9 Our overall verdict "gold"

The first handheld hero of 2016…



If for the last few years you’ve been living under a gaming rock, Mike Bithell previously created a beautiful game by the name of Thomas Was Alone. It was truly a stunning game (I waxed lyrical about it here), and ever since I heard about Volume I was waiting for it like a…well like someone waiting for something. The thing that tipped me into overdrive though was that Metal Gear was clearly a big inspiration, and I loved how much it wore that influence proudly from the first day we heard of it. August 2015 hit and I loved my time with the game on the big screen, but during that playthrough I remember thinking – I can’t wait to play this on Vita. Fast forward to 2016, and here we are – handheld heaven.

The great news here is that Snake himself would give his croaky voiced stamp of approval to Volume. It was brave of Mike Bithell to head in a completely different direction to TWA, especially with how successful it was. The premise of Volume is a simple one – get from A to B, all while collecting diamonds and sneaking past an array of enemies. The diamonds are essential because they open the gateway to finish the level you’re on. The enemies range from knights to archers to um, dogs. Woof. You’ll need to use every wall you can find to manoeuvre and crouch past these guys. Some of them are static, while others patrol. Volume re writes the well known expression “You can run, but you can’t hide.” Here it’s more a case of “You can’t run, but you can hide.”

The real beauty in Volume is not the way it looks (it does look gorgeous though, and translates perfectly to the Vita screen), it’s the startling arsenal of weapons that are sporadically placed as you progress. Weapons and utilities range from the excellent bugle, which you can fire off in other directions to send enemies walking down a dead end, all the way to the veil, which will render you invisible for a short amount of time. There’s Figments, which actually clone you, or the Mute which will silence you. There’s a lot more, but a lot of the joy in Volume is discovering these surprises yourself, so I won’t list them all.

The game consists of 100 levels, and has a very simple Platinum to boot. If you previously owned this on PS4, you’ll have this for free as the game is cross buy. The trophy list is shared though, for any trophy hunters hoping for a double plat. I would also say that there is nothing new on show here if you previously played this on PS4, and it doesn’t use any of the Vita specific features, such as the touchscreen. It is however, a flawless port and quite simply one of the best Vita games around.

CONCLUSION

Volume is a stealth game you shouldn’t hide from. I think it’s safe to say Thomas would be proud of this one.

Punk rating: 9/10