Indie stealth game Volume has a message about modern society
It’s all about being stealthy but the fight against inequality comes across loud and clear
Take the myth of Robin Hood, add a cyberpunk look and mix in some hacker sensibility. Welcome to Volume, which just so happens to be one of the most subversive indie video games released this year.
On the surface, Volume is a game of stealth and thieving. Yet these are clandestine operations that reflect a YouTube generation and an economically depressed climate. “Things are brilliant,” says our hero, Rob, “if you’re born into the right role.”
Volume brings a rebellious heart to video game and media trends. It may be packaged as high-concept fodder, but the game never stops asking questions.
“Our targets, they all deserve to be robbed, right?” a nearly sentient computer program asks. Those targets range from corporate chief executive officers to bankers to actors hoarding charity funds to those who have started opulent, overpriced coffee shops.
The tension here isn’t of the save-the-world sort that dotted summer blockbusters. Volume is wondering just how much the middle class can be squeezed before it can’t be squeezed any more. Available now for PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Microsoft Windows and Mac OS, Volume imagines a world where hackers are less interested in exposing adultery and movie studio secrets than they are class parity. That may not sound as sexy as attacking Ashley Madison, the cheating website, but Volume makes it all feel pretty slick. Neon-hued corridors and luminescent walls create a future-set world in which our working-class hero is to sneak around undetected.
