Uplink: Hacker Elite

I had previously purchased this game at CompUSA in a single jewel case/cardboard sleeve. but seeing it here on GOG made me happy! This is a very good hacking sim (it uses the keyboard; all of the keyboard, not just the WASD keys...) gives you a excellent atmosphere for the activities you are engaging in. This is unique, and kinda a niche game, but if you have some computer/network knowledge, it can get quite fun!

This game does not explain the mechanics very well, if at all. For example, there is a mechanic where you can be traced when trying to hack a system. if the trace is successful, you fail the hack and there are consequences for it. early on in the game, there is a basic version of a software called trace tracker. all it does is beep, then beep slightly faster. however, its never made clear exactly at what point you are about to fail. there isn't any comprehensive visual indicator. You don't really know what progress the trace has made and don't know when you're cutting it close. the gameplay is not great. you rarely type anything, you don't get to channel your inner Elliot Alderson and go clicky clack on the keyboard being the epic hackerman in the hoodie in a dark room. You just use your mouse for vast majority of actions. Buttons are very small and many of the pages are not explained well. This game wanted to do a lot, and as a result it made things hard to grasp without looking up guides. In fact it's actually quite easy to mess up early and have to start all over. Great atmosphere and great music, but if you want an actually good hacking sim experience that doesn't throw everything at you with very little explanation then just play Hacknet. At best, this game serves as a precursor to Hacknet that's interesting to look at for 5-10 minutes, but a chore to actually play. I have not completed this game. I can't. I just literally can't understand half of what the game expects from me and I'm not going to play this while alt-tabbing to a Steam guide every 10 minutes when someone doesn't make sense. I do not understand where people come from when they say this game is "simple." Sorry, but I can't give this game any more of my time or energy to thoroughly judge it.

I always come back to this. The ambiance, the aesthetics, the "open world"-ness of it all keeps pulling me back. I've never even gotten to the story missions, to me it's always a good time to just fart around hacking things

Its been a good few years since playing this game but it is still as good as i remember.

It's not real hacking in any way shape or form, and even the DOS systems you can use are very simple, but it's a lot of fun!