Recent reviews by Red Reign

A short, but extremely sweet game. Something about the movement is absolutely entrancing, with a lot of polish brought to the moment-to-moment feel of the game. The writing is goofy and it knows it is. Plenty of fun little secrets and easter eggs everywhere, and moving around the levels feels fun enough that hunting them down is never a slog. The time trials are exactly what they needed to be.

Absolute steal of a game.

What a great game. I acquired this in a Humble Bundle recently with a few other titles. Without looking, I assumed it was just a game that was shoveled in to fluff out the bundle, and that I wouldn't enjoy it. I ended up loving it, and I'm definitely going to buy the DLC (and likely any more content that may come out for Hacknet in the future).

Hacknet, for lack of better words, is a Unix-based hacking simulator in which you use the combination of a point-and-click interface and a command prompt to explore the mysterious death of a hacker named "Bit." Bit has arranged to send automated messages to you posthumously, giving you leads that are just enough for you to find your way.

Being not much of a programmer, and unfamiliar with Linux and Unix-based command systems (idk man I just look stuff up and punch ♥♥♥♥ into the Windows 10 command prompt and sometimes it says words back to me), I felt learning to play Hacknet might be too daunting of a task. However, the feeling subsided in less than half an hour, when I was able to navigate through any device's file systems with ease, hopping from device to device, opening ports, cracking passwords, etc. Not long after that was I very immersed in the story (something I have a hard time being in MANY games).

While some aspects of the game can be done through clicking between devices, folders, and apps, other things are seemingly only possible by using the command-line, keeping the game immersive and making you feel, in a sense, accomplished. YOU cracked open all of Macrosoft's ports and got to snoop around in their sensitive files. YOU found a security loophole by exploiting a computer's connected smartphone. YOU made a clean getaway just in time before having your IP traced, clearing the system logs and running for the hills with some juicy new program you can use to hack *even more* devices. And you did it all with your analytical skills and an intuitive command system. In fact, there's even a point in the game where your OS/interface is essentially deleted from your system by another angry hacker, leaving you with a big black command terminal, having to plot through your own computer to restore the deleted files and get yourself back in the game. Just like in real life, each device you access seems like a sum of its parts, even your own.

The IP tracing mechanic is excellent, and pretty much exactly what you'd imagine seeing on some Hollywood hacker's monitor. It keeps the pressure on, even if it is slow at times. RAM management, learning what ports to use when, and being able to type quickly and remember which programs do what are important, and make hacking into each and every system rewarding in its own way, even if it doesn't have quite what you were looking for.

The visual effects are excellent, if a bit cheesy at times. The interface is simple enough that these "glitchy" or "tech-y" effects aren't too jarring unless they need to be, which keeps the game immersive but also fun to watch. I'd advise that anyone with epilepsy be careful with this game at some times - lots of effects are fast or flashy in nature.

The story doesn't seem to thrust itself into your face at all. Save for the occasional automated (but justified) email from Bit, you discover all of the story on your own, and every lead and new piece of information feels genuine and is worth discovering.

Overall, I had a lot of fun with this game. Two complaints (which end up not really being complaints after I explain them):

- The IP map, showing all known devices and their IPs, can get a bit cluttered, and it's easy to forget where one particular computer is on the big web of spinning circles and lines connecting them. The position of an IP address on the map is not always intuitive. However, this could arguably help with immersion, making you feel like you're navigating through a web of IP addresses. It's the internet in its raw form - not catered to your viewing pleasure.

- I'm left wanting more. Not that I didn't get my money's worth, but I want more. But that's something every game should strive for - leaving you wanting more, and not outstaying its welcome.

Challenging, but *very* rewarding command system that makes you feel clever. Decent story that keeps you invested throughout the game. Findable humorous IRC logs, detailing early Internet culture, which I think are ripped straight from Bash.org, meaning they are real logs written by real people. Stereotypical electronic "hacker" soundtrack which helps the atmosphere of the game.

If any of this interests you, definitely get Hacknet, especially if it's in a bundle or on sale.

QUICK NOTE: At the time I'm writing this, the game is on sale at $0.54 (95% off). At that price, I could recommend the game, sure. Unless you absolutely cannot get enough first person puzzle/platforming, I wouldn't get it otherwise, especially not at $10.99.
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You play as a hacker that is being paid (presumably) a large amount of money to hack into a level and steal data through some physical manifestation of your target's... network? Mainframe? God knows. The point is you have to go through 12 levels (followed by another 10 bonus levels), collecting 3 Data Fragments per level.

The main gimmick of the game is that you can switch your "Polarity" at will - between red and blue. While a certain color, you will collide with objects of the opposite color (such as lasers, which will kill you), but pass through objects of the same color. There are also cubes (pretty much tiny Companion Cubes) which behave in a similar fashion. The cubes will power things when plugged into a slot, very similar to how Companion Cubes could hold buttons down to keep platforms suspended, etc. in Portal. Add a couple generic objects, such as launch pads and moving platforms, and you pretty much have the entire game.

