Maybe it’s just a bit of nostalgia, but I absolutely love this game! It’s like someone took parts of my childhood and made this game for me. It’s bright and colorful, has simple controls, and has similar games to what I grew up with. Something I really liked about this game was that it was made to look like a computer screen. From like, forever and a half ago. Like… it looks like Windows ME. The pixelated text and characters, the chat boxes with the big ‘ole fat title bars, and even the mouse clicking sounds. Just the look of the main screen sets the mood for this game.
You play as a hacker trying to hack into the deep web to uncover secrets. For a short game, it does have a lot to do. From receiving silly emails, to customizing your hacker tool and playing games that aren’t really talked about anymore, this game probably has something for everyone. One of the things I enjoyed a lot was customizing my hacker tool. It’s one of the secrets you unlock after beating one of the first hacking levels. You can completely scrap the original design, and reinvent your own. The first time I made a fairy from Zelda, the second time I did angel wings.
The hacking levels are simple enough, but they do hold a challenge to them! At first I was a little confused as to how the shooting worked. One minute I’d be shooting a stream of bullets that would spray, then the next minute I would be shooting one bullet at a time with the word CATCH!!! at the bottom of the screen. A little bit later I figured it out. You only have so many uses (shown to you at the bottom of the screen) until you need to reload the tool. I actually like how this works. When you use up the uses, you shoot again and it throws the tool off of the little ship you control. It’s best to shoot it into a crowd as it will bounce of the enemy ships and almost always comes right back to you.
The tool doesn’t always come right back to you. It’s not really supposed to though. There was a few times where I went basically the whole level without it. Another way to defeat enemies is with the bomb. You only get 3 of those. Use it wisely. Seriously. One minute you have it clear then the next you have 10-15 enemies coming from both sides. Bomb time!!! I like how the stages of the levels work. It’s not super special but there is a big purple blob like thing in the middle and you fly around it. Enemies can appear from either side. And yes, they do shoot at you.
Every time you do good enough on a hacking level (there are 5) you unlock a secret hack. I won’t tell you everything it unlocks! After you have completed all the hacking levels you have access to everything! Something I’m going to lightly touch on is the other games you can play. There is a version of the classic Minesweeper called Mind Swapper. It works basically the same way, except you can’t mark bombs (oh no!). Then there is the version of Bomberman, its hard. The bomb you put down explodes down and up so, if you get stuck in it, you die right away. Which sucks because it’s one strike and your out. Lastly there is a version of Doom. Not much too it, it’s hard to control, but I could see me spending time just walking around and shooting random robots (they look like refrigerators). The last thing I want to touch on is Chattr, it made no sense to me, and I still don’t really understand it. It seems kind of pointless, but maybe I just overlooked something.
The controls in this game worked pretty well. At first I didn’t understand why it wasn’t a twin stick shooter, but with the use of bombs I could see why. I had a technical issue as well which I feel I should note. I played the whole game on the Wii U gamepad. No sound. I switched it to show up on the TV and Then it had sound. I played one level that way so I could experience it. It definitely is a game I would play with the sound on. I really enjoyed this game!
REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Nintendo Wii U code was provided to Brash Games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to editor@brashgames.co.uk.
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