[General Topics] Menneisyys:
Some of you may have already played BS Hacker Replay Unlimited, a Cyberpunk / “hacker” game. It’s not a bad game (on the desktop Windows); I certainly recommend this review on it for more info. (Note that the linked review also reviews another desktop Windows "cyberpunk" game of the same developer.)

Now that Handango has cut the price of the Pocket PC port of the game in half, I’ve decided to give it a go, particularly when it comes to comparing it to the desktop version. There doesn’t seem a review of the Pocket PC version anywhere; PocketGamer.org hasn’t even mentioned it, let alone other Pocket PC gaming-related sites.

Availability, price

(Current, tested version: 1.211)

The title is available for the original $9.99 on the homepage of the developer and, as has already been pointed out, at half the price, $4.99, on Handango.

Compatibility

All devices starting with Pocket PC 2002. This means, in addition to my Pocket PC 2002 iPAQ 3660, both my two other “problematic” devices have run the game without problems:

the WM5-upgraded HP iPAQ hx4700

the “slow” HTC Wizard (has for example no music or similar problems, unlike, say, SuperTux)

Differences between the desktop and the Windows Mobile version

First, you don’t need to enter any text on the Windows Mobile – everything is icon-based and, therefore, happens much faster (you don't need to enter commands on the keyboard, just click the given icon). The generic speedup also applies to functionality that was definitely slow in the desktop version: for example, cracking passwords, which is done much faster on Windows Mobile than in the desktop version.

However, a LOT of the desktop functionalities have been removed. For example, there are no files on hosts any more, you can only transfer money from them (and trash / BNC them if you deem it necessary – it’s only in this respect that it’s the same as the desktop version). Which is even worse, a LOT of functionality (still) present in the desktop version (ability to upgrade hacker apps; several missions or, for that matter, almost ANYTHING except just money transfer etc.) are severely missing from the PDA version.

The built-in, one-page (!) help (screenshot of it here) is in no way as good as the built-in, several-page tutorial of the desktop version. Apart from the differences between the desktop and the WM version (NO filelists, NO file transfer etc) for example it doesn’t even explain how the different BNC connections affect the trace speed – in this respect (too), it’s really poor.

Music

The music is exactly the same as in the desktop version (pretty repetitive, mono). Unfortunately, the Pocket PC version severely lacks the rather basic, but sometimes (for example, when you click a server to hack on the map) really cool sound effects.

Graphics

QVGA only (sorry, no high-resolution VGA support). However, the developers have managed to squeeze everything into this; that is, almost everything important is displayed, without the need for scrolling (which is, by the way, impossible in the PPC version, unlike on the desktop).

Verdict

If you loved the desktop version because of the great missions and the flexibility, you’ll be REALLY disappointed. In the conversion, all of this has been removed; this makes the game really shallow and uninteresting. I really disliked the PPC port because it’s just the best parts (the missions and the sophisticated file lists and options) that have been removed. You may want to give it a try to see whether you like it though.