The game unabashedly takes a lot of inspiration from Portal: levels feel like sterile, self-contained test chambers, the only difference is that everything's dark grey instead of white, and you don't have a charming robot voice monologuing you or telling a story while you progress; the large and open, but still linear level design; and a general futuristic theme (though it's admittedly silly to mash both Portal and Polarity into such a vast genre and expect it to mean anything).

You don't need to collect the 3 Data Fragments to technically "beat" the level - rather, you can simply progress through the level and find the exit. This is where most of the difficulty comes from. However, Data Fragments are required to unlock the next levels. They are usually poorly hidden, if not put directly in plain sight, and by simply walking around the room you can easily tell how to get to the fragments. The worst the game will do is put them behind a small puzzle, or out of your immediate field of view when you enter a room. To put it into perspective, the only levels I needed to play more than once were the first and second levels, where I missed one fragment each, because it was placed slightly out of sight or in a corner that I had carelessly overlooked.

It doesn't feel good to collect data fragments because the level design is not challenging at all. The main "puzzle" in each level often requires next to no thinking. I beat all 22 single-player levels in about 50 minutes, and was fairly bored the entire way through. Sadly, this is why I can't say I recommend this title.

It's not that the art style is uninspired and simple - that doesn't necessarily make a game bad.

It's not that the music, and the general sound design for that matter, has a generic, forgettable 80s futuristic feel, which I'd normally think was quite humorous or charming - lots of devs these days just use stock royalty-free music and nobody seems to mind that too much. At least this has custom music (I think).

It's not that it's trying to copy Portal - I don't see a huge amount wrong with following the footsteps of a very successful puzzle game and trying to recreate that formula!

It's not even that the first person animations, head bobbing, and movement glitches make it painfully obvious this is a 3D Unity game. Or that my Logitech F310 - a fairly good controller when it comes to compatibility - would only work during the main menu and the two "cutscenes" that exist in singleplayer.

The problem is the frankly depressing lack of content, and, more importantly, the content that IS there is unchallenging, unengaging, and simply not fun. As a developer, I'd be disappointed if I spent a significant amount of time and effort building a game and only could be bothered to make a few mediocre-at-best levels that don't even show the potential of what few mechanics that DO exist. As a consumer, I'm very confused with how this game has so many positive reviews - must just be me being out of touch with the puzzle game community. Don't expect level design that lives up to Portal, or any other good puzzle game I can think of, really.

TL;DR - Game's really dry on content, and what content DID manage to find its way in is insultingly easy and boring. I'd say it's worth neither your time nor your money. Get on a crazy 95% off sale, if at all.

Considering how cheap this game is, I'd definitely say it's worth a go. The graphics (and art style in general, as well as some of the programming) seem to be pretty sloppy at times, but it has a unique charm to it! The level design is consistently "pretty good," with occasional memorable moments.

You play as a BEEP robot, exploring a system to collect antimatter. Gameplay consists of mostly platforming puzzles utilizing moving, jumping, shooting, and, more often than not, the Zero Point Energy Field manipulator (read: gravity gun) which you control with the right mouse button. The game takes place in an unnamed star system with three planets. Each of the two hemispheres on each planet has its own environments, music, and introduces one or two game mechanics that for the most part are used exclusively for that hemisphere. Each hemisphere has 4 levels, which each have 3 anti-matter nuggets to find, as well as a bonus fourth one which is rewarded upon collecting ~20 smaller pellets scattered around the level. This leaves 96 antimatter parts to collect. In order to unlock the next hemisphere, you must find a minimum amount of antimatter nuggets in the previous levels, as well as getting to the end of all the previous levels.

While this game is certainly charming, it's not without its flaws. It is very possible to use the antimatter to grab an item and use it to propel yourself upwards before grabbing it and using it again, and, if you're good enough at it, can be used to get over almost any obstacle. While the game never requires you to do this, it is tempting to do it to get just a little more air to climb a wall. On quite a few walls, it is possible to simply drive straight up them by moving towards them, as one of BEEP's wheels seems to clip into the wall. The difficulty curve is somewhat predictable up until the last planet, where both hemispheres present environmental hazards that make the game much more difficult (though not frustratingly so). Completing levels honestly felt a little unrewarding, and I was consistently able to 100% complete levels my first time visiting, never having to backtrack. Additionally, there is no reward for collecting all 96 nuggets of anti-matter. This may be an issue for people who invest more time to collect everything. I managed to beat the game and collect everything without backtracking in under 4 hours.

As a snobby musician, I thought the music was pretty forgettable, However, it had themes that appeared multiple times in the game, which is always interesting to discover, and the music never feels out of place. The art style feels very much like that of a decent flash game, using basic shapes and characters with cartoony eyes and solid colors. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it feels hastily done to me.

At the time that I'm writing this, it's on sale for $0.49. I can definitely recommend it at that price, at least. It's a cute little game, but don't expect hardcore gameplay or mindblowing game design.