Unhack
is an indie puzzle game published and developed by InvertMouse, with a story that is delivered in visual novel style. Gameplay involves controlling a box through corridors, dodging obstacles such as lasers, and collecting keys to progress into the cores of systems to root out viruses.
The story is thus: 20 Minutes into the Future, Smash Security is the leading computer virus exterminator, particularly after the rise of the 5K Worm virus. You play as the Unhacker, an employee partnered with the young Artificial Intelligence known as Weedy. It's business as usual until corporate rivals ACME Antivirus get hold of advanced MemEdit software, plotting to use it against their competition. Things quickly become even worse when this rivalry leads to the truth behind the 5K Worm's creation, and one AI decides to make up for the mistakes of her creator by any means necessary...
There is also a short prequel available as DLC, called Unhack: Destruction. Its story focuses on ACME Antivirus, which consists of Mrs. Director, A2, and a prototype version of A2 known as Proto A.
On January 12th 2017, a sequel titled "Unhack 2" was released.
The main game makes use of the following Tropes:
- Alliterative Name:
- Smash Security
- ACME Antivirus.
- Amnesiac Hero: The Unhacker is actually Mr. Creator, co-founder of Smash Security, after a self-inflicted Memory Edit.
- Artificial Intelligence: Weedy, Debug, and A2. Plus Proto A in the prequel.
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: When Weedy fuses with too many other A.I.s, coupled with her own feelings of insecurity, she ends up power-hungry.
- As Long as There Is Evil: Stated in-game as the final words of the Motherworm.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: Miss Debug is Smash Security's original and most powerful AI, but following Mr. Creator's disappearance, prefers to spend most of her time in 'sleep mode'.
- Chivalrous Pervert: The Unhacker occasionally points out the sexual qualities of the female AIs he works with, but his job as an Unhacker always takes priority.
- Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: Weedy is Purple, Debug is Orange, and A2 (and the ACME Antivirus levels) are Green.
- Computer Virus: The 5K Worm. And the Motherworm.
- Cool Big Sis: Debug is treated as one by Weedy, due to Debug being Smash Security's older AI that occasionally acts as Weedy's reliable mentor.
- The Dog Bites Back: A2 purges the MemEdit software from ACME Antivirus's systems after being abandoned by them.
- Eyepatch of Power: Debug gets one after Weedy forces a Mental Fusion on her, which is also when she replaces Weedy as the Unhacker's AI partner.
- Fusion Dance: Debug and A2 into Debug2, which was at least partially an Emergency Transformation, and Weedy and the Motherworm into Perfect Weedy. A partial example also occurs earlier, when Weedy performs Mental Fusion with Debug, briefly turning one eye orange and requiring Debug to wear an eye patch after.
- Future Slang: "Unhack" is used as a verb to describe the process of virus removal.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Weedy's portrait sometimes appears in front of the on-screen captions when she's trying to get the Unhacker's attention.
- Mental Fusion: A technique that A.I.s can do with each other, though not always willingly and the process can be dangerous for the AI involved. Weedy fuses with too many other AI and renders her source code irreparably unstable. Debug and A2 seem to fuse successfully, but Unhack 2 reveals that they were forced to separate due to the damage they sustained; Debug barely managed to survive the process and A2 didn't.
- My God, What Have I Done?:
- The reaction of the 5K Worm's creator, upon learning how many lives it's ruined.
- Also Perfect Weedy's reaction when she sees how much pain she's caused Debug2.
- Only in It for the Money: The reason why Mr. Creator created the 5K Worm virus.
- Power at a Price: An AI that undergoes too much Mental Fusion can become incredibly unstable, as seen with Weedy.
- Protagonist-Centered Morality: In the first game, the Unhacker is mostly characterized by his strong bond with Weedy and Debug. In the sequel, when we observe him through Alltra's eyes, it becomes very clear that he only cares for them, along with powerful AI that could be useful to Smash Security, and not much else.
- Purple Is Powerful: Weedy, the Purple AI, is the one that defeats, and then fuses with, the Motherworm.
- Rage Quit: The Unhacker claims he's done this when frustrated by the Castle stages in Super Mario Bros..
- Saying Sound Effects Out Loud: Miss Debug, instead of just yawning, actually says "Yawnies".
- Shout-Out: One of the obstacles is directly compared to the Fire Bars in Super Mario Bros..
- Ugly Cute: In-Universe, a doll that Weedy finds and hangs on to that was originally a gift from Debug is considered by her to be adorable despite its flaws, while the Unhacker thinks it's just ugly.
- Utopia Justifies the Means: Weedy's justification for performing so much Mental Fusion.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: A2 is desperate for Mrs. Director's approval.
- You Have Failed Me: A2 is eventually fired by Mrs. Director from ACME Antivirus, after Smash Security gets past her defenses too many times.
The DLC Prequel Unhack: Destruction makes use of the following Tropes:
- Big Sister Instinct: Proto A is overprotective of A2, eagerly taking care of even the smallest of threats to her. Unfortunately, it may have contributed to A2's desire to prove herself towards her creator.
- Cool Big Sis: Proto A is treated as A2's older, more experienced sibling.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Mrs. Director refuses Debug's help when Smash Security, her greatest rival, sends the AI to help with a virus problem.
- Foregone Conclusion: This DLC is a prequel to the original, but Proto A is a new character that was never even mentioned in the main story line. There's a reason for that.
