You've spent years building up your skills. You've cut your teeth on company firewalls, local municipal security systems, and university databases. You read lines of code the way an English major reads "See Spot Run,"—that is to say, very easily. You're the best hacker out there, and yet you waste your skills hacking facebook accounts and emo blogs.
That is, until your friend sk3tch emails you with a hacking proposition that's just too good to pass up. The island nation of Locha doesn't enjoy the freedoms we enjoy here in the good ol' U.S. of A., and her trodden-upon citizens don't have an internet so much as a couple of highly monitored forums surrounded by firewalls. No citizenry can truly be free when the gatekeepers of knowledge keep information under lock, key, and surveillance that involves high-powered weaponry.
The goal is simple: hack away at Locha's servers and give the citizens of this tiny country the freedom of information that all people deserve.
Exploit is the latest game by Gregory Weir, creator of The Majesty of Colors and Bars of Black and White, but it is quite different from those two titles. The hacking takes the form of a tile-based puzzle game, where you must shoot packets into a grid from orange ports on the perimeter, and ultimately get one of those packets to reach the green Root Node. If that sounds simple, it's only because I haven't mentioned all of the other kinds of nodes that get in the way, redirect your shots, or reveal ports you didn't even know were there.
Plot out your moves carefully and pay special attention to incoming emails, and not only will you help the oppressed people of Locha, but you might, just might, prevent a terrorist attack here on our own soil.
Good luck, hacker, you're going to need it!
Analysis: Hacking has become a mainstream vehicle to blend various gameplay mechanics into a storyline. Look at the Sly Cooper games or the now defunct ARG Jamie Kane. But while in many games the hacking portal to alternative gameplay is merely a part of the whole, in Exploit it is the primary focus.
Weir delivers the story brilliantly, without overdoing it with any cutscenes or voice acting. The plot advances entirely via emails and news articles that pop up in your inbox between each hacking mission. What really sells it is the care with which these interludes are written. Sk3tch's correspondence is suitably juvenile for a hacker's best friend, while news clippings are so similar to reality, they will make news junkies like myself feel right at home. You'll even happen upon a couple of phishing scams.
The minimalist approach not only makes the story feel more real (in a way it's almost ARG-like itself), but it also draws the focus onto the puzzling aspect of the game quite well. Now, I know nothing about hacking—and I'm pretty sure that real hacking is completely different from what is offered in Exploit—but I do know puzzles, and this system is brilliantly constructed. Because most of your actions are time limited, you really have to plot your course in advance, putting the focus on thinking your way through the puzzles, as opposed to leaning on hit-and-miss tactics. The puzzles in the story mode aren't too taxing, but if they don't provide enough of an obstacle for you, there's a challenge mode available with 16 extra puzzles, and a level editor where you and your friends can try to stump or outhack each other.
Aesthetically, I want to say I'm getting tired of the dark background and brightly colored geometric shapes that are becoming a casual gaming staple, but it really works here, especially if you were a fan of the old 80s movie Wargames. It, like the email-driven story, adds an appropriate old-school hacker feel. As for the music, it's not much to write home about, but does a nice job of adding tension.
Gregory Weir has challenged himself to release a game per month for this entire year (Bars of Black and White was the first), and if his offerings continue to be as intriguing and varied as the first two, I think this is going to be a good year for both Weir and all of us who enjoy great games.
Walkthrough Guide
(Please allow page to fully load for spoiler tags to be functional.)
Narrative Walkthrough:
So, one day I'm busy stripping the DRM on my little brother's copy of Civilization III, when I get an e-mail from sk3tch, one of my buddies. He'd gotten curious about Locha, that island dictatorship in the middle of the ocean. He'd tried to get in but there's a huge firewall set up by their government to control the flow of information. Sk3tch reminded me that the duty of a white-hat is to Fight The Power, and TBH, I'd been meaning to try my hand at a little good old-fashioned anarchy. So I rolled up my sleeves, set the newsbot to watch for articles on Locha, and aimed right for the firewall.
