Uplink (pc: 2002): Reviews

> Switch to Advanced Search

Games Homepage
Best of 2008 | 2007 |2006 |2005
Advanced Search

PS3 | PS2 | PS One | PSP

Xbox 360 | Xbox

Wii | DS | GBA | Cube | N64

PC | N-Gage | Dreamcast

How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Games In Our Forums

sort by name

sort by score

xx Age of Pirates 2: City of Abandoned Ships
xx Alien Shooter - Revisited
xx Alien Shooter 2: Reloaded
xx Altitude
xx America's Army 3
75 And Yet It Moves
79 ArmA II
xx Armed Forces Corp.
xx Astro Tripper
75 BattleForge
74 Battlestations: Pacific
75 Bionic Commando
78 Blood Bowl
59 Blueberry Garden
xx Book of Unwritten Tales, The
90 Braid
xx Burnout Paradise: Big Surf Island
81 Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood
80 Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, The
76 Chronicles of Spellborn, The
67 Codename: Panzers - Cold War
73 Cogs
64 Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - Uprising
70 Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor
69 Cryostasis: Sleep of Reason
41 Damnation
66 Dark Sector
89 Dawn of Discovery
82 DCS: Black Shark
53 Death Track: Resurrection
xx Delta Force: Xtreme 2
76 Demigod
xx Drug Wars
71 Elven Legacy
89 EVE Online: Apocrypha
81 Fallout 3: Broken Steel
78 Fallout 3: Point Lookout
77 Fallout 3: The Pitt
50 Fenimore Fillmore's Revenge
xx Final Fantasy XI: A Crystalline Prophecy
65 Flock!
80 Free Realms
72 Fuel
78 Ghostbusters: The Video Game
54 Gobliiins 4
63 Godfather II, The
36 Grey's Anatomy
xx Hannah Montana: The Movie
xx Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
xx Helldorado
xx Hinterland: Orc Lords
xx Humans, The
xx Hunter, The
xx Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
72 Killing Floor
xx Larva Mortus
66 Last Remnant, The
20 Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust
xx Light of Altair
75 Maw, The
79 Men of War
76 Mevo & the Grooveriders
xx Military History Commander: Europe at War
74 MLB Dugout Heroes
63 Monsters vs. Aliens
74 Neverwinter Nights 2: Mysteries of Westgate
72 Officers
xx Operation 7
xx Orb and the Oracle, The
78 Overlord II
80 Path, The
88 Plants vs. Zombies
xx Pool Hall Pro
xx Pro Cycling Manager: Tour de France 2009
79 Prototype
xx Railworks
xx Raycatcher
70 Restaurant Empire 2
xx Righteous Kill 2: Revenge of the Poet Killer
73 Runes of Magic
xx Samantha Swift and the Golden Touch
72 SBK 09 Superbike World Championship
xx Scorpion: Disfigured
64 Secret Files 2: Puritas Cordis
74 Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper
77 Simon the Sorcerer 5: Who'd Even Want Contact?!
86 Sims 3, The
xx Smashing Toys
73 Spore Galactic Adventures
26 Stalin vs. Martians
xx Stateshift
68 Still Life 2
42 Stormrise
92 Street Fighter IV
71 Superstars V8 Racing
51 Terminator Salvation
xx Theatre of War 2: Africa 1943
xx Three Cards to Midnight
70 Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X.
61 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
xx Trine
31 Tunnel Rats
xx Up
61 Velvet Assassin
72 Virtua Tennis 2009
76 Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures Ep 1: Fright of the Bumblebees
73 Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures Ep 2: The Last Resort
75 Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures Ep 3: Muzzled!
62 Wanted: Weapons of Fate
xx Warrior Epic
58 Wheelman, The
xx Women's Murder Club: A Darker Shade of Grey
72 World in Conflict: Soviet Assault
xx WSC Real 09: World Snooker Championship
77 X-Men Origins: Wolverine - Uncaged Edition
xx Yosumin!
78 Zeno Clash

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games.

Uplink


9.0

based on 13 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 65 votes
Read user comments
Rate this game

Official Website

High tech computer crime and industrial espionage on the Internet of 2010. You play an Uplink Agent who makes a living by performing jobs for major corporations. Your tasks involve hacking into rival computer systems, stealing research data, sabotaging other companies, laundering money, erasing evidence, or framing innocent people. You use the money you earn to upgrade your computer systems, and to buy new software and tools. As your experience level increases you find more dangerous and profitable missions become available. You can speculate on a fully working stock market (and even influence its outcome). You can modify peoples academic or criminal records. You can divert money from bank transfers into your own accounts. You can even take part in the construction of the most deadly computer virus ever designed. [Introversion]

PUBLISHER:	Introversion
DEVELOPER:	Introversion
GENRE(S):	Strategy, Simulation
PLAYERS:	1
ESRB RATING:
RELEASE DATE:	February 1, 2002

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Gamer's Pulse

It doesn’t have the flash and hype of big name, but it is one of the best games I have ever played.

Yahoo! Games

One of the most innovative games we've seen in years...It delivers all the immersion, innovation, and entertainment you can ask for.

