything I’ve ever seen before and I imagine it must look stunning using PlayStation VR. Unfortunately the game itself is incredibly dull offering no sort of challenge or anything resembling creativity when it comes to the actual platforming gameplay. I tried to stick this one out for as long asEven just playing on a normal TV, as I did, Bound is a visually striking game that looks unlike anything I’ve ever seen before and I imagine it must look stunning using PlayStation VR. Unfortunately the game itself is incredibly dull offering no sort of challenge or anything resembling creativity when it comes to the actual platforming gameplay. I tried to stick this one out for as long as possible but I’d had more than enough after little more than an hour or so.… Expand
  6. micbrc
    Jan 27, 2019
    4
    Only worth playing on psvr and you picked it up during its appearance on PS plus.

    The visuals are pretty cool especially with the use of VR but that's where the praise ends the controls are a little wonky and the story is a bit pardon the pun paper thin. Essentially the story tries to be thoughtful and intelligent but it's not even close to that and as it unwinds accords it's 1 hour    Only worth playing on psvr and you picked it up during its appearance on PS plus.

    The visuals are pretty cool especially with the use of VR but that's where the praise ends the controls are a little wonky and the story is a bit pardon the pun paper thin.

    Essentially the story tries to be thoughtful and intelligent but it's not even close to that and as it unwinds accords it's 1 hour and 30 minute playthrough you find yourself thinking the entire concept just doesn't work

    It's incredibly short I literally played the entire game on my first run-through reaching a time of 1 hour and 30 minutes.

    Overall it's just ok as a free third person platformer with a weird twist that just tried so hard to be artistic the VR comfort options are also fairly decent so plus marks for that.    … Expand
  7. njja02
    Jun 17, 2018
    2
    It looks nice (in the dream world) and the animations were fantastic...however, everything else was so boring that I almost fell asleep while "playing". All you do is walk in this game. You walk through the same locations over and over until the end, that's it. Sure, there is a story of sorts, but it never drew me in at all. Especially because the story cut scenes and "game-play" sectionsIt looks nice (in the dream world) and the animations were fantastic...however, everything else was so boring that I almost fell asleep while "playing". All you do is walk in this game. You walk through the same locations over and over until the end, that's it. Sure, there is a story of sorts, but it never drew me in at all. Especially because the story cut scenes and "game-play" sections were horrendous in game-play and in the way they looked. Don't recommend this at all.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

87
#87 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2016

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
71

Mixed or average reviews - based on 62 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 62
  2. Mixed: 35 out of 62
  3. Negative: 2 out of 62
  1. CD-Action
    Nov 18, 2016
    45
    Mocap team, the dancer and the choreographer did a great job, and it’s a pity their effort was wasted on such a mediocre game. [11/2016, p.58]
  2. Games Master UK
    Nov 9, 2016
    65
    A remarkable visual experience paired with an average game that is sometimes less than fun to play. [Nov 2016, p.74]
  3. games(TM)
    Oct 26, 2016
    70
    As a game, Bound is clearly flawed – its structure, however, is excellent and well realised to support multiple playthroughs with noticeably different experiences – but as an experience, as a piece of interactive art, it’s frequently sensational.
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