Chapter One:
Barrier Firewall Tier 0:
Simple enough, click the Port at the middle left to fire a packet at the cyan cylinder, then fire the Port on the top row at the yellow buffer node. This disabled the blocker node near the upper left. Then I just fired the port right above center left, to hit the divider.
The newsbot returned a result right away. Whoa, looks like things are heating up.
Barrier Firewall Tier 1:
There were three ports on the left side of the grid. I fired the middle one, then the lower one, then the higher one.
Barrier Firewall Tier 2:
Now it got tricky. This one required REAL timing. First, I fired the port on the center of the left side of the board. Then I quickly fired the port on the top of the grid. Then I hovered my mouse over the port right above the middle left, and waited until JUST BEFORE the first of the barrier nodes blocking that port came back online (to give the first two Ports time to regenerate), then I fired that Port. After that, I fired the first two ports again, in the same order (middle left, then top row).
I let sk3tch know I was in, and said if he had any requests, I'd be sure and hit them while I was in there. He wrote back and suggested I head over to "LChan" (I wasn't sure he was serious at first, but he was) and look at the private political discussion forums. So, off to crack a username and password.
LChan Bulletin Board:
Okay, this one was just nasty. I needed to get two barriers down in order to crack a username and password (one for each, I guess), and I needed to get them both down at once, and each one took a process to attack. I assume the 7 ports along the bottom were User accounts and the two near the top were the filter bots.
I'll call the Ports along the bottom 1 through 7 (left to right), and the two ports on either side X and Y.
First, I fired Port 6 (second from left), waited just a moment, then fired Port 5, waited another moment, then port 7. The instant the cyan latch blocking Port Y was down, I fired that one.
I then QUICKLY slipped back down and fired port 2, then port 3 (wait until the barrier is down), then port 1, and then port X. I QUICKLY moved down and fired port 5 (if the barrier connected to port Y has come back online, you need to start over). Once I got the white key, I had the username and password I needed, and the port on the top row appeared to get me in.
So, everything on the private board was written in Lochan. I speak C++ and Java fluently, but not a word of Lochan. I just saved as many board files as I could and sent them off to sk3tch, hopefully he knew someone who could translate and wouldn't tell. After about an hour, he wrote back with, of all things, a recipe for Lochan persimmon pastries (What. The. Heck.) that he got from the mom of one of his friends, who, oh yeah, happened to be from Locha (couldn't he have mentioned that at the START of the e-mail?). "Charlie," he says, took a look at the board files, and said that a political blogger named Li Yolei had been placed under house arrest and was going to get executed soon. Sk3tch got me some info on the local polics system, and asked me to help get Yolei free.
Yes, my 1337 skillz were about to SAVE A HUMAN LIFE, from the comfort of my room. I can practically hear sk3tch's bragging already...
Lioa City Police Dispatch System:
This one was pretty simple. Two of the ports were vulnerable to a virus I could put in the system and let me hijack the police radio.
There were two ports on either side of the grid, just below the center row. I fired each of them once, and voila, it spread like wildfire during a drought. The virus took out the cyan latches on the top and bottom every time they came back online, and kept the buffer nodes saturated so the barriers were down. The cyan latch in the middle was in a better spot, but I just fired off the ports on the top and bottom of the grid, and it fell. I then fired the port on the middle of the left side of the grid, and just waltzed in like I owned the joint (or pwned it, as the case may be).
Now it was time to contact Li Yolei at his home.
House Arrest:
Yeesh, this guy has security on his comp. I needed a key just to get started. There was a Port aimed at the yellow buffer in the top right corner, I fired that one, then set off the Port closest to the top on the right side to get the key. This opened up a new Port in the bottom left corner.
So, first I fired off the Port in the middle of the left side. That opened up a barrier that I could fire the brand-new port through, taking out the cyan latch and letting me fire the Port in the bottom center. I then fired the Port just above the bottom left (directly above the Port I'd created), then the one on the bottom row near the right, then the one on the right side just below the one I'd fired to get the key. This opened up a path from the Port at top-center, which I then fired to get in.
