VHOLUME Review

VHOLUME is a first-person parkour game set in a dystopian brutalist city where bureaucracy turns a simple task into an odyssey. It is very good. Its biggest strength is movement that feels silky and forgiving yet hides a high skill ceiling; its biggest problem, if you can call it that, is that the main campaign may be too easy and too short for players who want a brutal challenge. With a 97% positive rating from nearly 2,800 reviews at $8, the game has clearly found its audience.

Core loop

The loop is run, jump, slide, wall-run through concrete megastructures, reach the goal, get a time and a grade, then replay for gold medals, secrets, and faster routes. Players describe getting lost in the flow of shaving seconds off their runs, or ignoring the clock entirely to wander and take screenshots. The game supports both impulses—speedrunning and sightseeing—without forcing either.

Feel and pacing

Movement is the star. Players call it smooth, responsive, and easy to pick up, with combos like slide-jump and wall-bounce that reward practice. One reviewer with 12 hours notes that the maps reward creative approaches, and that the skill ceiling goes very high even though the basics are accessible. The result is a game that can be relaxing or intense depending on your ambition.

Atmosphere and art

The brutalist architecture and ambient soundtrack are the other half of the pitch. Players describe the experience as dreamlike, lonely, and strangely peaceful—running through empty concrete canyons with only wind and footsteps. Some compare it to classic Source engine games or Superliminal, but the game has its own identity. If you like megastructures and melancholy, this is a rare treat.

Content and replayability

There are 31 main levels and 31 unlockable challenge levels, plus ghosts of top players to race against. One reviewer with 43 hours says they could play all day and not get tired of it. Another mentions that even the main levels require multiple replays to learn routes and find secrets. Community maps and multiplayer extend the tail, though a few players wish for built-in competition tools.

Onboarding and difficulty

The game is easy to start. Controls are intuitive, and the base game is accessible to almost any skill level—one player who gets motion sick treated it as a walking simulator and still loved it. But if you chase gold medals, the challenge ramps up. A handful of levels lean puzzle-like rather than pure speed, which some players like less, but they are a minority.

Technical and price

Performance is solid, and the $8 price is repeatedly called a steal. One player beat it in a single sitting; another sank 138 hours and counting. The only notable complaint is that the main campaign can feel too easy and short for parkour veterans, who hope the workshop will bring harder levels. That is a good problem to have.