Gone Viral

Computer viruses are now more advanced than ever, even if antivirus software tries to keep up with them. On the other hand, few of them attack your files in plain sight anymore, since it’s way too obvious and useless, unless the hackers want to wipe your PC. Hence, worms are much more common, and they are generally used either to hold your computer hostage until you pay, or to transform it into a bot in order to be used in a bigger attack without your consent.

Gone Viral is an arcade game that allows you to play the role of the virus for a change, although you do not need to know any coding. Instead, your only job is to avoid the antivirus scans and make sure that everything is infected by the time you are finished. The stages get trickier and trickier as you manage to complete them, which makes the game that more attractive and enjoyable.

In order to completely infect a computer, you have to start by going after small components first, which are easier to infect. However, you can only infect something if you have already multiplied into enough copies, because some are lost in the process. In order to replicate yourself, you have to destroy antivirus units sent to attack you, which drop parts that can be exchanged for extra copies of yourself.

Each level can be approached in a variety of ways, depending on how you want to play. Your virus can only perform a handful of actions, but at least it’s up to you to choose how to spread the infection. You also have to react quickly once the antivirus scan begins, because the units come from every direction, and it may be difficult to avoid all of them without losing a few replicas.

Granted, you can always make more if you have enough spare parts, which makes it pretty difficult to die. The antivirus is also slower than you, although not by much. You can dash if you feel threatened, on the other hand, which grants you a considerable speed boost for a short period of time. The graphics are quite simple, but they look pretty nice even so.

When it’s all said and done, Gone Viral is certainly an enjoyable arcade game, even if you might not understand the mechanics at first. After the tutorial explains everything you need to know, it should be a very pleasant experience.