Volume Reviews

  • Titanium DragonTitanium Dragon154,829
    17 Sep 2016
    2 0 0
    An adequate but unexceptional top-down stealth game. You play Rob Loxley, a punnishly named spoiled rich kid who has found a Volume and is using it to FIGHT THE POWER of the government by starting up a video stream of him going through simulated environments and stealing from various places owned by Gisborne and his allies, a man who has conquered England via a coup and has a totalitarian regime which eliminates anyone who dares to defy him.

    All in all, this is a pretty minimalist game; the levels aren’t too large, generally things you can beat in 5 minutes or less. There are 100 of them, and in total the game takes about six and a half hours to beat – or seven and a half to get all the achievements.

    As the game is entirely composed of simulated environments, the game gets away with very simplistic graphics – but the levels do end up looking pretty samey after a while. There is some variation, but it is very minor, and ultimately there isn’t that much to look at here.

    The upside is that the very clean graphics make it very clear exactly what is going on – everything in the game is very clearly marked, including vision zones of enemies, shadows you can hide in, places you can duck behind vs walls which totally block line of sight, hidey-holes you can hide in, ect.

    Your goal in each level is to collect a number of floaty diamonds, representing… a wide variety of things. They use the same thing in every level, missing out on the opportunity for different mission objectives.

    Instead, all of the variation comes in the form of the hazards you face in the levels. New hazards are introduced on a regular basis, and while there aren’t very many enemy types, the game still manages to mix things up with a variety of environmental hazards to contend with or things which can help you hide. There are also a variety of devices, ranging from a couple variants on enemy stunners, a cloaking device, a disguise which won’t hide you from dogs but will trick other enemies, footpads which prevent you from setting off noisy pressure plates and also allow you to run faster, and a couple of ranged noisemakers.

    All in all, the levels present fairly reasonable challenges, and the game doesn’t feel overlong or overstay its welcome. That being said, there isn’t that much variation in the end, and the earlier portions of the game at times felt a bit samey and tedious as a result.

    The story of the game is passable, but only about once every five to ten levels do you get any sort of voiceover conversation – it is fairly minimal in that regard after the early game, which is rather disappointing, especially as you approach the end of the game. There are a few greater things which are hinted at, but unfortunately a lot of these plot points – such as the “king” Gisborne claims to work for – don’t really end up going anywhere in the end. There are some vaguely interesting hints in some text clues hidden around the level, but they, too, ultimately don’t feel like they have much payoff in the end, and while the game has a cute twist ending, I saw it coming by the end and it ultimately leaves the story hanging as an obvious sequel hook. One of the biggest problems is that the protagonist is the least interesting character in the game; both Gisborne and Alan (the AI who runs the titular Volume you’re using to do your simulated heists) are more interesting characters, and ultimately there wasn’t much of an emotional payoff.

    Ultimately, this is really the problem with the game as a whole – it is competent enough, but it is not EXCEPTIONAL in any way. It is basically a bunch of reasonably enjoyable top-down stealth puzzles, but in no way does the game really excel. It is just kind of average all the way through.

    If you’re in the market for a top-down stealth game, this is about as good as The Marvelous Miss Take, with a much higher level of predictability (everything in this game is 100% predictable) but less style and variation than that game has. This has a slight edge over that game, which is perhaps too long for what it is, and is easier to just pick up and play, but while this game may be less frustrating, it has less variation, too.

    In the end, I can’t say I regret my time with this game, but it is pretty run-of-the-mill.
    3.0
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