Computer Games Magazine

Couple this sort of tension with the cerebral challenge of building a hacking career and you've got a game that makes crime pay. [July 2003, p.87]

AltGaming

While the lack of true visual quality can be overlooked, the slightly confusing, and at times overwhelming interface that you're presented with can add to the nerve wracking nature of the game.

Armchair Empire

A fairly satisfying gaming experience... that goes for deeper strategy – actual gameplay! – rather than a flashy package.

IGN

It isn't one of those games that will keep you enthralled for hundreds of hours, but it is most certainly a great change from most of the clones that are released onto the market these days.

GameSpy

Solid, immersive gameplay that sadly does lose some steam after extended periods of time. But, it's a fun ride for those looking something a little different from the norm.

GameSpot

This is a game where you can get lost in the moment very easily.

PC Gameworld

Good if you’re methodical and like to play your games in short bursts. Not for twitch gamers or those who play to relax; it’s a surprisingly stressful experience!

Cheat Code Central

Uplink will serve its purpose as a game that can be played sporadically. It's doubtful you will want to play it for extended sittings but it's got a lot of potential replay value providing you don't overdose on it during a weekend binge.

Gamers' Temple

A unique game that is definitely worth a look by anyone looking for a gaming change of pace. Its long term appeal is questionable, though.

AceGamez

A misunderstood and sadly unappreciated diamond in the rough.

GameZone

While a very nice and original concept, Uplink will only appeal to a select few.

The average user rating for this game is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 65 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Daniel W. gave it a10:
Incredible game, great replay value, and it's available on steam. The only problem some people may have is how it works, and how they can trace you down, even after disconnecting. However, this is what gives it such great replay value. You play, you learn more, you beat the system.

Christopher P. gave it a4:
This game carries an innovative and exciting concept, but the execution is grossly off. Most guilty is the interface: there are quite a few strange quirks in entering information, for instance, requiring the mouse cursor to constantly be within the field you're entering information in, or it will be deselected. You'll spend most of the game entering information, so this bizarre interface error gets annoying very fast. At resolutions above 640x480 the text and buttons are uncomfortably small, barring the player from playing at more attractive high resolutions. Then comes the basic gameplay, which sounds exciting at first due to the entertaining concept, but in practice is tedious and pointless. You'll start by simply hacking passwords and performing basic tasks like copying and deleting information. As you "rank up", you'll get access to more advanced missions e. g. editing profiles and databases. Starting with cracking passwords is horribly dreary; rather than actually using thought to find the password yourself, you use a tool and select the password field, and the crack will eventually find the password. No, it's not fun. Hacking and editing databases can be fun for a while; going through lists of information and creating queries to find a specific entry and altering it somehow while you have the threat of being traced is modestly fun. The huge problem is, however, is that tasks like these encompass almost the entire game, and there is a very thin list of tasks to accomplish. You'll be tediously working through mission after identical mission to earn the right to partake in large-scale scenarios with a goal that takes some skill and thought to reach. These are the only worthwhile reasons to play the game, with your requiring advanced tools such as voice recorders, decoders and IP apps. Unfortunately, it takes an excessive time commitment to reach these scenarios. In the meantime you'll be clicking dozens of password fields and altering information ad nauseam. Other quibbles include an unnecessary "upgrade" system that forces the player to buy expensive new equipment before being able to perform another mission with or without the rank required also hurt the experience. Also, when you're "caught", it's game over and your save file is deleted, which I assume is to increase the intensity and fear of being caught. This can be worked around by just copying it from the save folder when you want to, but for a game that offers so little reward for so much monotonous work, it's cruel to force the player to work through the multitude of horrendously boring introductory missions again because of a single mistake. Also well worth noting is the method of covering your tracks by deleting IP logs, and this design choice doesn't seem to show any purpose. After every mission or attempted mission there will be logs where you were. These logs have to be deleted to prevent you from being traced. What this means is you'll be revisiting certain places both yours and foreign solely to click your log deleter then a log in a list, often with a dozen or more individual logs, and you'll have to do this very frequently. A game focused on a fictional portrayal of hacking is a terrifically exciting concept, but because this game suffers from a frustrating interface, poor pacing, lack of variety, and poor design choices, the concept's potential is unfulfilled. Not recommended, even to indie game fans.

Ryan E. gave it an8:
It's always fun to (pretend to) break the law. It misses the 'oh shit, the CIA is after me' factor of hacking, but that can't really be emulated. fun while it lasts.

Craig C. gave it a9:
Although Uplink doesn't have amazing graphics, it has tremendous gameplay offering immersion, tension and fast thinking. Really gets the adrenaline flowing.

Charles C. gave it a9:
It takes a while to really "get it" but once you do its quite engrossing. You are always on the verge of losing, something a lot of games don't do much anymore. Fear of starting over from the beginning encourages you to step careful and thus the atmosphere of the setting is created.

Mike M. gave it a9:
There's something eerily intoxicating about the atmosphere of a cyberpunk game - connected to the world, but isolated and alone in your own, little way. Uplink disguises itself as a real 'hacker interface', its simplicity drawing you in and its Deus Ex-like charm keeping you glued to its hazy, frightening premise.

[Anonymous] gave it a10:
Very entertaining game, definitely the best game for the system requirements. My only complaint was that I was able to purchase everything by finding 1,000,000 in a bank I was hacking before the storyline was revealed.