Having just completed the main campaign at the time of writing - with an expansion DLC and community-made storylines to go grab whenever I fancy - I find myself applauding a demonstrable, confident and competent passion project.
Sitting at a fake operating system staring at flickering text and pondering what move to try next has no right to be this satisfying, yet Hacknet remains - with very few exceptions - a title that rewards ingenuity, curiosity and player agency. People say this is one of the definitive hacking simulators, and if this is indeed the case, it's not just the fact that you can screw around so intensively in a simulated internet ecosystem that you actually break the plot - it's because you're doing what hackers actually do most of the time, which is sit back, let out a big puffy-cheek sigh of mild exasperation and mutter "ugh, how do we get around THAT one?!" or "oh wow, I probably shouldn't have been able to do this yet am being rewarded for doing so."
The game teaches a few handy command line basics for those not in the know, but it's not going to give you much of anything in the way of dangerous IRL skills, largely because the premise of the game is that a fellow hacker has created a catch-all exploit that can open any computer like a can of sardines with the right complementary toolkit. Obtaining these tools, deepening your dive into the rabbithole and exploring a series of both serious and darkly comical scenarios is very much the crux of the game, and it's enjoyable and often tense in ways simply sitting at a computer has no right to be.
At the time of this review I have 10 hours in, and that's the core campaign done and dusted - enjoyable throughout and very rarely apt to let any pacing issues slip. Missions are unlocked by communicating with shady friends (and sometimes frenemies) who closely guard IP addresses and web tools that can expand your arsenal and uncover the truth behind those lurking in the darkest reaches of the web, trashing our rights man, TRAAAASHING.
Coupled with a banging soundtrack and just enough thrills and spills to make you sit up and pay attention when you get too cocky, Hacknet couples both careful thread-pulling at mysteries and intrigue with heartpounding oh-god-oh-dear-god panic moments where the screen goes weird and you know you're up a creek you were never invited to with a paddle your trembling fingers now can't spell the name of, just as you need it the most.
Excited to try community and DLC plotlines next!
izigame.me
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