Cyberspace…the final frontier…or at least it certainly felt that way back in 1999 when the internet was still in its infancy! “Back in my day” as us slowly growing older folk then to say, the internet was the undiscovered country to the curious masses around the world. No longer was paper mail or a telephone the only reliable source of long-distance communication – now you could instantly send and receive messages to others to the ping of an electronic voice saying “You’ve got mail!” Multiplayer in the world of video games also saw a huge cultural shift. No longer was couch co-op the only way to play with your friends, as games like DOOM set the world on fire and shut down the internet on college campuses everyone as students used their valuable study time to the physics of how fast could Doomguy could plug a demon across the room with his trusty shotgun (and how fast could he do it to your best friend!). Certainly, the late 90’s acted as a warm welcome to the world of the internet, and no one partied as hard as they did in the year 1999.
This is where Hypnospace Outlaw, by developers Tendershoot, Mike Lasch, Xalavier Nelson Jr, and thatwhichis Media and publisher No More Robots, comes in. Imagine if 1999 was just a tad different than the world we knew it as. What if a rising star in Silicon Valley created a way to access the virtual world of the internet while you slept? That product would have been Merchantsoft’s Hypnospace – your e-ticket to hyperspace!
The gameplay thus revolves around, surprisingly, what a real-life detective would be doing – responding to emails about current cases and delving into an investigation about them. As Hypnospace’s volunteer enforcer, you do not get paid in real life dollars for this deductive work, but instead with Merchantsoft’s own currency, for use in buying things on Hypnospace, such as wallpapers, icons, music, etc. In order to crack cases, you will delve into the colorful zones of the internet, intently browsing such locales as zones for teenagers and their angst, a café, filled prominently with musicians and beatniks, old-fashioned folk and their surprisingly epic motorcycle pages filled with flaming skeletons and rocking music, and many, many more. There are numerous pages, subpages, hidden pages, emails, and other creative locales and characters throughout the game, and the developer, No More Robots, did such a tremendous job bringing them all to life, it struck me with awe just how much time went into designing each and every webpage, email or otherwise in this game. The simple way for me to say this is that there is a staggering amount of content. While the gameplay boils down to little more than point and click browsing, this is what makes it so engaging and surreal – as it is something you do normally on the internet! I think the best way to describe Hypnospace Outlaw overall, is to put it in the genre as classic point and click adventure games, made famous by Sierra and Lucasarts in ages past.
As you progress in the variety of cases that come your way, from annoying bullies and copyright infringement to more serious cases like viral outbreaks and elite hackers, a far more sinister plot unveils itself with surprising results. That is all I will say of the matter as to avoid spoilers, and it definitely is a fun ride!
The audio and visual effects are just superb. From the grainy, blocky text and images of the various webpages, the icons of the main desktop screens, and the sound of virtual icons and MIDI-made music, the game looks, feels and plays like it came out of an alternate 1999. Sure, maybe not EVERY website looked as kooky and space-age back in the day (I enjoyed a great amount of Cartoon Network and Nick.com in my youth), but it certainly nails the now retro aesthetic of the time flawlessly.
Hypnospace Outlaw is a fun and surreal adventure into the internet of 1999 that never was. If you enjoy point and click adventure games, alternate reality storylines, absurd humor and a TON of web browsing, this will make a fun addition to your Steam library. Enter the world of Hypnospace today!
Graphics (Presentation): 10
Music: 8
Story: 8
Controls: 9
Gameplay: 8
OVERALL SCORE: 8.6
Check Out the Hypnospace Outlaw Trailer:
Hypnospace Outlaw is available for Windows PC, Mac, and Linux via Steam.
Steam Review
Your local neighborhood nutjob, gamer, and teacher! I'm an avid fan of many genres such as platformers, shooters, horror, etc. I am also an avid tabletop gamer - hugely into the worlds of Warhammer and all of their spinoffs. I'm a big believer in being objective - even if something is not my cup of tea, I want to talk about it on the objective level - is it well made, crafted with love, and with care for the fans? If so, that's a good game in my book for someone and well worth their hard earned dollarydoos!
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