What Volleyball Unbound is
Volleyball Unbound is a realistic beach volleyball game built around accurate ball physics and precise timing. The spin of the ball is taken into account when calculating its flight, so hitting it cleanly depends on reading the situation and pressing at the right moment, much like on a real court. You have the full range of shots and spikes a real player would use, and the controls are simple to learn but hard to master. There are two control modes: you can control one player at all times, or switch between both players as they touch the ball, which is harder but more intense. The AI has several difficulty settings and behaves like a human opponent: it analyzes your style, guesses your next move, and sometimes makes unforced errors, so repeating the same shot over and over stops working. An emotion system tracks the whole match rather than just the last rally, so crowd and player reactions reflect the actual state of the game, and AI players can become more error-prone in a close match after being intimidated by a block.
Playing together
Party mode lets you run custom tournaments with up to 16 teams on a shared screen, with up to 4 people playing at a time. Formats include single elimination, double elimination, king of the beach, and round robin. Each team can be controlled by two humans, one human, or the AI, so a tournament can be set up for up to 32 human players where four play each match. You can also play cooperatively with a friend. Remote Play Together is supported, and Plug & Play joystick support means most controllers work by plugging them in and pressing a button while the game runs; keyboard is also an option.
Before you start
Career mode is available for both sexes, starting as a local underdog in one of 30 nations. Hundreds of teams compete at dozens of tournaments worldwide; you earn points at national events to qualify for continental ones, then international ones. Between tournaments you can train your team to fix weaknesses, and before each match you can inspect the opposing team's abilities to exploit their gaps. The character editor lets you build players with specific looks and abilities such as jumping height, running speed, stamina, and technique, showing physical facts and athletic results like height, weight, attack reach, sprint, and middle distance as you edit. The game is in Early Access.