Perhaps you’ll recall Introversion’s Uplink, a little game that attempted – and largely succeeded – in giving players a great game all about Hollywood-style hacking. Seeped in conspiracy, the game had you hacking servers of global corporations for profit – serving as the basis, mostly, for the hacking minigames in Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
It was the same sort of highly-stylised filmic hacking you saw in films like Swordfish, Wargames and Hackers, and was a lot of fun – keeping me up for many night in my young adulthood. There’s a new hacking game coming that threatens to do the same – but instead of Hollywood-esque hacking, this one uses a terminal and genuine UNIX commands. Called Hacknet, It looks rather more intriguing than it sounds on the surface; because staring at a console screen is generally not akin to fun.
Says the official promotional guff:
Dive down a rabbit hoIe as you follow the instructions of a recently deceased hacker, whose death may not have been the accident the media reports. Using old school command prompts and real hacking processes, you’ll solve the mystery with minimal hand-holding and a rich world full of secrets to explore.
Bit, a hacker responsible for creating the most invasive security system on the planet, is dead. When he fails to reconnect to his system for 14 days, his failsafe kicks in, sending instructions in automated emails to a lone user. As that user, it’s up to you to unravel the mystery and ensure that Hacknet-OS doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.
Exploring the volatile nature of personal privacy, the prevalence of corporate greed, and the hidden powers of hackers on the internet, Hacknet delivers a true hacking simulation, while offering a support system that allows total beginners get a grasp of the real-world applications and commands found throughout the game.
Check it out in video form, which makes it seem like it may be worth more than a cursory glance.
It’s coming to Steam on August 12. I think I shall play this.
Last Updated: July 17, 2015
Admiral Chief in Skellige
July 17, 2015 at 13:12
Bwahahaha dat BSOD
Alien Emperor Trevor
July 17, 2015 at 13:13
“My name is Bit. And is you’re reading this…”
I’m a bit dead.
I failed my parity check.
I bit off more than I could chew
I only have TWO NUMBERS FOR YA!
I need you to drill down on my murder.
I’ll stop now.
HvR
July 17, 2015 at 14:04
yes before someone byte’s your head off
Ranting Raptor
July 17, 2015 at 14:27
Yeah that was a bit too much
bluegoon
July 17, 2015 at 13:15
Mess with the best, die like the rest.
th3SiCn3ss
July 17, 2015 at 13:36
Hack the Planet!!!!!!
Aries
July 17, 2015 at 13:18
I want, looks really interesting
Ir0nseraph
July 17, 2015 at 13:20
Looks interesting, I hope it runs on my not so powerful laptop.
Now I just hope when the next big hacker gets caught, some crazy group doesn’t blame it on games:P
Johann
July 17, 2015 at 13:24
If the game is a success I can guarantee you any major hack attempt will be blamed on this game.
Hammersteyn
July 17, 2015 at 13:24
Dunno, not so sure if I can hack it…
*Runs
Alien Emperor Trevor
July 17, 2015 at 13:27
I bet the Admiral can…
Admiral Chief in Skellige
July 17, 2015 at 13:33
Wait, is that….a compliment?
Admiral Chief in Skellige
July 17, 2015 at 13:35
Ah, refreshed for pic, had a laugh
Alien Emperor Trevor
July 17, 2015 at 13:57
😀
Ranting Raptor
July 17, 2015 at 14:45
What about the bakers man? I heard the bakers man can….
Koevoet
July 17, 2015 at 13:40
Who remembered UPLINK
Hammersteyn
July 17, 2015 at 13:46
*raises hand
Deceased
July 17, 2015 at 14:25
This looks awesome ( except for the BSOD -> WTF would that do on a linux machine 😐 )
Ranting Raptor
July 17, 2015 at 14:27
a screensaver 😉
Deceased
July 17, 2015 at 14:45
XD RofL X’D
bluegoon
July 17, 2015 at 15:19
Also used my elite hacking skillz, you can actually check out the alpha here:
You can answer that question yourself by trying out Hacknet’s freeware alpha releases athttp://www.moddb.com/games/hacknet/downloads. They don’t have the breath and depth of features the paid release will, but they will give you an idea of what the basic gameplay is like.
Anthony Smith
July 18, 2015 at 09:05
Anybody watch the hacking movie “Blackhat” starring Chris Hemsworth or “Hacking The System” from National Geographic Channel?