As I mention in all my hacking game reviews, I love the genre and play all the game. DROP - System Breach is probably the best set of hacking mechanics I've seen in a decade, yet, it manages to drop the ball on the meta around it. While there's a lot I love here, my enjoyment has been on a steady decline since the start... and I can't really recommend it as is.
As I said, the core mechanics are clever, stylish and functional. Think of it as Diner Dash with a coat of paint... you walk around a node-based maze and activating each node just takes a period of time or a minigame. The entire game is about balancing different considerations. Instead of strategic, thinking play... its arcade-y madness.
For example: I click on a node to explore a new branch as I walk back to a LOG node and click to run a "DELETE LOGS" function to prevent them from tracking me. Now that the new branch is open, I walk forward and scan a neighboring security node, database, and power station. I start scanning the database before playing a minigame to disable the security. At this point, I need to return to clean up the logs since those are near full.
On this level, it feels great. The single action nodes are easy to learn and fast, the thematic feel is perfect, and the upgrades are satisfying. But, there are problems even on this moment-to-moment scale.
First off, while the security systems work in isolation... they feel bad in action and combination. For example, a single attack security node that drains your HP is manageable. But having 6 of them all draining HP means that I am running back and forth across the map to the REPAIR node. Combine that with getting stunned every couple steps... while its filling the trace log... while there's a chance that the security are traps... AHHHH.
The early levels felt like hacking and avoiding security. It felt like sneaking around and being an expert hacker. The later levels feel annoying... not hard mind you... but just far less enjoyable. It comes down to hoping the ProcGen maps put the security nodes close enough for you to handle them, because a bad map roll will ruin you. You don't have time to think, which massively undercuts the "Strategy" and "Puzzle" parts of the game.
But this feeling goes deeper, one of the satisfying parts of a good hacking game is searching databases, stealing access codes, etc. There's a feeling of joy in finding top secret data or bypasses that get you deeper... that's not present here. While you have these nodes, they only matter to specific mission objectives. Most of the nodes have zero use unless the mission demands it.
I want to be able to steal the administators key to bypass gates without a minigame. I want to find hidden prototype data in the databases that I can sell for a profit. I want to target the CPU to reset the security level and slow down the enemy attacks. I want to MAKE DECISIONS! As is, the depth really is a casual clicker game.
Ultimately, both of the above points cause the game to feel repetitive quickly. The solutions aren't really things that you think about, but reactions. But, the real problem here is the metagame around it. It has the look and feel of something amazing and it hurt as I realized none of it was real.
You work as a freelance, hacking, mercenary and taking jobs from various clients against set targets. Each of the contacts warns you that the other shouldn't be trusted and that are are upset you attacked them. But its all fake... there's no factions or branches. The names are just dressing for the procedurally generated maps that pad the time between story missions.
Which is the same problem... you have a procedural mission generator and a store full of interesting upgrades... yet its used to pretend the campaign is longer. You can't run random missions to earn money for the shop, you can't race forward through story missions to beat it, etc. It looks you into a linear path with no way to respec your equipment... hopefully you didn't waste money or skip to many "Optional" objectives.
This all sucks because I really do love the base here, but there's not a part of me that actually recommends this game to most people.
