Uplink: Hacker Elite

The Good
Simply put--this is the closest thing to a hacking simulator that you are going to get (at least until Uplink 2(online?) or until more developers grow some cajones and start trying to actually CREATE something instead of recycling old ideas.) The presentation is well-done and immerses you into the game from the beginning, where you load up th game to find not a bunch of flashy developer and publisher logos with whiz-bang special effects, but a request for your registration info to become an agent. There is no boring and flat "character," you are YOU in this game.

The interface is simplistic, yet complex enough to take more than just a G. W. Bush impersonator with 2 minutes to get the hang of it. In other words, this is no Mario. There are two "sides" to the storyline, IF you choose to follow it. It's pretty much up to you. Hacking systems may seem overwhelming at first, but quickly becomes second nature, especially once you have built up a nice system and acquired the better software. The freedom to do pretty much as you will is a big plus in my book. I seem to loathe the more linear games these days.

This game is a nice refreshing break from all the "big-name, no-content" games that seem to flourish in the gaming world today. You should at least try out the demo.

The Bad
Hmmmm.....well, I experienced numerous graphics and sound problems, post-patch, on a 1.8Ghz Athlon with 256MB RAM, running WinXP. Now, these weren't too major, like the music randomly speeding up and spazzing out, leftover crud from text on occasion, and the large map going bonkers when too many nodes were on screen and you set up or loaded a connection. There were a few other nags, but nothing too bad. This was made by a really small group of individuals, after all.

As far as gameplay is concerned, the missions do get stale and downright boring after having done the same things over and over ad infinitum. A little more variety would have worked wonders. This is especially true when thinking of the nonlinear aspects of the gameplay. Who cares if you can hack whatever you want when it becomes such a chore so quickly? Don't get me wrong, it's great fun to hack into a bank (after spending half an hour tracing transfer logs) and snag 1 million credits from some fool who stole it himself and forgot to cover his tracks. I did. And this was with the starter machine with a fast processor and all the progs I could cram into it. It's a shame that I accomplished this even before the "storyline" started. (Play and you'll know what I mean.) So I upgraded everything to the max (and I do mean EVERYTHING) and still had over 600,000 left. This was more than enough to fly through any mission with relative ease. I guess it depends on how you pace yourself.

The Bottom Line
If you are looking for flashy 3D graphics and killer techno music along with the unique gameplay, then look elsewhere, or give up, as this game is truly unique and there really isn't anything like it out there (that I am aware of.) But if you want to play something nonlinear and sporting some truly fresh ideas (along with some obvious quirks,) then by all means, give Uplink a shot.