Quadrilateral Cowboy

Mechanics

Despite the fact that Quadrilateral Cowboy for PC is a game about hacking, the player isn’t limited only to watching a three-dimensional desk. Instead, the protagonist hires thieves who then go to various missions with a heavy laptop in their backpack. During these missions their movement is controlled through VR interface. The controls are similar to those in typical FPS games but there’s no shooting. Instead, defeating most of the obstacles requires cleverness and hacking into computer systems. At the same time, the authors decided not to lead the player by constantly holding his hand. Due to that the computer works like models from eighties and most functions are activated by typing text commands. In addition, despite the fact that the hacking is simplified, its basics are realistic and based on what actual hackers do.

All missions require you to thoroughly explore locations in order to obtain clues needed later for breaking in. For example, when the player must open a gate, then by examining it from close he will discover its name (gate2) and information that the alarm will be activated if it remains opened for more than 3 seconds. At the same time “open” application is available on the hard drive of the computer. So, in order to open the gate, one must use command “gate2.open(3)”. During another part of the level the player can be tasked with for example sneaking undetected next to the cameras and reaching the door. In that case typing command “camera1.off(3);wait(2);camera2.off(3);wait(2);door2.open(3)” will activate a sequence of turning the cameras off so that it is safe to get through. Hacking isn’t limited only to directly using a computer. Player also has access to a small and remote controlled robot named Weevil who can reach places that are inaccessible for the protagonist.