Root Access is an MMO pseudo-hacking game that takes place in an alternate universe where digital warfare is much more prevalent than the physical kind.
The Story
You play an opportunistic individual that stumbles upon the hacking world after discovering an unattended netbook in a coffee shop and taking it as your own. However, upon connecting to the Internet with it, you are immediately contacted by an unknown person claiming to be the owner of the netbook. He mentions that the netbook's sole purpose is for a particular digital crime he has been contracted to perform. He also explains that there is no longer enough time to set up a new netbook and that you have volunteered yourself, under the threat of being reported to the local authorities, to complete the job with the aid of his instructions. Eventually you become accustomed to simple hacks and after repaying your debt, you realise that hacking can be a profitable career, as long as you don't get caught.
So, what will you be? A lone indiscriminate hacker taking any job going, a bounty hunter making the web a safer please no matter what the cost or will you affiliate yourself with one of the major corporations and do their bidding to give them the edge on the competition. It's your choice.
Playing
Root Access is a sandbox MMO where the player is given as much freedom as possible in what they wish to do within the Root Access universe. You can stay as a lone hacker, working your way into secured systems to steal top secret information, or you can join a group of like-minded individuals and attack large corporations, infiltrating their networks from multiple points to ensure a success. You'll have to overcome various protection systems ranging from passwords to firewalls to achieve your goals and you'll do this by accumulating tools during your travels around the Internet and upgrading your hardware using your hard-earned credits.
Starting Out
Players start with a non-upgradable netbook which acts as their first gateway. A gateway is a system which you have desktop access to, it can either be local (your netbook and your last line of defence) or remote (a server on the internet). Your gateway is the machine you see when you initially log into the game and it is the machine you hack from. As you get better and earn some credits you may be able to afford to purchase a remote gateway, which you'll connect to through your netbook. A remote gateway can have its hardware upgraded which will increase the performance of the software running on it. The downside of a remote gateway is that when you log out of Root Access, the remote gateway will stay connected to the Internet, which means you really need to make sure you have left no traces behind if you've been hacking from it otherwise someone may gain access while you've been away. Your netbook, on the other hand, becomes completely disconnected from the Internet when you log off and is safe from other hackers.
Features
- Players can download, compile, patch and install a multitude of tools to aid them in their hacking career.
- Root Access has a mission engine that generates dynamic missions and story lines for players to take part in that require various digital infiltration techniques and objectives.
- Root Access also has a news engine that reports on all the game-verse known information and activities at real time.