I cannot hack into another computer. The closest I've come to being elite is my occasional perusal of 2600 and watching the film "Hackers" more times than I can remember. So how was it possible that I was successfully bouncing my connection off of fifteen different servers en route to hacking into a bank, so I could break into someone's account and report their balance back to my new employer?
The answer is Uplink, a computer game by British company Introversion that focuses on the notorious underbelly of Internet communications. The scenario is pretty basic: you have just joined Uplink, a hacker corporation of sorts, offering out jobs to whomever will pay. You connect via a gateway machine, upgradeable in its architecture, processor speed and security systems.
The programs you start out with are pretty basic, but more sinister proxy disablers or firewall bypassers can be purchased from Uplink's internal server.
This server is also where you log in to get your missions. You start out with the "easy" stuff, like hacking into your employer's rival corporation, stealing some of their precious information and attaching it to your reply e-mail.
But eventually you will find yourself breaking into the International Academic Database and changing someone's transcript, creating a new identity in the Social Security computer, illegally moving money around between different bank accounts and worse.
Uplink borrows a few elements from simulation games like a real-time clock (which you can speed up while waiting for new missions to appear of parts to be installed), and news releases that will reflect your hacking history. For example, if you hack the government-owned Social Security database too many times in a short period, an investigation will be mounted.
Corporations embarrassed after repeated hacks into their systems will upgrade their security software. If you don't route your connection through enough intermediary systems, your connection will be traced. And if you don't properly delete the activity logs in the systems you pass through, they will be able to track you down.
Graphics-wise, Uplink isn't much to look at. And this is the point! What elite cracker would want clouds and green rolling hills as his background, taking up his precious memory? No, this is a bare bones interface, and it only helps to accentuate the experience.
On a related note, the Uplink CD allows you to install in Windows and in Linux. Introversion clearly knows their audience, and I'm sure that the mostly text-based nature of the game was pretty easy to redevelop for a second operating system.
Introversion also seems to have a great support of an Uplink online community, posting links to fan pages on their website, introversion.co.uk, as well as hosting an active message forum. They already have a patch out for the game, and they are currently working on more bug fixes. The only issue I've ever encountered while playing is a slowdown when you bring up the map screen to plan your connection routing.
Actually, the biggest problem Introversion has had with the game was that the company developed an order backlog due to its unexpected popularity. But that has all been cleared up now, so buy away. The game costs $24.99 for US customers, including shipping charges, so it's a pretty good deal. You can purchase it directly from the Introversion Web site. If you want to try out the game first, a demo is also available.
Currently, there is only one mod out for the game that I can find: an interface conversion that changes Uplink's usual blue color scheme to red. Very exciting, I know, but there seems to be a growing interest in the game, and I'm sure we can expect more outlandish ones in the future.