Charlie sent a message to Li Yolei in Lochan, telling him that he (and two anonymous American strangers Li had never heard of and who had no diplomatic experience) was planning to help get him out. Yolei wrote back and said he was willing to try, rightly assuming that trusting three complete strangers, two of which were anonymous, was still better than CERTAIN death. He wanted to bring a friend, Gadao Koi, who'd been arrested along with him. Big deal, so I get one ticket instead of two. I was wondering where I'd send them, but sk3tch said that if I sent them to Charlotte, NC, where sk3tch is, that he'd let the two of them crash on his couch (I wonder what Charlie's mom will say when she hears about this...).
Sochao Airport Ticketing System:
After going through LChan and getting into Li's personal computer, these guys were a joke. Three ports, all on the left side. I fired the middle one, then once the barriers were down I fired the lower and upper one. Those made two ports appear, aimed right at the goal. I assume there was one for each ticket, so I fired them both.
The newsbot sent me an article saying that Li and Gadao had been intercepted at the airport. Oh, not the airport in Locha, they got through that fine... the airport in Los Angeles, where they were going to catch a connecting flight to Charlotte. Apparently, since the State Department added Locha to its enemies list, they're looking at random Lochan visitors, and they found Li and Gadao's tickets were phony. So now they're being sent to Camp Zulu, where Guantanamo used to be. Same friendly service with a new name.
At least now they're not in QUITE as imminent a danger of death, but we still want to get them out of there.
Chapter Two:
So, now I'm attacking Uncle Sam's government servers, as well as Locha's. Oh well, they're the ones who sent our new buddies to Camp Zulu. I set the newsbot to watch for stuff on Camp Zulu as well, and went in.
All right, there are eight systems I need to prepare before I can launch the main rescue. I'll start at the top and work my way clockwise:
Power Distribution:
Okay, the ports this time represented power transformers, and since this thing powered the whole island, there were a lot of them, all the way around the grid.
The grid was 5x5:
00000
00000
00000
00000
00000
I worked backwards to figure out which ports I needed to fire:
. xx91x
x 00000 x
b 00000 3
x 00000 x
c 00000 2
x 00000 x
. xaxxx
Okay, there are four ports aimed at the microcontroller in the center, each one blocked by two barriers. Only one of them, however, was blocked by two barriers BOTH of which could be taken out. Port 9 (the one at the top). So, to take out one, I fired ports 1, 2 and 3, in that order. To take out the other, I quickly fired ports a, b and c, in that order. I then quickly fired port 9, and hit the microcontroller.
VOIP and e-mail distribution:
This system was designed by a lousy programmer, Uncle Sam left a gaping security hole that even a novice hacker could exploit. Out of all the ports hooked up to this thing, I needed only two of them, both on the right side: The highest and lowest ones on that side. First I fired the highest one, and then the lowest one. Easy as pie.
Perimeter Control:
The sensors and barriers around the perimeter needed to be circumnavigated. The embedded code handling communications was good, I couldn't even see the links without a directory card. Thankfully it was easy to find, I just fired the Port at the bottom right (the one aiming up), then the port that was being blocked by that cyan latch (the lowest port on the right).
Now it got tricky.
This is a two-parter, so I'll only name the ports necessary in each step:
First I needed to get the key to access some doors:
. 5 1 x
2 000000000
3 000000000
4 000000000
7 000000000
x 000000000
6 000000000
. 000000000 8
. 000000000 x
. 000000000
. x x
I had to fire 1 through 7 in order, and do it fast, then fire port 8 once port 7 hit the buffer node (you may have to start over a couple of times).
Now:
. 5 1 98
2 000000000
3 000000000
4 000000000
7 000000000
c 000000000
6 000000000
. 000000000 a
. 000000000 x
. 000000000
. b x
Yes, I had to fire 1-7 again, then fire the new 8, and then 9, then a, b and c in that order. And I had to do it fast. This WILL take you several tries. If you're going to cheat and use a DDOS, I recommend you use it on this one.
Sk3tch writes me to say that he's got some people from his guild working to cover my tracks on the phony tickets. He had better.
