Unlike in System Shock 2, hacking is not one option among many here it’s the whole game, and as a result, your screen is an exact representation of the screen your player interacts with (a presentation that many other entries on this list have borrowed).Īfter receiving a message from a deceased hacker (a surprisingly common theme on this list), the player has the choice to target a villainous group who is using a virus in an attempt to destroy the Internet. Originally released less than a month after 9/11, Uplink is a throwback to a simpler time, emulating the aesthetic of ‘90s hacker films in its presentation of code-cracking. But, if you enjoy avoiding fights and rigging turrets to take out enemies, you have System Shock 2 to thank. None present hacking realistically you’re not entering lines of code (and NieR: Automata abstracted the process to the point that it became a twin stick shooter). Many sci-fi RPGS released after System Shock 2 have followed in its footsteps - especially those with an immersive hacking simulator bent - offering hacking abilities as one route to accomplish a goal.

While the player was cast as a hacker in the original System Shock, they had the toolset to roleplay a hacker in its sequel. But, System Shock 2 is notable for its implementation of hacking as one of multiple skill trees that the player could pursue. As far as abstracted versions of hacking go, I much prefer the weird pipe puzzles of BioShock, its spiritual successor. Basically, you play a simplified game of Minesweeper where you’re required to link three mines in a row for a successful hack. The hacking minigame in System Shock 2 is nothing special. We like both, and you’ll find both represented in our hacking games list below. Others, though, abstract hacking to the point that it becomes a magical ability you can use with the press of a button. Some of these games present a simulation of hacking, with the player inputting real lines of code. But, there’s a lineage of games that have sought to deliver the fantasy of being in complete command of a computer’s functions of using that control to wreak destruction, or to avert it. We see numbers and letters in a line of code not meaning. Of course, most players are just that: players. Id Software prioritized the nascent modding community when they were creating Doom, Valve courted it from Half-Life onward and the entirety of the MOBA genre stems from folks futzing with Warcraft III.

Looking for a list of the best hacking games on PC? Game developers have long valued the ‘hacker ethic’ - the will and skill to grab a game by the scruff of its code, rip it apart, and put the pieces together in a new way.

Pc hacking games