"Only a game, but it's better to unplug the modem while playing!"

Uplink it's a computer hacking simulation game that gets pretty much in the lines of unique. Even with a flaw here and there it's still a great game that can bring some joy to the ones that always wanted to practice some hacking without fear of jail.

STORY
Year:2010, your job: Hacker!
The story it's not DEEP,DEEP.. actually, it starts out in nothing. You are a ''mercenary'' hacker signed up with the Uplink Corporation, corporation to which all sorts of other corporations seem to submit their ''problems'', problems which require your skill to either steal large amounts of data, destroy computer systems, make illegal bank transfers, between so much more things.
But, in the middle of this, a plot will rise up where you can take a part that will either let you prevent the most dangerous computer virus from existing, or use such virus to destroy every single computer that is unfortunate to connect to the Internet.

GAMEPLAY
You're a hacker, you play the game like one.
You have to complete all sort of missions to all sort of people and corporations, missions that range from stealing computer data, to destroy computer systems, passing trough the forging of new identities and even frame other people.
For such missions, you get payed, the purpose of the money comes to buy better hardware and software. You initial gateway will not let you do many missions in a easy fashion, and it's not with simple File Copy and File Delete commands that you can do half of the missions.
Besides upgrading your gateway to a incredible power, you have to buy software to bypass or disable Firewalls, Proxys and all sorts of other stuff.
All this and more under the true pressure of time, what makes Uplink sort of fast-paced is that once you connect to a system, someone on the other side is trying to get to you and you can't let that happen.. or you know the rest.

GRAPHICS
Graphics are NOT the hot-spot of the game.
The idea is to simulate a computer interface, and that's as much as you get. No weird visual effects are required to hack a computer.
What exists of graphics on this game does it's part very well.

MECHANICS
It's not a FPS, strategy game or any other sort of thing. It's a hacking game, and for that, the idea of having a mouse to click on the several windows, and a keyboard to type names and IP adresses it's all that you need to control the game.

SOUND
The sounds effects are so-so ... it's bleeps and such of clicks and alike... nothing that much that sounds a blast.
The music however, depending on the style of the player, can either be a nuisance or add more depth to the game as it seems to induce a beating pulse that adds up to the pressure of seeing those last few seconds before being traced and seeing your work almost complete.

OVERALL
I believe Uplink is a great game, just not for everybody.
If you are looking for big graphics and action like in a FPS, it's the wrong door. If you don't know a certain base of computers (What's an IP adress or a Firewall) then the first steps might come hard on you.
If you like computers and enjoy the hacking theme, this might be a good game to you. Original, simple, fun but also with it's point of challenge... a great mix in one little game.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/25/03, Updated 07/25/03