Motor Pool:
Simple one this time, but it required timing. There were two ports on the left side and one on the top that I needed to use to get the key. First I fired the one on the top row, then immediately fired the one at the top left. I then waited until JUST BEFORE the barrier node came back online, then fired the port near the bottom left. I then waited until the two at the top were back, then fired those two in the reverse order I'd fired them before, meaning top left, then top row. This opened up a port in front of the divider.
It was easy after that. Just fire the port aimed at the cyan latch right below the divider, then fire one at the divider, then fire the port aimed at the goal.
Sk3tch writes to tell me a bit about our new buddies. Li's day job was in a historical museum, and his parents were college professors. Gadao's parents were caught up in the failed 1999 revolution. For some reason he was allowed to visit Li during the house arrest thing. Meanwhile, one of Gadao's suitcases went on to Charlotte without him, and sk3tch and Charlie picked it up at the airport. Gadao seems to be an American culture buff, and he had tourist stuff in his suitcase.
Prisoner Databank
First, I fired the two ports on the top row, then the one at the top left.
Then...
. x x
x 00000 x
. 00000
3 00000 5
4 00000
. 00000
. 216
Fire 1-6 in that order. No problems, I was quick.
Security Radio Network
Here we go:
Getting the directory card was as easy as 1-2-3 (literally):
. x x x
x 000000000
. 000000000 x
. 000000000
x 000000000
. 000000000 x
x 000000000
. 000000000 x
2 000000000
. 000000000
. 31x xx x
Now for a little roller coaster ride:
. x 2 1
x 000000000
. 000000000 0
. 000000000
x 000000000
. 000000000 x
3 000000000
. 000000000 x
x 000000000
. 000000000
. xxx 4x x
Not too hard, but it did take a couple of tries.
You'll never guess who wrote to me this time...
Schedules and Policies:
This one is creative. Only three Ports this time, so I won't bother with a diagram. Just fire the one on the right side, then quickly fire the two on the top. Now that you have the key, repeat, and this time quickly fire the new port afterwards.
Oh, just LOVELY news from the newsbot.
Lock and Door Control:
All right, four keys to snatch up here, because I'll need to unlock plenty of doors. There's four separate procedures to get them...
. 2 4
. 0000000 3
1 0000000 5
. 0000000
. 0000000
. 0000000
0 0000000 8
. 0000000 7
. 9 6
They're divided up fairly obviously: 1-2, then 3-4-5, then 6-7-8, then 9-0.
This opened four new ports, one in the middle of each side. I just started at the bottom and worked my way around clockwise.
Sk3tch writes to say he's gotten bus tickets for them.
All right, time for what I hoped would be the final hack.
Central Control:
Step 1, get the key.
. 3x
. 0000000
. 0000000 x
x 0000000
2 0000000
. 0000000
4 0000000
. 0000000
. 1
Step 2, get inside.
. x3 1
. 0000000
. 0000000 2
4 0000000
x 0000000
. 0000000
x 0000000
. 0000000
. x
There.
Uh oh... Li and Gadao got to the bus station all right, Charlie and sk3tch met them, and Li is at sk3tch's house, but Gadao ditched them. Surprise, Gadao's parents turned traitor on the rebels in '99.
So now we have a Lochan agent wandering around Charlotte, the second-biggest banking center in the USA, and we covered up all the evidence about his escape.
All right, time to clean up our mess.
Chapter Three:
Sk3tch's Cell Phone:
For this first phase, I could only use ports on the bottom four rows of the grid, so forgive me for only mapping out those at first.
2 000000000 1
. 000000000
5 000000000
. 000000000
. 4 3
I just punched them in quick, in that order. This opened up one at the top, letting me hack in through the antenna.
This let sk3tch access his phone and get some pics, letting us know what Gadao is up to. He's been to a junkyard and a delivery company. He's doing some chemistry with scrap metal, and he's making thermite. Yikes. Still, the GPS in the phone led us to the library, so now we get to crack into their internal network. It's Charlotte's main library... I hope CAL doesn't get pissed off and try to zap me into the hard drive.
Charlotte Library, Main Branch:
The library's computers are very user-friendly, thankfully.
.
3 00000
1 00000
. 00000
4 00000
. 00000
. 256
I fired off 1 and 2 in that order. This opened up a new port at the top. I fired that one, then hit 3, 4, 5 and 6 in that order. Easy.
