Volume is a more thoughtful approach to Metal Gear Solid VR Mission-like stealth

From the creator of Thomas Was Alone

Volume is a fitting name for a polygonal, Metal Gear Solid VR Missions-looking stealth game with enough rectangles to feed a geometry class for the entire year. In the case of Mike Bithell’s Thomas Was Alone follow-up, however, “volume” is more about sound than shapes.

Lead Locksley can’t kill or attack. It’s all about being a sneak. Noise, then, becomes an important weapon for luring guards from their posts, and every bit of noise fractures the world so you can nicely see its effect, along with the ever-present enemy fields of vision.

It’s about sight, too. Sound, sight, shapes. These things come together to make a readable stealth game with enough abstraction that it feels more puzzler than sneaking romp. Think Hitman GO compared to Hitman.

You do move around in real time, somersaulting over low walls and sticking to others for cover, but Volume isn’t about hunting, human-like AI (especially not with the standard pawns). If you’re spotted and cut enough corners to get away or duck into a locker, guards will simply reposition and you’ll have another chance to get past them correctly. Thanks to plentiful checkpoints, each level — there will be 100 — acts as a series of connected stealth puzzles that tasks you with getting all the little blips and getting out. 

Locksley will also be outfitted with gadgets picked up on the scene. You can hold one at a time and they add to the mind teasing. The Oddity will attract the undivided attention of any guard in sight, Figment sends a ghost clone running in a line, Mute will silence your footsteps so you can run, and so on.

One other nice thing about the checkpoint system is that every time you die and get sent back, the stage timer reverts to whatever time it was at when you first activated the checkpoint. That way one screw up won’t kill a leader board run or require you to replay the entire level from start.

While I was enjoying sneaking about and feeling out how Volume plays, there is some story here as a, “near future retelling of the Robin Hood legend” starring the voice talents of Andy Serkis (Lords of the Rings, Enslaved) and Jim Sterling (Destructoid). There will also be hefty map-making and customization options to play with.