Bound (2016)

Bound (2016)

Genre: Platform / Art Game  |  Players: 1  |  Developer: Plastic

I avoid video game sales charts because they tend to paint a bleak picture of the hobby. Truly innovative games occasionally break though the COD and FIFA lines but they never stay around for long, and within a few weeks they're usually gone. It's not a situation unique to games - movies and music charts are the same. The companies that can afford to spend millions on advertising reap the biggest returns. The little guy gets stomped on. It's the old story, retold year after year.

But there's a flip side, a small number of people who dare to risk hard-earned cash on something new and different that carries a risk factor because they believe that fresh experiences are more precious than any value placed on currency. I count myself amongst their numbers, which brings me to Bound.

I doubt it sold enough to win a place on the charts, but that doesn't mean it's bad. It's as niche as they come. You control a female dancer who's more graceful when she falls than I am when I'm standing. You guide her through a conceptually bizarre series of levels that are constantly shifting form. It's as if the world is there insofar as the raw materials are in place, but they only arrange themselves into the proper order when you proceed towards or dance through them.

It's a bold approach, and I admit a little gimmicky, but it works! The mo-cap movement (of dancer Maria Udod, she deserves a mention) is fluid, engaging and altogether mesmerising. There's a mixture of ballet and modern dance, and that's as far as my knowledge of the subject goes; there may well be many other types in there that I've never heard of.

-Almost every moment is a stunning photo opportunity.-

It's beautiful to look at. All images on this page (with the exception of the title image) are captured via the in-game camera. I've added the gorgeous film grain filter, but otherwise that's how the game looks, there's no HUD, no collectables counter, etc. (I played the game as it was designed to be played, in one unbroken and uninterrupted sitting. On my second playthrough I went crazy with photo mode, with 54 pics saved in a folder by the time I was halfway through!)

In a further break from the norm, you don't kill enemies in the traditional sense, although there are things to be avoided or conquered. Your goal is somewhat mysterious, so I'm not going to elaborate on the plot any further other than to say it isn't particularly deep, but like I mentioned above, the value of something will vary for each person. I didn't feel shortchanged at all.

-There's a darker side to the world that the dancer inhabits.-

It's a linear journey but you're allowed to choose the order in which you experience the various moods, and there's always more than one route to take through a level, some of which are difficult to find. It doesn't punish you for trying, there's no health bar or finite number of lives, so you're free to experiment; fall off a ledge and you'll be put back to the last checkpoint.

A game awash with breathtaking colour and metaphor needs a suitably beautiful soundtrack to accompany it, and in that Bound delivers again. Music is by Heinali (Oleg Shpudeiko); it's a layered and reactive work that acknowledges and supports both the changing themes of the game and the player's journey through it, transitioning seamlessly from minimalist to soaring (piano and electronics) as you dance from area to area at your own preferred pace.