Well, at least there were no Vashta Nerada. Unfortunately, Gadao's been a busy guy. He's intruded at the Charlotte Fire Department. As if that wasn't bad enough, sk3tch's cell phone ran out of batteries, but his last pic showed Gadao in a uniform from Swifty Couriers.
I could go in either order here, but I picked the fire department as top priority.
Fire Department Dispatch System:
This one looked simpler than it was. Their shield was in the shape of their logo, that helped.
. 45 67
. 000000000
. 000000000
. 000000000
. 000000000
. 000000000
3 000000000
. 000000000
. 000000000
. 000000000
. 12
Started out hitting 1 through 5 in that order. Then I hit all of them in this order (pay attention): 1, 2, 4, 5, 3, 6, 7. I had to hit 6 and 7 very quickly after I hit 3.
This opened up two ports on the bottom. I repeated the 1, 2, 4, 5, 3, but this time I waited until 3 had taken out the two cyan latches near the goal, and then hit the two on the bottom (bottom right, then the bottom center).
I fixed his damage. Then sk3tch wrote and said that a lot of the tricks he'd used looked like mine. Apparently he's not just a terrorist, he's a copycat! Now I'm REALLY pissed. However, this could serve to keep the feds' attention off me, by making the whole thing look like his fault.
Swifty Couriers:
Okay, the one on the top left, then the one right near it on the top, got me the directory listings. Then it got tricky.
. 5 3
. 00000 4
. 00000
6 00000
. 00000
. 00000 1
. 2
The order is as follows: 1, 2, 3, 4, wait until 4 hits, then quickly hit 5, 2, 1, then 6.
Showdown: sk3tch looked at the data from the couriers. Apparently a courier went out for a gig yesterday and never returned. Gadao now has the courier's uniform and a badge (I hope he tied the guy up instead of killing him, but wouldn't get my hopes up), which means he won't even raise an eyebrow if he wheels a whole handcart of stuff into the Ameribank Building, the biggest banking complex in the second-biggest banking center in the USA, and thermite doesn't even show up on explosive tests.
Okay, we've been on the defensive for too long, time to take back the offensive. I'm going to crack into the Ameribank Building's security system and set a trap for him.
Ameribank Security System:
First, I fired the higher port on the left side, to get the directory. Then it got nasty. I needed to send a tracer through the system, which wouldn't be too bad, except there was a failsafe preventing one user from changing the whole thing, so I needed to keep two sessions open. Here's how I did it:
. x x
. 0000000
. 0000000
c 0000000
. 0000000 1
2 0000000
. 0000000
. 0000000
. a b
Still, it wasn't too difficult once I worked out how. I just fired A, B, 1, C, waited until the cyan latch was out, and hit 2.
Okay, so far so good, but sk3tch reports that he's cracked the fire suppression system. Time to set that right.
Ameribank Fire Suppression:
This one was fairly straightforward, but it was still tricky.
. 6
. 0000000
. 0000000 5
. 0000000
2 0000000 7
. 0000000
. 0000000
. 0000000
. 1 3 4
Hit 1, 2, wait a moment, 3, 4, 5, 2 again, 6, and 7. No problem.
And finally, they were onto Gadao! My work seemed to be done, but sk3tch saw on the cameras that he was about to escape, taking a freight elevator past the cops. Okay, just one job left: Trapping the elevator!
Ameribank Building Elevators:
Okay, first I needed the keys to open up a path to the middle of the elevator shaft.
.
. 000000000
. 000000000
. 000000000
1 000000000 a
3 000000000 b
. 000000000
. 000000000
7 000000000 c
. 000000000
. 5246 x d
1 through 7 in that order (remember to pause a bit between 2 and 3) got me two keys, and a through d in that order got me the third.
That opened the three ports on the top rows. I just fired the two on either side and then the one in the middle, and I trapped the elevator.
After that... well, you'll see how it came out for us. It had a pretty happy ending, don't worry.
Walkthroughs for the 16 challenge levels to come soon...
Posted by: Sylocat | April 23, 2009 3:06 AM