.Hack: Infection (Part 1) for PlayStation 2 Reviews by Gamers

The hack series of video games is a series that has excellent potential, but a few annoying bugs to work out.

On one hand, the game is very, very original and the fact it's set in an MMO world (and also the fact that there's also links to the real world as well) make it wholly interesting. It's fun to poke through the mysteries of The World and it's inhabitants, and the game does an excellent job of making you believe that it's an actual place.

The problem this game has is it's way too repetitive. There are really about 5-8 dungeon types, with maybe 10-12 dungeon musics tops, and that's about it. When you consider you have to go through four parts of this in a game that is very dungeon exploration heavy, that's ridiculous. The battle system at times feels very clunky for a game that's so combat heavy, and doesn't offer as much customization as it could. It also forces you to go on fetch quests to find certain parts to open hacked world gates. While it's not such a huge issue in part one (or even two) by the time you get to part three or four you'll want to throttle someone.

Also, the AI in this game isn't all that wonderful. You'll constantly have to be issuing commands to your two companions (Who, by the way, are computer controlled at all times) so that they don't die horrific deaths.

These little quirks in the game make Hack//Infection (and it's other parts) feel like a bit of a chore. I hope by the time that Hack//G.U. comes out that these little gripes are fixed, because this series has the potential to be extremely awesome.

If you've ever seen Dot Hack Sign on Cartoon Network, and said: wow, I bet that would be fun if I could play something like that. Well you can-for this game is very similar.

This game has great music, awesome voice-actors, a good story and great character depth- even though you end up getting quite a few different characters by the end. What I think comes together to make an excellent game. You start out as a youngster named Kite, who is playing an online game, and its set-up as such. You can check Kite's email, look up new things as they happen in the Kite's hometown and log in to "the world"(what the online experience is called- however, your playing on your Ps2). It may sound confusing in words, but really, its a great game. And its got the plot that makes you just want to keep going and find out what is going to happen next. It isn't the easiest games, and i've definitely had my share of yelling at the game-over screen, but it's worth it.

Overall, I would recommend this game to anyone who likes a good, long rpg(because this game is the beginning of a four-part series). You get plenty of choices on characters, each with a different personality. And although the dungeons can get pretty old after a while, this game definitely has a 10/10 for being addicting and drawing you in.