There is no need for pretense here. This is a wonderful game, but it is just another simulation in a specific environment. You build a hospital/city/tower/theme park/safari/etc. Not that the genre is bad, just this game isn't that groundbreaking, IMO. It may certainly be the first application of this particular environment, but that doesn't make it fantastic, just different. By all means, it's worth playing once, but don't stay up in the night wondering what you've missed. It's another sim game, with it's own unique quirks. You would be better spending your time with a more recent sim that allows for greater flexibility in individual play styles. Final Word: Demo first, Buy later
If you want to be a hacker, that's one thing. Chances are, if you are a hacker, you aren't playing this game. Yes, it teaches certain skills, but from a practical standpoint, this game neither teaches proper skills nor does it properly train you to be a hacker. Certainly, it is a game that is entertaining, and you'll have fun understanding the concepts and other minutia of the program, however, this is not a hacking sim. It is a game. Real-world hacking is much more complex and requires much more skills than most who would play this game possess. If you want to learn to hack, go learn from an actual hacker. Otherwise, this is just any other video game that puts you into the role of some good/bad guy bent on world salvation/destruction. Nothing more. Final Word: Demo first, Buy later
