Hacking games fall into two major classes – fanciful Hollywood-style UI showcases like Uplink, or grittier, extra code-based ones like Exapunks. NITE Team 4 left early entry at present and appears prefer it straddles that divide. Developed by Alice & Smith (nothing to do with our crew, however a studio that John is fairly keen on) it’s a game of navy hacking and espionage with severe command-line stuff wrapped in some lovely-looking interfaces. Just happening seems alone, it’s come a great distance since its minimalist 2016 demo – see a trailer beneath.
NITE Team four is about in the identical prolonged universe as Alice & Smith’s The Black Watchmen and spin-off puzzler Ahnayro: The Dream World, which implies there’s plenty of world-building already carried out to assist the game. On prime of a 70-mission story marketing campaign and common facet missions, there’s some alternate actuality gubbins taking place right here, too. There’s month-to-month, non-compulsory missions that pressure gamers to trawl the actual web for in-universe websites and requires a bit of bit extra leg-world to crack the case. It’s intriguing simply what number of layers they’ve constructed up right here. One of today I’ll unencumber every week or two to dive deep on this entire sequence.
Thankfully it doesn’t appear to be NITE Team four drops gamers in on the deep finish. There’s a coaching boot camp (which teaches “real-life cybersecurity techniques”) and what I’ve seen of the early missions seems accessible as long as you may preserve a couple of command-line codes in your head. You would possibly wish to preserve some paper and a pen round for scribbling down usernames and passwords, although. Still, what sells the entire thing is the look and sound of it. A brooding soundtrack, full voice appearing on the principle missions and numerous swooshy future UI screens. Vaguely unrealistic? Maybe, however the Rule Of Cool takes precedent.
NITE Team four is out now on Steam and Humble for £27.79/€29.99/$34.99. There’s additionally a single, expensive (£46.49/49.99/$59.99) piece of DLC – Network Administrator. A modding bundle, permitting customers so as to add new eventualities to the game’s better web. It additionally features a assist from the devs, plus a session with them to design paintings for user-made eventualities – intriguing stuff.
