I'm pretty upset at how Drop: System Breach had me liking it before getting very bored and then really hating it.
This entire game feels like it should be another game's hacking minigame. That's fine, because initially I enjoyed performing "drops": quick, simple sprints to get into a system, complete a couple small tasks, and get out in under the 5 minute limit. This goes on for several hours and while things do slightly change -- such as new defensive programs to learn about countering and upgrading your rig with new hard- and software -- you see the core concept in its first ~20 minutes and there's just not much else to it. You're going to get sick of it. The game has movement keys and 2 primary buttons so it's certainly not trying to be Uplink.
There's a plot, sort of: You're a rookie hacker on the scene makin' big waves at the local internet cafe with your uber 1337 skillz before you pick up a data packet you can't open nor get rid of. The game mostly revolves around what you downloaded and what to do about it. I suppose if you know about current topics in technology, you can likely guess what it is and (if you enjoy sci-fi) what becomes of it. It's not very complicated but it's fine, whatever.
The problem is that's only part of it. You're a pretty independent dropsman, so you can choose which missions you want to do and who you work for, but this feels like an entirely pointless system. Sometimes there's 4 missions to choose from, and though they've got different initiators, targets, and objectives, it doesn't matter at all what you choose: you're going to get a message telling you “Good job!” (sometimes, it's from the people you just targeted(?)) and after a few of these, you'll get more intel about that "important data" and a “story” mission, which'll just be more of the same.
Why even bother letting me choose my mission when they completely blur together and nothing I do has consequences? The objectives barely matter, you'll become a master almost immediately running on autopilot. No matter what your mission is, you're going to go in and farm as much of the cash sitting around as you can, tick the box of whatever you're there to do (almost always “Find the system to press 'A' on”), then leave. All missions have the same base pay, which is never enough; it's only when you're committed to a drop that you can see the potential earnings inside after exploring the entire system. Outside of a few rarities, drops will only take you 3 minutes and you're going to do (what feels like, anyways) hundreds of them.
That's my long way of saying “It gets repetitive, fast.”
The last two missions (after, again, countless cookie-cutter jobs) are the only ones I can think of that have any variety and they're both pretty miserable. The penultimate level teaches you to ignore everything about how you have been playing for several hours and instead blitz through as fast and as dirty as you can. I don't know if I can describe the last mission too well if you haven't played the game, but basically the difficulty is ramped up from the “2” it has been sitting at since the beginning and is now at a red hot “10”.
The 5 minute time limit is still here, and every hit through your firewall shortens that. The final boss is hitting you constantly and when you complete one of your 5 required objectives, they PAUSE YOUR INPUT to taunt you a bit. You're just stuck sitting there and guess who isn't? The asshole who's gonna plummet your time to 0 while you can do absolutely nothing about it. Dogshit boss.
Don't like your upgrade build for this suddenly completely different style of play? Oh well, bud.
There's a bit to like here before there absolutely isn't. Its simplicity is charming but there's nothing going on anywhere, really, so the whole thing gets stale soon. All so you can beat a final boss that is insanely tough (especially considering the rest of the game) and get an email saying “Wow, that sure was whacky, huh?? See ya later!” and credits roll.
I went with 2 stars because I did have fun for a while... before the slow betrayal.
I do not recommend Drop: System Breach. It's probably bad for your vision.
This entire game feels like it should be another game's hacking minigame. That's fine, because initially I enjoyed performing "drops": quick, simple sprints to get into a system, complete a couple small tasks, and get out in under the 5 minute limit. This goes on for several hours and while things do slightly change -- such as new defensive programs to learn about countering and upgrading your rig with new hard- and software -- you see the core concept in its first ~20 minutes and there's just not much else to it. You're going to get sick of it. The game has movement keys and 2 primary buttons so it's certainly not trying to be Uplink.
There's a plot, sort of: You're a rookie hacker on the scene makin' big waves at the local internet cafe with your uber 1337 skillz before you pick up a data packet you can't open nor get rid of. The game mostly revolves around what you downloaded and what to do about it. I suppose if you know about current topics in technology, you can likely guess what it is and (if you enjoy sci-fi) what becomes of it. It's not very complicated but it's fine, whatever.
The problem is that's only part of it. You're a pretty independent dropsman, so you can choose which missions you want to do and who you work for, but this feels like an entirely pointless system. Sometimes there's 4 missions to choose from, and though they've got different initiators, targets, and objectives, it doesn't matter at all what you choose: you're going to get a message telling you “Good job!” (sometimes, it's from the people you just targeted(?)) and after a few of these, you'll get more intel about that "important data" and a “story” mission, which'll just be more of the same.
Why even bother letting me choose my mission when they completely blur together and nothing I do has consequences? The objectives barely matter, you'll become a master almost immediately running on autopilot. No matter what your mission is, you're going to go in and farm as much of the cash sitting around as you can, tick the box of whatever you're there to do (almost always “Find the system to press 'A' on”), then leave. All missions have the same base pay, which is never enough; it's only when you're committed to a drop that you can see the potential earnings inside after exploring the entire system. Outside of a few rarities, drops will only take you 3 minutes and you're going to do (what feels like, anyways) hundreds of them.
That's my long way of saying “It gets repetitive, fast.”
The last two missions (after, again, countless cookie-cutter jobs) are the only ones I can think of that have any variety and they're both pretty miserable. The penultimate level teaches you to ignore everything about how you have been playing for several hours and instead blitz through as fast and as dirty as you can. I don't know if I can describe the last mission too well if you haven't played the game, but basically the difficulty is ramped up from the “2” it has been sitting at since the beginning and is now at a red hot “10”.
The 5 minute time limit is still here, and every hit through your firewall shortens that. The final boss is hitting you constantly and when you complete one of your 5 required objectives, they PAUSE YOUR INPUT to taunt you a bit. You're just stuck sitting there and guess who isn't? The asshole who's gonna plummet your time to 0 while you can do absolutely nothing about it. Dogshit boss.
Don't like your upgrade build for this suddenly completely different style of play? Oh well, bud.
There's a bit to like here before there absolutely isn't. Its simplicity is charming but there's nothing going on anywhere, really, so the whole thing gets stale soon. All so you can beat a final boss that is insanely tough (especially considering the rest of the game) and get an email saying “Wow, that sure was whacky, huh?? See ya later!” and credits roll.
I went with 2 stars because I did have fun for a while... before the slow betrayal.
I do not recommend Drop: System Breach. It's probably bad for your vision.