Genre: Strategy/Action
Platform: Macintosh, Windows, and Linux

NOTE: This is a Review of the Macintosh version. However, I believe the Windows version is nearly identical. Another thing to note is that a game called "Uplink: Hacker Elite" is the exact same game as this, just under a different title.

To make a long story short, it's the year 2010. You play as a hacker working for Uplink Corporation. You take jobs from various companies, where you... er... hack. You'll do all sorts of missions, such as stealing data, destroying databases, framing people for crimes they didn't commit, catching other hackers, or even trying to destroy the Internet.

You start off as a low-level Uplink Agent, but as you accomplish more missions, your level will increase, and
you'll be able to access the harder, trickier (not to mention better-paying) missions.

There are a lot of different software you can buy that you'll need to use. Examples: Password Breaker, Decrypter, File Copier, File Deleter, Firewall Disable, Proxy Disable, Tracer Tracker, and more.

This game was made by Introversion and was later ported to Macintosh by Ambrosia Software.

0-5 stars...

Graphics: ***

The graphics are neat-looking. But overall it's nothing to wow at (except for the little pictures it displays when you log in--sweet!).

Sound and Music: **** 1/2

Alright, the music in this game is fantastic. It never gets old, and it's great to listen to. You can turn off the
music if you want, but why would you want to do that? The only reason I didn't give this a perfect score is that while the music is terrific, there aren't that many DIFFERENT tunes in it. But hey, when it's all good, who's complaining?

Difficulty: Medium-Hard

This game, while not especially difficult, is complicated by the fact that while there is a Tutorial, it doesn't
explain some of the more advanced things. I had to find an Uplink guide on the Internet to figure out how to use the Console (this thing where you enter commands to change systems around). Another problem is that there is really no help on navigating LANs (Local Area Networks--they're kinda hard to explain). Yes, there is a help system, but it doesn't explain the commands in the Console OR anything at all about LANs. Granted, there are certainly excellent guides on the internet to help you out, but why should you need them? Why can't it explain to you what the commands are on the Console and how you use them, or what you're
supposed to do on LANs? This ups the frustration, thus increasing the difficulty. Did I mention how difficult the final ARC mission is? (ARC is basically a company you can choose to help out midway through the game. I'm not going to spoil anything for you.)

Controls: **

If you're not a pretty quick typist, you're probably not going to be very good at this game. While the mouse plays a large part in this game, you'll still have to be entering things via the keyboard--sometimes very quickly. If you're really fast at typing, like me, you should have no problem. Unfortunately, if not, you're going to either have some problems or get typing lessons.

Levels: ***

Here's the problems with the hacks: Most are fundamentally the same. Yeah, sometimes you'll have to use Voice Analyzers or have to get through Firewalls/Proxies or other things, but it's still the same basic thing. I'm not saying it's really bad, but it is annoying. LANs are sometimes creative, but as I mentioned earlier, that's pointless if you have no clue how to navigate them.

Concept: *****

I'll definitely give them this: There aren't many games like this out there. Maybe hacking is just a taboo subject, or maybe they've stumbled upon a new genre. But there are few other games like it. Unless you count real-life hacking, which from what I hear is quite different (not to mention that if you get caught, you get in real, not virtual, trouble).

Replayability: ** 1/2

You'll probably have done most of everything once you win, so there aren't many reasons to go back--except to play on the other side of the Arunmor/ARC storyline. (Just a note: Arunmor and ARC are two companies that are on opposite sides of this big battle. This may be a bit of a spoiler, but one of the companies is trying to create a killer computer virus to destroy the Internet, and the other is trying to stop them. You can join forces with either one in the game.)

Secrets: ****

There are actually quite a few secrets in this game. Here are some examples:

1) One of the "servers" on this game is (supposedly) owned by Introversion, the people who made Uplink. It's a well-hidden server, though. I only found it because of the ever-so-helpful Internet.

2) There's a hidden so-called "Mole" mission. Like finding the Introversion server, it's hard to figure out how to get it. I won't give you any hints (but there should be some somewhere else on the Internet...)

3) On a "Gaming Server" there's a hidden... game. It's not much, but it does give you a cool badge.

4) There are more, but I'm not giving them away. Find them yourself!

Addictiveness: *****

All right. If you play this game, make sure you have lots of time on your hands. Or something to get you away from the computer. This game is one of the most addicting games I've ever played. Not only is it hard to get off of, it's hard to stay away from. It's seriously dominating my life. In fact, I want to play it even as I'm writing this. Fortunately, after a while the addictiveness dies down... a little.

Gameplay: **

Just a quick note as to how it goes: In a hack, you'll have to "bounce" your connection around a bunch of servers. More bounces=more time. When you hack into a place, they'll start tracing you. If they catch you,
Game Over (unless it's a minor hack, in which case you'll just have to pay a fine). So you have to make sure you bounce through a lot of servers. Unfortunately, it's annoying and tedious to have to click on all the servers to bounce through them. It's true you can save the bounce list, but you can only save one, and as soon as you quit the program it no longer saves it. Seriously, WHY can't it keep saving it?!

Of course, after you finish the hack and disconnect, they can still catch you. You leave logs in every computer you bounce through--you'll have to go back to one of the computers and delete your logs.

Overall, the gameplay is fairly good. Unfortunately... there are some problems with it. Example: In one mission I was supposed to go to a LAN and copy some files from it, then dump the files onto another server. Here's how it went:

1) Go into the LAN, break into it, copy as many files as possible until the stupid System Administrator disconnected me (1-2 files)

2) Go to InterNIC (a server which never changes its password or tracks you--excellent place to delete your logs so people can't catch you).

3) Go to the server of the people who asked me to steal the information, put the data there, and delete it from my memory banks so I'll have enough room for the rest of the data

4) Repeat until I get everything.

Unfortunately, after doing this 5-6 times, it kinda gets annoying.

Another complaint: In this game, there are some programs you can buy that help you when you're hacking, and a bunch of different versions. (Higher version, better program. Of course, the higher versions cost more money.)

Okay, later on I want version, say, 3.0. Can I get my money back on version 1.0, or at least get part of it? Nope. This can be very frustrating. Here's a problem I ran into: I could do all sorts of missions that would get me a lot of money. Unfortunately, to do those missions, I needed a lot of software I didn't have. Expensive software. So, to do the missions, I needed money. Money I could easily get if I could do the missions. I could wait and see if some of the missions that didn't require that software would pop up, but it took too long and was annoying. I ended up restarting to start with a clean slate. (Well, actually, I tried stealing money from someone's bank account, but was almost instantly caught. Well, you know what they say... but I don't.)

One more word about LANs: So far all I've done is complain about them. Well, I feel I should say a few positive things. While LANs were an interesting idea (the way they're set up is almost a puzzle) the way they made them was not so good, unfortunately. Not only are they frustrating to navigate, it's annoying to only have a limited amount of time if the System Administrator logs in and tries to find you. Still, it was a great idea, they just did it incorrectly. So, if they were a bit less frustrating and were explained better, they would be a great and interesting addition to the game. Unfortunately, they weren't.

I think I mentioned this before, but most hacks are fundamentally the same. You use the Password Breaker to break the password. You may have to deal with Firewalls and Proxies, or other things, but it's still mostly the same, just with a few more obstacles put in your way.

One last thing: If you're caught in any way, it's Game Over. Permenantly. Yes, you can start a new file, but you have to start the whole game over. That's pretty annoying, but remember: You *can* make backup user files. It's what I did... sure helped with the final mission, which took me a LOT of tries to finish.

The gameplay on this game seriously does need some work. Not to mention it's annoying that it doesn't bother to explain things like LANs or Consoles very well... but I've explained that already.

Fun Factor!: *****

Alright. After I gave Gameplay a low score and criticized it, WHY give Fun Factor such a high score? Well,
it's FUN. Games can have poor gameplay and still be FUN. There's just something about ruining someone's life or destroying a computer system that's just plain enjoyable (but never, ever, ever do that in real life, okay?)

OVERALL: ****

This is a solid and very good game. The problems? Well, other than the things I complained about earlier (LANs and Console), the game is actually pretty fun, not to mention addicting. Unfortunately, the final mission is near-impossible to complete. And if you lose it, you get a Game Over--period. You have to start a completely new file. It's true, of course, that you can back up your player file, but that's kind of annoying.

The good news about all this is that there is a demo/shareware version, so you can try it out to see if you
like it. At least try it out--it's a really fun game.

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