Hacknet

 PC
User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 76 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 55 out of 76
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 76
  3. Negative: 5 out of 76

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  1. Alturis
    Aug 14, 2015
    8
    Brings back memories of Uplink but falls short a bit on audio. Music gets repetitive quickly and when you turn it off the game is eerily silent without sound to match most of the visual animations and elements. Starts out a bit too easy which breaks the fiction but pleasantly surprised with the variety of things you encounter and the fiction of things you find on servers.
  2. MoreBokeh
    Dec 10, 2015
    8
    Good enough game for me to restart three times after two progression stopping bugs. Ironically, I even tried to hack my own save files to get past the issues. If you do play this game, be very careful in the order you complete missions. If you do any side quest slightly out of sync, you may easily block all progress and lose hours of work.

    I only wish there were more mechanics, such as    Good enough game for me to restart three times after two progression stopping bugs. Ironically, I even tried to hack my own save files to get past the issues. If you do play this game, be very careful in the order you complete missions. If you do any side quest slightly out of sync, you may easily block all progress and lose hours of work.

    I only wish there were more mechanics, such as upgrading your PC to get more memory, or having logs do something (anything really, on my third run I just ignored log deleting entirely).

    If there was another hacking game on the market other than 15 year old Uplink, the score of Hacknet would likely plummet, as the game is "okay", just very novel and thus gets a boosted engagement factor. This is perhaps the opposite of Shovel Knight, a game with no new novel gameplay, but is incredibly polished and fun.    … Expand
  3. PrettyOkGuy
    Sep 28, 2015
    5
    It's like a game that is very close to my heart but i sorta worse in my eyes.
    It's decent and all that jazz but its more like "Hacker Evolution" Without the actual writing which makes (me atleast) feel more like a hacker. If you like to type and remember certain lines of input and a very hard and challenging game buy HACKER EVOLUTION and if you like casual not much of a challenge games    It's like a game that is very close to my heart but i sorta worse in my eyes.
    It's decent and all that jazz but its more like "Hacker Evolution" Without the actual writing which makes (me atleast) feel more like a hacker. If you like to type and remember certain lines of input and a very hard and challenging game buy HACKER EVOLUTION and if you like casual not much of a challenge games buy Hacknet/ Hacker Evoluions Little brother    … Expand
  4. ChrissyBoy6661
    Oct 22, 2017
    10
    A very enjoyable experience, with a (very) engaging story, engaging visuals, can get very fast paced in certain parts of the game, there are jokes littered in a few places, & I'm very glad I didn't spoil it for myself or use a walkthrough, the payoff is very worth it, there's a lot of things that are very well done, beautiful game. Earlier today I played it more than six & a half hoursA very enjoyable experience, with a (very) engaging story, engaging visuals, can get very fast paced in certain parts of the game, there are jokes littered in a few places, & I'm very glad I didn't spoil it for myself or use a walkthrough, the payoff is very worth it, there's a lot of things that are very well done, beautiful game. Earlier today I played it more than six & a half hours straight, & entirely forgot I was playing it.

    A few minor points are that the music, while very good, gets extremely repetitive, & using the mouse every now & again to connect to a new machine is a little bit of a hassle. There are also some other issues in which the game may become uncompletable if you do certain missions out of order, that was only an issue once for me, but be aware of it.    … Expand
  5. DarkFyreZ
    Mar 28, 2017
    10
    I love this game. It is my all time favorite game (and yes I get it, there are better games for some, but nothing beats this game for me). I feel that Matt did an amazing job on this game, it hasn't disappointed me and although some would say it gets repetitive, that is a quality that can be shared in real hacking too. I can play this game again and again and not get bored, furthermore theI love this game. It is my all time favorite game (and yes I get it, there are better games for some, but nothing beats this game for me). I feel that Matt did an amazing job on this game, it hasn't disappointed me and although some would say it gets repetitive, that is a quality that can be shared in real hacking too. I can play this game again and again and not get bored, furthermore the detail in this game is amazing, all the Easter eggs and jokes littered around the file systems really awards you for having the patience to take a look around. So far I have played the game more than 50 times and I have gotten to the point where I have memorized every password and know the best order for breaking into a system, but for some reason I still don't feel like the game is repetitive.… Expand
  6. reaper66689
    May 26, 2017
    10
    game-play is good music is really good i am loving playing it hats off to the dev i brought it in a stream sale and i watched the trailer first and was very impressed hours of fun breaking in to systems
  7. Ironplate
    Mar 5, 2018
    8
    Right off the bat, this game immerse you in a hacker life experience.

