Game review: Mainlining – play an MI7 agent sifting through piles of case information
It’s slightly too overwhelming for its own good and a little light on challenge – but the game is still a clever diversion
Rebelephant
3.5/5 stars
Few things are more intriguing than a good hacking game. The idea is quite brilliant when you think about it: a PC game that recreates a PC interface, but simplifying the laborious code-breaking process and doing away with that legal nonsense.
They’re cathartic as well, allowing us to live out our dreams of being a secret agent in a John le Carré book, but far removed from the super-spies of Splinter Cell and the like (although I love those, too).
Mainlining doesn’t completely live up to my fantasies, but there’s still a healthy amount of creativity to be found. Gamers are tasked with playing a freshly recruited MI7 agent, given the none-too-exciting job of sifting through piles of information related to a series of cases. You do this via pointing and clicking through numerous software programmes within your interface, as well as a simulated internet, and part of the puzzle is the often real-life dilemma of balancing your many windows tabs with what exactly is important.