Hacker II: The Doomsday Papers
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Hacker II: The Doomsday Papers is a 1986 computer game developed and published by Activision. It is the only sequel to the 1985 game, Hacker. It was released for several platforms of the home computer era. As with the first game, it was designed by Steve Cartwright.
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[edit] Plot
Hacker II is notably more difficult and involved than the first game. In Hacker II, the player is actually recruited based upon his (assumed) success with the activities in the original game. Once again, they are tasked with controlling a robot, this time to infiltrate a secure facility in order to retrieve documents known only as "The Doomsday Papers" from a well guarded vault to ensure the security of the United States.
[edit] Description
Gameplay is considerably changed from the previous game and the packaging is notable for including a "manual" describing the function of a four way monitor system provided to the player. It is hooked into the camera security network of the facility the player is asked to infiltrate. A handful of robots are available, hidden in the facility, in case some are lost. By using the camera system and in-game map that helps track guard patrols and the location of the robots, the player must explore the one floor facility and find the codes needed to open the vault and escape with the papers.
Discovery by the guards must be avoided at all costs because once alerted, they will call in a huge machine that resembles a large plate hung from what looks like a metal frame on wheels. This machine pursues the player's defenseless robot and attempt to crush it with the plate. The player can try and avoid the drone, although it is relentless in its pursuit. If all the player's robots are destroyed, the game is over.
Eventually, as they escape with the papers, the player is confronted by agents of the United States that reveal that he or she had actually been working for a former Magma employee who wanted the papers in revenge for what had happened to the company the player had presumably exposed in the first game. The building that the player had unwittingly broken into was a government facility. The player then has to go back into the facility as part of a gambit to expose the Magma agent, avoiding the same security that had threatened the player before.
There are no saves available in the game as in the first title.
[edit] Platforms
Hacker II was available for many popular platforms of the home computer era. It was published for the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS and ZX Spectrum.
