Hack Up

Post date: 05-Jul-2016 21:43:50

Game by : anonymous

Reviewed by: Simon Ferré

I'm at a loss as to where this came from, who wrote it and what its purpose is. Sounds strange? You bet. I found it on my laptop, but I can find no email to indicate when it was sent to me. All I get when I LOAD up is this:

There's no apparent way to break into the BASIC listing (if it is BASIC). There's also no flashing cursor, so I guessed I had to just type, and sure enough I was able to see what I was typing. It is slow, as if it really is allowing me to dial up into some strange remote server in a long forgotten corner of the world.

I immediately attempted to log in a few times, until I was told I had been disconnected. Rats.:

When you do get disconnected, there's no "Press any key to start again" so it looks like it truly is game over. Restart, reload, rinse and repeat...

So, I dare you to load this up and try to get further than I did.

Now, here's the thing. It is possible to load this program (either using MERGE "" or into one of the many available BASIC editors for other platforms) and view the BASIC listing, but where's the fun in that? If you're the sort of person who loads up an adventure and immediately goes online to find a walkthrough, this game is not for you. If you don't load it up but immediately go and view the BASIC source code you're just ruining it for yourself. Where's your sense of achievement?

In a scene reminiscent of that odd game - Hacker - which appeared on the Spectrum back in the day, this game (I might have to stop calling it that) has a certain level of intrigue which leaves you dumbfounded, stumped, or generally frustrated. It's slow, exactly the same as trying to use modems in the early 1980s, very un-user-friendly, and appears to be monochrome, so in a crap games competition, it fits right in.

Now, if only I could find out who wrote it.

Please show your screenshots if you get further into it, but don't reveal what you did and spoil it for others.

Score: Six out of Unix.