This review of Hacker Evolution is unusual for two reasons. The first is that, since the entire game takes place on a single screen, I’m going to use an annotated screenshot to help illustrate its rather complicated game mechanics. The second is that it’s also a review of Hacker Evolution: Untold, which is more or less identical to Hacker Evolution, except it’s green and not quite as difficult.

So here’s that screenshot (which is from Untold):



1. This is the command console. It is here that most of the action in Hacker Evolution takes place. If you’ve ever used DOS or any other command-line based operating system, you’ll be instantly familiar with the way it works: instead of clicking on menus and files, you tell the computer what to do with command words and phrases. In the screenshot, for example, you can see the line “crack channel-6.45.gsm 299”. That’s just me telling the computer to crack the password for a mobile phone server on port 299.

Learning what all the commands do and how to use them is a nerdy joy that few will appreciate. Fortunately I am one of those few. When I was younger, I would go to the local K-Mart and spend hours tooling around on the DOS display machine they had there. When I finally figured out how to find and launch Prince of Persia – oh man, I was totally jazzed. I didn’t care much for the game, mind. I was just happy that I got the machine to do what I wanted.

Hacker Evolution offers the same kind of thrill – the thrill of mastering something. Of beating that damn machine. But that’s not all it offers.

2.This is the system panel. This is where the game keeps track of all your vital statistics. Notice the trace ETA. When you attempt to break into another computer, that computer will try to trace your location. The closer it gets to tracking you down, the more your trace level goes up. If your trace level reaches 100, you are found and the game is over.

As a means of inspiring tension and excitement, the trace mechanic is pretty much perfect. Imagine it: the crack has got two characters to go and you’ve got five seconds left before they get a lock on your location. An emotionless electronic woman counts the seconds down while you stare fiercely at your monitor – fists and teeth-clenched, willing the remaining digits and letters into place.

“Three.”

One character to go.

“Two.”

Comeoncomeoncomeoncomeon.

“One.”

MADE IT! Pure reptilian-brain elation. You escaped the predator.

Or maybe you didn’t. Maybe the trace succeeds and you get a game over instead. At this point you’ll experience quite a different – but equally primitive – emotion: blind rage. Hacker Evolution is an utterly pitiless game. One simple mistake, like forgetting to disconnect from a bounce or underestimating the speed of a trace, can completely ruin your chances of completing a mission. And the worst thing is that you probably won’t even recognise your mistake until a good ten-to-twenty minutes after you’ve made it.

Something else worth noticing on the system panel are your computer components. As you progress through the game, you can purchase upgrades for your computer that make hacking easier in some way or another. A better modem, for example, will increase the speed at which you can transfer files, while a better firewall will slow down the rate at which you’re traced. However, you need to be extremely careful how you spend your money. You could buy that memory upgrade, OR you could spend some dough on running a few killtraces, lowering your trace level. Knowing when and how to spend your money is one of Hacker Evolution’s chief challenges.

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The interface is clean, crisp and rather serene
3.The main purpose of the visual map is to provide a schematic of all the servers you’ve found. The red servers are the ones I’ve broken into. The grey servers are still secure. The idea is to “bounce” your signal off the red servers to make it harder for the grey server to track you while you’re hacking it. However, the catch is that each compromised server is only good for three bounces a piece, so you have to be strategic in how you use them. For instance, if you’re trying to crack a four character password, using anything more than a single bounce would be overkill. After all, the next server you try to hack might have 512 bit decryption and a SIXTEEN character password. Again: it’s all about knowing when and how to use the resources at hand.

4.The messages window gives you mission and narrative updates. The narrative is arguably the only major difference between the original Hacker Evolution and the Untold expansion pack. The former is more global and political, whereas the latter is more intimate and corporate. Neither is especially engrossing.

All told, I like Hacker Evolution a lot, although I’m more than happy to admit that I might be unusual in this respect. In any case, there’s a demo available for it (and Untold) on Exosyphen’s site, so there’s no reason to not at least give it a try. Who knows? Maybe your tastes are as weird as mine!

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