VHOLUME

yes

You run through brutalism in a lonely journey until you realize you run through yourself. Technically short, but how much time you'll put into it depends on you. Even after beating all stages, it allows a decent amount of exploration for the explorers. It has screenshot candy for those with a soft spot for brutalism, liminal and dated 2000's landscapes. It has leaderboards for those who wish to hone their skills and climb the ranks. But this is, in the end, a lonely journey. I find it relaxing, meditative and introspective to dash through these along the calm soundtrack. You can really just play for fun and let your soul sink into the drenching atmosphere. No notes, buy it and play it.

There is nothing else out there like this game, except for BABBDI and STRAFTAT. It works very well as a companion piece to those games. I would recommend playing all three, potentially in the order they were released, for a more complete experience. You will not find other games out there that do what these titles are doing, which is a testament to the designers’ originality. You will encounter unbelievably vast brutalist structures, intimidating because they almost shrug off your attempts to conquer them at first. Many of them will seem like unreachable skyboxes. However, nearly all of them can be scaled and explored, which is nuts. With time, you’ll reach them all. My only real criticism of VHOLUME is I do kind of wish the game was totally open world. However, that could have introduced some weirdness to the time attack style level design. Also, it may have disrupted the dreamlike flow that this game eventually takes on—it is supposed to feel disjointed and almost impossible in its layout, not unlike a dream. There is one moment in this game that will stay with me for a long, long time. It happens in the level apogee01. Just don’t stop exploring this area after you find its exit. Restart, and keep climbing up. It’s beautiful—hard to describe even. A weird, sublime combination of music and visual splendor that brings you into a section of the game where the unrelenting architectural brutalism finally gives way to something genuinely gorgeous. To me, it felt like this was someone’s cherished hometown or city, left behind mid construction—for reasons that are clearly never going to be fully explained. Or maybe this area is somebody’s fading memory of home? Unclear, but maybe that’s the point. It’s an unforgettable level in a great game.

10 жопных тяг из 10

Even if you do not like speedrunning or platforming, this game is still very very fun. It is a forgiving movement system so you can enjoy exploring without getting stuck or repeating too much. The vibe is impeccable. Great atmosphere!

Lots of re-playability, looking forward to exploring workshop maps to see what the community can make to take advantage of such amazing movement mechanics. Hope more core content does get added, but even at full price this game is already a bargain.