Darknet is a comfortable, immersive, and just plain fun trip into VR. It’s accessible and addictive enough that in three weeks I have had my CV1 it’s become one of about two go-to games that I like to show first to friends and family or if I just want to hop into the Rift for a while. From it’s cool cyber/futuristic opening moments and music, to the premise and computerized voice of the ‘narrator,’ it’s a game that would probably be just ‘ok’ outside of VR, but it’s really engaging in VR due to the all important sense of presence and immersion VR can offer.
The goal of Darknet is to attack various networks and breach the root node, typically within a time limit. The player is given lots of choice as to which of many randomly generated networks to hack, with higher yield hacks offering a more stout challenge via stricter time limits and a more heavily guarded root node. Note that this is a puzzle game, and you can play it perfectly fine with just the Oculus Remote, although a gamepad works great as well. The first several hacks are easy enough and require little planning, but in short order the challenge becomes more realized as does the compelling, strategy-based nature of the gameplay. Choosing the right tools for the job and not wasting your time become paramount to success, and I thought Darknet did a commendable job of making the experience accessible and intuitive to start, yet not taking too long to roll out bigger stakes and more interesting methods to work with.
Taking on a network is pretty special and the visualization provided here is slick. Nodes are of different sizes and colors, all connected in some way or another to each other. You can literally rotate around in your chair or use the directional controls on your controller to turn the view ninety degrees if you prefer to not actually turn your head or body. Be sure to look up and down and behind you, the nodes are everywhere, and for those hacks that have a time limit, you can also see the digital clock counting down to indicate how long you have before you’ve been caught.
The visual experience is entirely comfortable and intuitive, and it’s awesome seeing your strategies of network-takeover play out as you take out single nodes or sometimes even dozens of nodes in one move. When you capture a node, it does not disappear, it changes color to indicate that it’s ‘yours’ to operate from.
Digging into the network towards the root requires some tools — viruses, hybrids, worms, they’re available and at your disposal as you advance through the ranks. The greater the challenge the more tools you will need, and not just one of each, either — using not only more than one tool but actually planning when to activate a tool becomes vital. For example, using a single virus to capture a node rarely works. Once activated, your virus will begin to sweep through the node, but simultaneously the antivirus mechanisms within that node kick in and begin working towards your virus. With multiple antivirus starting points protecting the node, your virus is halted almost immediately. With more hacks you get more funds and can purchase increasingly more expensive additional viruses to deploy. Deploying multiple ones at once can work, sometimes, but staggering their deployment works even better. Once a node is captured you can use a hybrid to reach out and touch all neighboring nodes, and if they aren’t blocked by a firewall, they become yours. A variety of other mechanisms both working with you and against you keep the puzzles engaging and rewarding.
Much of this gameplay is similar to Hacknet and I can’t help but think how cool it would be if E McNeil, developer of Darknet, and Team Fractal Alligator of Hacknet were to brainstorm together and make a hybrid experience. That random thought aside, Darknet got my attention immediately and has held it more than any other Oculus Rift experience I have had to date, which is most everything on the OR Store at the time of this writing. While Darknet could have possibly benefited from a more robust setting or ‘story,’ like how Hacknet has — there’s something to be said for a modern puzzle game that sticks to the gameplay rather than trying to box itself in with rigid details. Not to mention, Darknet was developed for VR from the start and on such a new platform it’s understandable that the gameplay is more focused than what we might see in the months to come.
With that, let’s head to the summary…