    I have an old graphic card and couldn't play the game at first. I had to enter in demo mode on Steam and install a specific version of the game compatible with my card. Now that's hardcore experience right there. Luckily, I'm something of a scientist myself and managed to pass that first trial to introduce myself    Right off the bat, this game immerse you in a hacker life experience.

    I have an old graphic card and couldn't play the game at first. I had to enter in demo mode on Steam and install a specific version of the game compatible with my card.

    Now that's hardcore experience right there. Luckily, I'm something of a scientist myself and managed to pass that first trial to introduce myself into the Hacknet world.

    Recommended.    … Expand
  8. BuzzSkill
    Oct 16, 2015
    7
    It's not bad. A hard game, that really immerses you in the world of hacking. It feels so realistic that you forget you're playing a game after a while, which is weird. But any game where you need to either look up a tutorial on how to bounce back from a game-over detection situation, or deal with a perma-broke game, is replacing fun with realism.
  9. Crackfarmer
    Oct 20, 2015
    6
    The Version i played was bugged and i couldn't continue the Story, after the next Patch my Savegame didn't worked anymore and i wasn't motivated to start all over again. Kinda disappointed in that Game.
  10. srf5132
    Jan 21, 2016
    7
    This game was somewhat of a disappointment. It was a really good idea, and It has a lot of polish, but I feel the polish is perhaps in the wrong areas. The terminal itself is far too basic to even really call it a terminal (doesn't even have the "echo" command). I would love to see a game like this with a more fully fledged terminal (complete with vim, emacs, grep, awk etc.), andThis game was somewhat of a disappointment. It was a really good idea, and It has a lot of polish, but I feel the polish is perhaps in the wrong areas. The terminal itself is far too basic to even really call it a terminal (doesn't even have the "echo" command). I would love to see a game like this with a more fully fledged terminal (complete with vim, emacs, grep, awk etc.), and perhaps one that even included such tools as "metasploit" that a true pen-tester would be using on a regular basis. However, given that it is virtually the only modern "terminal emulator" game, it deserves a look, at least until someone makes a better version of the same concept.… Expand
  11. ChoicestGames
    Feb 15, 2019
    9
    If you're in the market for an immersive hacking simulator that is as authentic as you can get without actually hacking computers for real, Hacknet is the game for you. The game also has a convincing world, a fantastic soundtrack and ethical dilemmas galore, so it's not just a great hacking simulator, it's an entertaining adventure game too. There's not really much to fault about this gameIf you're in the market for an immersive hacking simulator that is as authentic as you can get without actually hacking computers for real, Hacknet is the game for you. The game also has a convincing world, a fantastic soundtrack and ethical dilemmas galore, so it's not just a great hacking simulator, it's an entertaining adventure game too. There's not really much to fault about this game except that's it not very forgiving if you happened to inadvertently delete a required file – but hey, you wanted an immersive experience, right?… Expand
  12. ThePixel
    Mar 10, 2019
    8
    Really good game, gave it a 8 because the history is just small, I'll buy the Labyrinths dlc but i don't know if the dlc will be as long as the game itself, i hope it is!
    - Good experience, it is worth the time you put in it! But it's a shame that the game has such a small story.

