Space Hack Review
Suzie \'Kalia\' Ford, 2005-12-27

Space Hack, an action-RPG developed by Rebel Mind Studios and distributed in North America by Meridian 4, has hit the shelves. Borrowing game play aspects from the Blizzard Entertainment hit, Diablo, Space Hack takes players into a futuristic world aboard a colony ship lost in space rather than to a pseudo-medieval world. The hero, Hack, is charged with saving the ship's survivors from certain death by fighting his way through legion alien monsters on his way to the final biosphere where the emergency transport vehicles reside.

According to the Rebel Mind's site: "Space Hack is a sci-fi RPG/action title with Diablo-inspired game play mechanics, presented in real-time 3D graphics. Playing role of a tough warrior you will be struggling to reach an emergency transporting module, hacking and slashing your way through hordes of alien creatures taking over your ship."

The comparison to Diablo is an appropriate one and it is very clear that the developers have tremendous respect for both the game itself and Blizzard Entertainment. Space Hack has taken some elements from Diablo and expanded upon and improved them to make a highly addictive and entertaining game.

In Space Hack, players are Hack, the name of the main character, an Earth war hero wrongly convicted of insubordination and sentenced to a space penal colony. Hack is one man out to save his world, in this case, the survivors aboard the space ship.

There is no character creation initially. The player enters the world with basic attributes in strength, dexterity, knowledge and endurance. Hack's divergence in character development occurs as he works his way through the game and gains experience. Players can specialize in ranged combat, close quarters fighting or in the use of technology to defeat the monsters inhabiting the biospheres.

After a short opening movie, the player, as Hack, appears in Biosphere One's base camp. From there, Hack is expected to explore the camp, gain insight into who is there, why they are there and what it is that they want him to do.

Hack has no energy (the game's currency) so he has no ability to buy equipment. However, near the camp leader, Patrick Van Horn, there are several items for Hack to pick up: A magnetic gun, a small sling, a light club and three heath shots (each the equivalent of a small healing potion). Armed with these and quests to complete, he heads out into the world beyond the camp's safety. Almost immediately after exiting the base camp, Hack is attacked by the first monsters of the game. They are plentiful here and throughout the rest of the game. The good side to this is that they are not only numerous but they are generous. They drop items ranging from attribute enhancement cells, simple slings, swords and bows to more advanced weaponry such as magnetic guns, ice guns, etc. The down side is that players must learn to use Hack carefully and draw enemies to him in small numbers. If not, Hack is easily overwhelmed. As with most action-RPGs, the more monsters Hack kills, the faster he advances so hordes of bad guys are a good thing.

Space Hack uses the traditional 'point and click' method to attack and kill monsters and to pick up dropped items. Combat and movement is accomplished in "real time". Hack's default movement is walking though one can run with a simple keystroke. Running, as expected, uses stamina, something that in the early levels, Hack runs out of quite quickly.

As Hack moves through the game, he collects items and energy both combating monsters and smashing alien ova. The ova are plentiful (truly an understatement) and give Hack a lot of energy and items. Energy, as said earlier, is the game currency but can also be used to refill Hack's energy supply, necessary for using technological weaponry and 'spells'.

Hack works his way through the biospheres, each containing a different ecosystem. There are various communication stations where he can find out additional information to complete quests and more about the ship on which he resides. There are also teleport stations scattered throughout the biospheres to ease the transportation to and from the base camp. Teleport stations can be used to move from one biosphere to another rather than forcing Hack to walk back to earlier areas complete quests. "Chips" can also be found that teleport Hack to and from the base camp.

Hack's character can be enhanced "artificially" with biochips that add to his attributes. There are also chips for healing, teleport, holograms, identification, etc. These chips can be found after killing monsters or in the ova.

Technically, Space Hack is nicely packaged. The graphics are quite good with a lot of attention to detail without going overboard. Sounds are sharp and clear. The game is VERY stable with no problems with the game crashing whatsoever. The excellent soundtrack music (and at some points, the lack of it) sets the mood of the game. Hack is in an alien world both literally and figuratively. The ambient mood is set with the right musical sounds at the right times.

The camera is set over Hack's shoulder though you can pan around 360 by using the mouse scroll button. It was awkward at first but quickly became routine and extremely useful. Movement is the standard WASD key configuration with other shortcuts to open Hack's inventory, the 'journal', the character sheet, etc.

Strengths: