Volume

A stealth game with a minimalistic art style but sophisticated contents. It proves that games can successfully tackle difficult subjects as long as gameplay remains the most important element. [11/2015, p.36]

A modern Robin Hood will keep your eyes on the screen for long, long hours.

With Volume Mike Bithell has managed to create a finely tuned mix of stealth and action gameplay that continues to impress all the way through. Just like in his last game Thomas Was Alone the gameplay in Volume isn't overly complicated but it's backed up by a great story. Overall it's a great experience and one of the best in its genre.

Volume shows us that limitation really does breed creativity, delivering a thrilling, accessible experience in bite-sized pieces.

Basic and minimalist, Volume can be defined as the pure essence of stealth. The level design, the positioning of the enemies and the usable gadget form an almost perfect blend of stealth and puzzle elements.

Bithell's sophomore effort is a lovely thing made up of spellbinding puzzles that demand the player's attention. Its beauty, wit and intelligence are nicely offset by its quiet anger.

With true stealth games a rare breed today, Volume stands as a declaration that the formula can still work.

Another exercise in elegant, flab-free game design from Mike Bithell - though lighter on the laughs. [Oct 2015, p.74]

One of the most engaging and fun stealth games in years.

Volume is a must play game for anyone who claims to be a fan of the stealth genre, while still being a suitable entry point for stealth game virgins. It's gentle while still posing challenges, even if gaming veterans will find ways to cheese the system. The script and voice acting take it to a whole new level of greatness.

Volume may be less original if compared to Thomas Was Alone, but it's equally sophisticated in the selection of gameplay elements, built on the stealth genre with a lot of style.

Volume may suffer from a few issues of poorly designed AI and easily exploited level design, but I still found a great number of challenging rooms with an intriguing story to match, and plenty of room to master.

Mike Bithell is a talented game designer and that shows in his second endeavor. While it may not have the charm and unforgettable status that Thomas Was Alone had, Volume is nevertheless a competent stealth/puzzle game that is utterly fun to play and a joy to hear, thanks to a (mostly) great cast of voice actors.

Robin Hood-ish futuristic play with a number of interesting game mechanics, imaginative environment and entertaining gameplay. The icing on this delicious cake is a level editor that makes life span and the possibilities of the game grow geometrically.

Volume is a stealth/puzzle game that, even though it's not particularly innovative, is incredibly well-designed and balanced.

While the main story missions are a little easy, it still is really fun to play with, and there are already plenty of user-generated missions to play with. Volume’s purity of focus in creating simple stealth works well for the most part.

Early-game issues aside, Volume is an entertaining and addictive mix of Metal Gear Solid and Trials.

Volume is a strong game that is not without its flaws, but finds a nice home in the class of stealth games this year has already offered.

Coming off the back of Thomas Was Alone, Volume is a much more ambitious and expansive project, and there’s little sign of this being a difficult second album. It can miss the mark in a few areas, depending on how you play, but this is a clever distillation of the classic stealth genre wrapped up in an excellent retelling of a classic English legend.

Definitely a great follow-up to Bithell’s success with Thomas Was Alone. It might not grab your heart the same way those geometric shapes with human emotions did, but it’s still an experience worth having, and I can’t wait to see what wonderful creations come out of the game’s map editor.

At times, Volume may fly too close to its Metal Gear Solid roots - creator Mike Bithell has unashamedly noted 1998's stealth 'em up as a distinct source of inspiration - but what it lacks in immediate originality, aesthetically at least, it makes up for in innovative, engaging, and challenging level design.

It stumbles when trying to tell a story, but excels at communicating phenomenal mechanics.

A tad more exposition and fewer levels would’ve resulted in a higher score for Volume but somehow this modern stealth gem still managed to steal our hearts (sorry). [Oct. 2015, p. 065]

Volume offers a big and mixed assortment of puzzles that are often very challenging. The visual style is amazing, the story about Locksley is interesting and the puzzles are fun. Volume frustrates but is very convincing too.

It's odd to run up against a stealth game where the leaderboards are significantly more compelling than the scripted story, but that's Volume in a nutshell. Its stripped-down aesthetic parallels the tight constraints of its levels and the careful curtailing of player power, verging on making some parts feel shallow.

A curious mix of a puzzle and a stealth game with just a couple of issues that may affect the whole experience: linearity and lack of depth.

Volume has a carefully considered set of mechanics and it will certainly appeal to those who love stealth action and are interested in completing each of the levels as quickly as possible, moving smoothly and without having to get saved by the checkpoints.

A mostly well designed, methodically thought out puzzler that ends up being too easy due to early checkpoint issues.

Fun, not-too-hard stealth puzzles that look great, wrapped up in a humdrum story with a boring protagonist.

As generous and beautiful a package as it is, it's not always as coherent or flexible as appearances might lead you to believe. [Nov 2015, p.112]

Between the jokey dialog you uncover during missions, the opening thank-you screen, and the focus on user-created content, Volume is a charming game: it’s the sort of game that makes you feel as though if you ever met the lead designer, you’d pretend to like it just a little more than you actually did.

An expertly crafted game that boasts stylish, nigh-endless permutations of a simple, engrossing form of stealth.