868-BACK

very good and very deep. the game is brutal and needs careful calculating. however, the 3D bonus is too frustration. if we could ban some bonus that will be perfect. i treat it as a break but intriguing game, however, 3D is the next level, i have to remember too many things. if we could change view but keep it as Imbroglio's Cruel Pirate Rodney style, only seeing direct lines and hide other lanes, it still keeps the difficulty but much easier to control.

868-BACK is tactical Pac-Man. It’s a simple game loop: navigate the maze, collect the power pellets ("siphons"), defeat the ghosts (“progs”) and escape. Survive 8 mazes, and you have “hacked a server.” Hack more servers, get more powerups, deepen the tactics, take down the corporations. Every step is a fun decision, which is what you want from a tactics game. The screenshots suggest something inscrutable, but no. Every item is fastidiously tool-tipped, so scales fall quickly from willing eyes. Relax, this is turn-based. Or zip around firing your blaster until you’re over-your-head and trapped. Then, discover an esoteric sequence of powerups that miraculously rescues you. Cyberpunk, with some actual punk. Tactical Pac-Man. Tactical Cyber-Crack. Whatever you call it, 868-BACK doesn’t feel like anything you’ve ever played. It taps a new vein of joy in your AAAddled mind. That’s what you want out of your next game. Buy it.

I had to put all my thoughts into one winding review elsewhere, but the summation is... incredible. A masterpiece of discovering synergies, of grinning like a god and getting the smile wiped off your face.