This is going to be the first in my new “Sponsored Spotlight” series. In this series I will be covering any and all sponsored games I receive, so as to easily distinguish them from my other content. Other than that, it will basically take the form of an impressions post, where I give my thoughts on the different aspects of the game.
With that out of the way, let’s get started with NITE Team 4. Thanks again to Alice & Smith for the sponsor.
If you have ever wondered what would happen if a bunch of ethical hackers got together to make a video game, NITE Team 4 is basically what you would get. Not only are all of the puzzles solved via hacking, but the hacking techniques used actually reflect their real-world equivalents, at least to a certain degree. The result is a pretty neat puzzle game, even if it is still in Early Access.
Let’s start with the interface. The game presents itself as its own operating system titled Stinger OS, providing the player with a number of modules to use for hacking. These modules range from information gathering, to network intrusion, and even some more advanced ones like live satellite feeds. Granted, while a lot of these modules do reflect their real-world equivalents, they are definitely simplified, especially the more complex ones. However, there are still some modules that are pretty confusing to use at first, so I was very grateful that the game included a tutorial mode in the form of an academy. Even though it was a tutorial, I had fun learning the different modules and their various uses when it came to hacking. It also helps that the guy voicing the tutorial actually had some personality, although I still hate how he pronounces malware. end of Desktop 2019.01.02 – 19.27.52.14
Outside of the academy, NITE Team 4 offers a variety of missions to take on, including four official missions and three open-world ones, all of which are designed to reflect real-world scenarios. For reflecting real-world scenarios, I found the stories told within to be rather over-the-top and pretty poorly paced. I may not be a professional in reality, but I find it hard to believe that real-world missions would play out like they are depicted here in the game.
Even so, I quite liked how the missions were designed. While NITE Team 4 is about hacking, it is pretty much a complex puzzle game beneath that veil. Each mission starts out with a brief outline and then dumps the player right back to the home screen, giving only simple instructions on what to do. This is where the player’s knowledge of the different modules comes in handy. The game does not hold your hand, so if you did not pay attention in the academy, it can be quite easy to get stuck. In doing so, the game emphasizes just how complicated real-world hacking can be. There oftentimes is not a clear direction on what to do, you just kind of have to start digging, something that the game reflects really well. It makes for some very difficult puzzles at times, but the satisfaction of finally figuring it out made it well worth it.
Despite all of this, there is one major downside to NITE Team 4 — That being that it cannot be played offline. In order to even open the game, one must go through a login screen using an account linked to the game’s website. I only ever played the game’s singleplayer content (as the multiplayer is sill in beta) and I still had to be connected at all times in order to do anything. Granted, the game’s content is heavily tied to the Internet, but the store page did not make this fact apparent, so I definitely wanted to make that clear here.
Overall though, while NITE Team 4 may still be in Early Access, the content that is there is pretty fun to play through. And that is just the official content, I have not even touched the game’s user-created content. The interface is nicely designed, the academy is super helpful, and the puzzles are some of the best when it comes to hacking video games. Even so, the fact that the game cannot be played offline is a major drawback and I can see some having issues with how light on content the game currently is. However, the store page does state that more content is coming in the future, so hopefully we’ll see that sometime soon.
You can buy NITE Team 4 on Steam here.
I played this game as a result of a sponsorship. Read more about how I do my game reviews and impressions here.
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