- Glory Seeker: Mrs. Director's initial motivation for creating ACME Antivirus and releasing it without cost is simply because busting viruses is a noble goal that shouldn't be locked behind a paywall. However, once she gets hacked by her own clients during Destruction just because her product isn't as good as Smash Security's, she turns into a Glory Hound willing to sacrifice her own AI and infect said clients with viruses in order to gain the clout necessary to compete with the Unhacker market and prove her own superiority to them.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Proto A takes A2's place when returning the 5K Worms to their senders, using up all of her energy in the process.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: ACME Antivirus was a free service, until its unsatisfied users planted a hive of 5K Worm viruses in its servers.
- Start of Darkness: This prequel serves as Ms. Director's, as it shows that she originally created ACME Antivirus to help others for free until its own users planted viruses in her computer systems just because her product had some unintended flaws, leading her to return the viruses to their senders in revenge, willingly sacrificing Proto A in the process, and instilling her desire to surpass Smash Security by any means necessary.
- Troll: Mrs. Director is called one for creating a fake teleporter maze as a part of A2's latest tests.
The sequel makes use of the following Tropes:
- Always Someone Better: The Creator is the "someone better" to Ms. Director; Ms. Director's primary motivation is to surpass Smash Security, but is unable to do so without relying on tricks such as the previous story's MemEdit software or manipulating Alltra this time around.
- Artificial Intelligence: Debug and Weedy return, though they are horribly outdated by the time the game takes place. Both of them have been infected with the Eraser virus and have at most hours to live. New characters are Neonya, Program X and Alltra.
- Big Sister Instinct: Program X for Alltra, and Debug for Weedy.
- Boss Battle: Subverted. The group goes to face Ms. Director for the final battle...And when they get there, they find a delirious and amnesiac Ms. Director, who has used the MemEditor to erase her own memories.
- Brought Down to Normal: Alltra transfers the bulk of his code and abilities to Program X.
- Death of Personality: A self-inflicted example. Mrs. Director recovers the MemEditor software from A2's "corpse" and uses it to destroy her own mind (her brain had been augmented with multiple computer chips, rendering her vulnerable to an attack like this). While she doesn't die, her personality as Mrs. Director is effectively destroyed forever.
- Delicate and Sickly: At an AI repair facility, the main characters come across a weakened AI who takes the form of a young girl; the facility both looks like and is treated as a hospital by the AI themselves, which helps enforce the image. It turns out the girl is an AI whose creator has stopped paying for her repairs, essentially abandoning her to die.
- Fake Memories:
- None of Alltra's memories of life as the Creator are theirs; they were given to them by Ms. Director.
- The Creator also apparently did this to Debug at the end of the first game. He messed with Debug's memories of A2's death to make her think that he was responsible for it so that she wouldn't blame herself.
- Final Battle: Subverted. The game builds up to a final battle between Alltra/Program X and Ms. Director...and when they arrive for said battle, Ms. Director has used the MemEditor on herself and is left terrified and amnesiac.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Neonya shows hints of jealousy anytime the Creator mentions Weedy or Debug.
- Hacking Minigame: Unlike the first game, however, they are all completely optional.
Word of God states this was due to player feedback from the original game, and to allow players the option to focus solely on the story. - Hidden Depths: June's distrust and hostility towards AI is obvious and justified, but at the end of the day she operates an AI hospital and treats AI that most other places would dismiss as lost causes. She also maintains a "graveyard" of sorts for AI that have died. Said graveyard is where A2 rests and where Weedy and Debug choose to spend their final moments.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: A self-inflicted example when Ms. Director erases her own memories with the MemEditor out of guilt for her actions. A more traditional example would be Alltra's lack of memory regarding his past with Program X and Ms. Director.
- Meaningful Rename: Program X eventually chooses the name "A3" for herself, but she doesn't insist on being called "A cubed".
- Mercy Kill: Ms. Director gets into the junkyard by blackmailing June with a disc containing proof that she cuts off the life support of AI that are near their end.
- Parental Abandonment: The young girl in the infirmary is actually a weakened, virus-infected AI whose creator stopped paying for her repairs and left her at the hospital when it became clear that she wouldn't recover.
- Survivor Guilt: Debug survived the Mental Fusion she did with A2 in the previous game, while A2 didn't. The Creator attempted to stop this by removing Debug's memory of leaving A2 to die in the junkyard, but Debug eventually figures it out anyway.
- Red Herring: When the existence of the junkyard, a sort of cemetery for AI that have ceased to function, is revealed, everyone assumes that Miss Director wants in so that she can retrieve the long-lost A2. She doesn't want A2 herself, but rather the MemEditor that's with her.
- The Reveal: Alltra, the player character, is an AI, not a human being. Additionally, his "AI partner" is Mrs. Director herself and he has lived inside a simulated version of Smash Security all along.
- Time Skip: 4 years have passed in-universe since the end of the first game.
- Together in Death: When their lifespans are nearly up, Weedy and Debug choose to go back into the junkyard so that they can pass together.
- Tomato in the Mirror: We're led to believe that the protagonist is The Creator from the first game. In actuality, we've been following Alltra, an AI created by Ms. Director who has been led to believe he's The Creator as part of a plan by Ms. Director to bring down the real Creator.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: A constant theme, especially once the game gets to the junkyard, is that the AI used by the various security companies to fight against viruses are treated as disposable tools despite their sentience.
