Hack Hack Revolution

New ideas are always interesting and engaging, but they rarely make everything better in video games. Hence, if the rest of the game is awful, it doesn’t really matter that the developer included original gameplay mechanics, because no one would have the patience to enjoy them. On the other hand, it’s always worth a try, mainly because it’s a great way to learn how to tackle new challenges.

Hack Hack Revolution is a simple platformer in which your sole goal is to destroy all the enemies from a level as quickly as possible and without dying in the process. It would appear that there’s nothing new or exciting about the experience, but there actually is something unique about it: the way you shoot things. Unfortunately, that is not enough to avoid boredom and the annoying lack of content.

The game puts you in the role of a hacker who must neutralize all the users from a system in order to get to the data they are trying to protect. However, in order to shoot enemies you have to pay attention to the beat that plays in the background and watch the screen with the falling letters in order to press the correct one at the correct time. It’s basically the same gimmick as in Dance Dance Revolution, hence the similar name.

Even if this was designed for a game jam competition, that’s still no excuse for the fact that it only contains one level and no possibility to get high scores or anything like that. On top of that, the entire level can be explored in a matter of seconds, even if some of the jumps are a bit tricky. The enemies remain in the same position after a restart, which means that absolutely nothing changes.

The mechanics are pretty shaky at the moment as well, especially when it comes to the collision system and the way your character behaves in contact with a solid surface. Hence, you practically stick to walls if you happen to jump into them, and there are situations that cause you to fall right through the floor. To make matters worse, there’s no way to restart the level or quit to menu, which means that a full game reset is required.

In the end, Hack Hack Revolution might stand a chance with a little more work, mainly because the rhythm mechanics are somewhat intriguing. However, everything else is pretty badly designed and implemented, which is a bit of a bummer.