Mainlining is a very impressive adventure game that puts you in the shoes of a cybercrime investigator for MI7, with you hacking into criminals computer systems and gathering enough evidence for an arrest.
Mainlining is played via a virtual desktop (running on a Rainbow™ operating system), with you chatting to other colleagues via a messenger client and email, using a browser to look up suspicious sites and using other, more specialised software to hack into sites and locate the criminals. The prototype starts with you just having recovered from a major security breach at MI7 that’s caused the whole system to reset, and you have to hunt down and arrest the culprit. It’s not just a case of figuring out who the culprit is though, you also have to collect enough evidence to lock him up for as long a time as possible (that’ll teach him to mess with MI7!)
Much like (the also excellent) Digital: A Love Story, you’ll need to be quite computer savvy and know your way around a command prompt, but that’s more of a benefit than a detraction as it feels more like an authentic experience. It’s a clever method of storytelling that really does make you feel like you’re a cybercrime investigation agent. A great hacking based puzzle adventure, well worth booting up.
Hint: If you’re not sure what to do with the Mainline command console, just type ‘help’ for a list of possible inputs.
Check Out The Mainlining Kickstarter Here
Check Out The Greenlight Page Here
Check Out a Walkthrough of the Mainlining Prototype Here
Download The Mainlining Prototype Here (Windows Only)