Hacker Evolution is a hacking game. That's pretty much all I can say. At first glance it doesn't seem as in-depth as Uplink, though presonally, I find playing Hacker Evolution a lot more elegant than I do with Uplink.

Yes, Hacker Evolution will always stay in the shadows of it's cult-legend big brother, but that doesn't detract from the fun you can have from playing a mission every now and then.

At the moment it does seem a bit pricey for what you get, though I'm still on my way of getting truly into this game.

I wish there was a screen-resolution option though.

This is a pretty cool game if you don't mind something a little different, totally cerebral, and... well, a little boring. You play as a hacker and the entire game takes place at your computer screen while you attempt to unravel a conspiracy and eventually thwart a dangerous entity.

This game is definitely not for everyone. There are, essentially, no graphics at all; all the important information is conveyed through text. It is also very typing intensive, as you will use the mouse only to set up fake connections to give you more time during your hacking attempts. The entire story is presented through communications with other hackers, your personal thoughts, and files you find on various systems.

For those of you not turned off by the lack of graphics or action, the hacking is a fair bit of fun. The game only takes maybe 6 hours or so to get through (I cheated a bit on the third level and looked something up), and when you get in the swing of things it's pretty cool to decrypt an IP address, bounce off three other systems to extend your time as you crack the 32 bit password and then steal a couple grand from an ATM.

The story is pretty cool but, strangely, ruins itself in the introduction. The first couple levels are spent trying to figure out what's going on, but the introductory text tells you EXACTLY what's going on. The super weird scifi premise (time traveling data?) barely comes up, and the antagonist is defined at the very beginning, ruining the experience of determining who it is on your own.

But whatever. There is nothing else quite like this game, and I recommend it to anyone into experimental adventure/puzzle games, or to fans of the hacker genre is general. I definitely had moments where I felt like a William Gibson character (though the game is decidely un-cyberpunk). It also works great as a typing trainer; some of those IP addresses are painful to type.

All around great game. I love thinking out of the box aspect of the game. It's not the hardest puzzle solving game out there but it does the job. + Exosyphen is awesome, having released 2 free addons for the owners of the game. Just go to their website.