Mainlining Preview

There are a lot of games that have the word “impressive” used about them and few really deserve it. Mainliningis one of the few. This point and click adventure game puts you in front of a PC running the “Rainbow” Operating System and asks you for a user name and to pick an account image in scenes reminiscent of the old Windows XP login. Then it has you use a messenger client, browser (Internet Discoverer) and various other applications to hunt down miscreants responsible for a major breach of the security of MI7 that caused the whole system to fail and be rebuilt. Of course, being a diligent little cog in the machine, you don’t just need to identify and arrest the little weasel because there’s no deterrent if you can’t get them locked up for as long as possible after all.

This is where the investigation part of the game comes in. You have to work out the who, how and why of the crime and once you have that information, arrest the blighter. Of course, that is just the start as you traipse off down the rabbit hole using a command line interface to track down the criminals and unleash the might of MI7 on their heads. For those who (unlike me) didn’t spend their nights in the 90s with dial-up, bulletin Boards and the denizens of efnet and undernet IRC rooms, there’s a very considerately provided “help” command that gives you all the possible CLI commands.

Mainlininghas an enthralling story, a tight paced plot, and some insight into what it was like to be a digital cowboy back in the 90s and early 00s. With a team working on the game in the form of Rebelelephant and an award winning writer providing the plot, this is yet another Early Access game to watch out for.

With the quotes from Edward Snowden and mentions of the Draft Investigatory Powers Bill on the steam page (which was passed and is up for ratification),Mainlining doesn’t shy away from being provocative, and it should be said that I had more than one attack of conscience tweaking my midbrain when I was doing my job. It’s not a job for the faint of heart, being an agent of electronic cyber wizardry type investigations.

Go give Mainlining a try as this one is enthralling and nostalgic in turns and has me hooked.