Hacknet vs Uplink

[AdApt*]

Which game do you prefer and why?

[Nova Solarius]

Hacknet. I prefer the gameplay, limited as it is, to Uplink's. No particular reason, I just like using my keyboard for hacking games. I also prefer the fact that Hacknet isn't as... sandboxy? Directionless? I don't know the right word for it.

[The Joker]

Both games sit in the same theme, but both stray from comparison very quickly. Both are equally limited in their features, as after about the 5th Hacknet or Uplink system you'll eventually believe that everything must certainly come from the exact same mold off a factory line, with only ever needing to read exactly what's on screen and using the repetitive thing that counters it. Both attempt to give story reasons behind it, but it's still a limitation of function made by someone, THEN covered by a story. Equally, both sit in the "fantasy hacking" genre, where all aspects are heavily on rails, you either do X, Y, Z, or you don't have access. Even hackmud still falls in "fantasy hacking" as there is a very small set of options, but is slightly closer to just "hacking" as the array of options is wider even though it is limited.

However, this is what causes them to differ:
Hacknet is driven by a story. Uplink is driven by the user.

If you let Hacknet sit, the entire world freezes, nothing changes, you are the only "person" in this universe. There are no unscripted events, there is no mission you can fail or blocking of progress unless by your own actions, and nothing exists outside of what you are told to experience as to not clutter or cloud your progress. It is waiting to tell you a story, and you must see it.

If you let Uplink sit, other systems are completing missions, "attempting" to do the same things you as a player would have done, possibly interrupting your progression. You can choose to follow Uplink through each mission, choose or find the game's story, or ditch Uplink entirely while the story progresses by itself. It does not care what you want to do, it is your experience.

Hacknet's fault is that the entire game's universe is dead, outside the single playthroughs of the story, there is no more game, and nothing left to find.
Uplink's fault is that the game is left almost entirely to choice, so if players are not willing to think freely in always open space, they can easily get lost.

They're the same means to different ends, an on-rails faux-hacking game that disguises repetition as player advancement, except Hacknet will lead you to a story's end, and Uplink will make you find your own.

[datæ]

hacknet: puzzle game, kind of laid back, linear & not much else to say
uplink: roguelike style gameplay, only puzzle is lan hacks, freedom to do things like hacking banks, currency and upgrade system etc

uplink is from 2001 and it shows, the UI and programs are a bit clunky and the game might be a repetitive if you're a fast learner and read ton of guides on how to get away with stuff, but on the contrary if you go fully blind the permadeath mechanic will put you on the edge of your seat while doing big hacks.
hacknet has a scary trace aversion sequence and an ominous timer display everytime you're in the process of getting traced but later on the game mostly turns into a hacking puzzle game where you're given the tools and left to figure out how to complete the missions given to you. Getting hacked is as simple as running a shell and pressing activate trap, or if you're lazy ps > kill pid. Getting traced is as simple as going into the ISP, logging in as admin and resetting your IP. There is literally no game over scenario implemented, aside from the game faking a crash if you're exceptionally awful

I like games that provide a challenge, uplink was a treat to play but after figuring out that you can just bounce your connection through tons of high security sites and delete the logs at InterNIC to get away with even the worst kind of crap it lost some of its charm. It's still fun to boot up once in a while.
Despite Hacknet having no real danger like Uplink did, I found it more challenging thanks 2 the puzzles, they're not too hard either unless you forget the existence of some programs like the eos scanner and mem dumper. Having to type out actual commands is also a big plus because hearing the sound of your fingers smashing upon your keyboard really reinforces the thought that you're some kind of hollywood hacker in contrary with uplink where dragging the password breaker gets stale quick.

Extensions update seals the deal that hacknet > uplink tho

[MycroftCanadaNS]

Odd that no one has mentioned Street Hacker.

https://youtu.be/yS_xa8EhbTQ

[Grubby]

Originally posted by MycroftCanadaNS:

Odd that no one has mentioned Street Hacker.

https://youtu.be/yS_xa8EhbTQ

Looks interesting.