Computer Underground is another game trying to tap into the popularity of hacker games. Unfortunately, there is little in CU to hold a player’s attention. The objective of the game is simple. You try to become the best hacker by performing a serious of hacks and defeating other crackers in one-on-one challenges. You can only complete your objective by earning enough money to upgrade your software and hardware. You do this through hacks into companies, bank raids, and taking money from other crackers.
The “hacks” themselves are monotonous.
If you have a good enough computer and hacking program, you hack into an area. You then have a certain amount of time, usually around two minutes, to solve a memory-match game to finish the hack successfully without being traced. The memory-match game is just like card game we are all familiar with. It is easy with only a four by four grid. Every hack is the same, taking little skill, if any.
The bank raids depend completely on luck. You can attempt to raid for three different amounts of money, ($999 or less, $1000 to $1999, and $2000 or more). The more money you attempt to steal, the higher your chance of being caught. If you are caught you will be fined and may
have your computer taken away. Without a computer you can’t perform any hacks, a bank raid, or challenge another cracker. If you don’t have enough money saved up to buy a new computer, its game over. I found it tedious to attempt bank raid after bank raid, reloading a saved game every time I lost, just to get enough money to buy the basic software I needed to try other areas of the game.
The hacking challenges are also straightforward. You send a virus at your opponent and they send one at you. The person with the better virus shield and virus wins the challenge. Your opponents can range from level one to twenty, the higher levels requiring better protection and viruses to attack with. You can cut off a challenge at any time and try again later. Your opponent won’t have recovered their computer from the last attack, so it is easy to defeat any opponent with a few tries at the most. When you win you get a little money and sometime some software. The prize improves as you beat more experienced hackers.
Overall, there isn’t really any appeal to the game. The graphics in the game are simple, and most of the game is presented through text menus. The story line is nonexistent and the objective isn’t that enticing since you achieve it through a serious of luck and easy memory match games. The process of accumulating money and improving your hardware may hold you for a few minutes, but boredom will soon win out.