    ThePixel
  13. Philosophical
    Jul 9, 2019
    9
    This is a very interesting concept for a game, and it works very well. This is a great game where every second is enjoyable. It truly allows you to immerse yourself in the world of a hacker, and I applaud it for this. The whole point of the game is to become a hacker, and you use a type of console to input commands to break into computers and perform various tasks. The story is veryThis is a very interesting concept for a game, and it works very well. This is a great game where every second is enjoyable. It truly allows you to immerse yourself in the world of a hacker, and I applaud it for this. The whole point of the game is to become a hacker, and you use a type of console to input commands to break into computers and perform various tasks. The story is very interesting, and also very deep. The first time I played this, I was certainly confused throughout, though I was still able to grasp the story by the end, and the end truly hit me emotionally. I played through this game in about four hours, and it was a very surreal experience. It starts off teaching you the commands you must input to become an expert hacker, but don't be overwhelmed by the sheer amount, you will know most of them by the end. This is one of my only complaints though, that there are so many commands I never used or never understood. It's one of the only reasons that I didn't give it a 10/10. Other than that, the gameplay is fun, although somewhat repetitive, the story is confusing, but interesting, and the ending is anti-climactic, yet beautifully emotional. This is a great game, and you should pick it up whenever you see it. But remember, going into it, this will be a short game, and you should attempt to carve out a single time period where you beat it, and attempt to go into the game blind. That's what I did, and it helped my experience monumentally. Overall, other than a few complaints, this is a great game, and you should definitely check it out.… Expand
  14. Snarkk
    Oct 20, 2020
    8
    Hacknet trainait dans ma bibliothèque Steam depuis quelques temps déjà. J'ai fini par le lancer, grand bien m'en fasse ! J'ai très vite été pris au jeu et à l'ambiance qui s'en dégage.

    L'histoire n'est pas exceptionnelle mais elle a le mérite de créer un cadre qui nous permet de déployer et maîtriser nos talents (relatifs) dans le piratage informatique. Visiblement apprécié des    Hacknet trainait dans ma bibliothèque Steam depuis quelques temps déjà. J'ai fini par le lancer, grand bien m'en fasse ! J'ai très vite été pris au jeu et à l'ambiance qui s'en dégage.

    L'histoire n'est pas exceptionnelle mais elle a le mérite de créer un cadre qui nous permet de déployer et maîtriser nos talents (relatifs) dans le piratage informatique. Visiblement apprécié des connaisseurs en informatique pour son côté pédagogique, Hacknet est tout aussi efficace auprès des néophytes.

    La direction artistique - si l'on peut dire - est réussie, ce qui est plutôt une bonne chose quand on passe tout notre jeu sur une interface. La bande-son est vraiment bien fichue, gros point supplémentaire.

    Le gameplay est assez redondant mais est très ludique et très valorisant Il y a souvent plusieurs façons de mener à bien un objectif, parfois de manière très surprenante !

    Comptez une dizaine d'heures pour venir à bout de la trame principale. Rajoutez en peu plus si vous voulez explorer le jeu et tout ce qu'il peut vous offrir.

    Une surprise et un coup de coeur donc. Tant mieux !    … Expand
  15. Arbores
    Jan 28, 2021
    8
    Oynanış: 35/40
    Hikaye: 20/30
    Grafikler: 15/20
    Sesler ve Müzikler: 7/10
    Sonuç: 77/100
  16. VirtualTrucker
    Sep 16, 2022
    9
    Just got done finishing the game and it is tough at times but the ending is completely worth it it. :⁠-⁠) Not to mention that the game should run on probably any PC that you have.
  17. apokalipto
    Aug 19, 2023
    9
    Very good game. I enjoyed playing this game a lot. I strongly recommend this.
  18. ammonium5
    Aug 31, 2021
    10
    One of my favorite games I just love how it feels to play, at some points, I needed help and had to look stuff up but not getting help just adds to the feeling that you really are an amateur hacker they have to look stuff up too. my only critic would be that there are so many ways you can expand this game. labyrinth did it but that just gives me more ideas.

Awards & Rankings

40
#40 Best PC Game of 2015
95
#95 Most Shared PC Game of 2015

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 7 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7
  1. PLAY! Zine
    Oct 7, 2015
    75
    Probably the closest you'll ever get to be a hacker. A truly unique and fun game.
    Read full review
  2. DarkStation
    Sep 24, 2015
    100
    Simple and complex, HackNet is a thrilling and eye opening look into the world that keeps making headlines in the news. Kudos to Team Fractal Alligator for making something so complex feel accessible to everyone.
    Read full review
  3. NZGamer
    Aug 21, 2015
    72
    Play it because it’s different, play it because it’s a far cry from anything you’re likely to in the coming months.
    Read full review
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