Sci-Fi Site of the Week: Webrunner: The Hidden Agenda

Sci-Fi Site of the Week

Webrunner: The Hidden Agenda

Hack the site and win a prize...

Artwork: Mark Tedin

Webrunner: The Hidden Agenda
Design by Wolfgang Baur, Michael Selinker, Teeuwynn Woodruff
Netscape 2.0 required

Review by Brooks Peck

n conjunction with the debut of the Netrunner collectible card game (see our review in Games), Wizards of the Coast is staging a special contest on the World Wide Web. Webrunner: The Hidden Agenda places players in the role of a netrunner (computer hacker) going up against the giant Futokora Corporation in an attempt to hack their system and steal a new software technology.

The contest presents seven puzzles, or stages, that form a story set in the chrome and neon world of Netrunner. Whoever solves the most puzzles will win the grand prize, with ties settled by random draw. Interestingly, any puzzle can be bypassed, but once a player has given up on a particular puzzle they forfeit their chance at it. Each puzzle must be solved -- or bypassed -- before progressing to the next. Puzzles are added to the site once a week. Since the contest ends April 30, this means players will only have a week to solve the final stage, but seven weeks to work on the first.

The Grand Prize is a "state of the art" laptop computer. Actually it's a 75 megahertz Pentium, but that isn't peanuts. Five second place winners will receive 28.8bps modems, and dozens of t-shirts and card packs will also be given away.

Webrunner completely immerses players in the cyberpunk world of Netrunner through an interesting and well-written story. Even the e-mail sent to players when they successfully complete a puzzle advances the plot. The look and feel of the pages also contribute, with simulated computer screens from which players do their "hacking." (Find out if Wizards is worried about real hackers.) This techno look is achieved by using frames, a web feature only supported by high-end browsers, so some people may be excluded from playing. And playing is the word -- this site is more a cool computer game than a contest, worth checking out even if players aren't all that interested in Netrunner or the prizes. The artwork, taken from the game cards, is particularly attractive, meeting or exceeding the already high standards found in other Wizards of the Coast games.

This netrunner is pleased to say he has met and vanquished the first stage of the game. Without giving anything away, suffice it to say the puzzle was interesting, challenging and well integrated with the contest's tone. And it was rather easy. This is probably intentional, designed to lure netrunners into a false sense of security, beckoning them deeper into the system in order to spring a deadly black ICE trap.

All in all, Webrunner combines great graphics, an interesting story and thoughtful puzzles into a fun experience only possible on the Web. Fans of cyberpunk in particular wouldn't want to miss it. -- Brooks

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