Hypnospace Outlaw Critic Reviews

The game is a monumental achievement, not just for its detailed rendering of another place and time but for the observed humanity of its writing and the things it has to say about the intersection of capitalism and art.

Hypnospace Outlaw is a perfect recreation of what the internet once was, and in some ways still is: a glorious mess of friendship and anarchy. It’s probably good we don’t have auto-playing music anymore, though.

Hilarious, intricate, and touching, Hypnospace Outlaw is a surreal, loving tribute to a younger, more innocent Internet as well as a compelling detective game.

This point’n’click adventure game set in a computer system is a brilliant and beautiful homage to the late ‘90s, when the Internet was a fascinating, messy eyesore. If you feel at least a bit nostalgic about that time period and what the Internet used to be back then, you absolutely need to play Hypnospace Outlaw. The only flaw I found in the game is that its story feels rushed.

Hypnospace Outlaw is a retro-trip into the wild web of the '90 and it is also a great detective game.

Hypnospace Outlaw presents a precise simulation of the apex of 90’s internet culture. Separating anarchic innocence from hubristic malice is the objective while soaking in the garish spectacle of a lost time is its gratuity. Twenty years removed, Hypnospace Outlaw exposes the dividing line between the internet as a digital frontier and its current status as a corporate hellscape.

Quotation forthcoming.

Hypnospace Outlaw is a great ride, even though you’re the one checking tickets and enforcing the rules.

Hypnospace Outlaw’s 90’s tinted internet exploration is spot on, but may be too specific for players who were not around to experience that particular time.

Hypnospace Outlaw successfully captures the spirit of late ‘90s internet by creating its own robust and varied and equally strange version of it. One part late ‘90s internet simulator, one part engaging detective story, Hypnospace Outlaw’s hit counter is strong. Zane rocks.

Hypnospace Outlaw is a witty, retro-styled point and click puzzle game that brings you into the depths of the ‘90s internet while testing your solving skills. While it can be suitable for all ages, it would be better catered to an older audience with its jokes that only someone who has lived through that time would understand. It may take a few sittings in order to complete the game but just make sure you remember about it in order to play it. If you are looking for a puzzle game riddled with an assortment of jokes and retro nostalgia look no further!

A satisfying detective adventure based around a weird and wonderfully imaginative retro internet.

As I sat late into the night, clicking through strange websites, discovering secret pages and file-sharing boards, reading about online fallouts between made-up strangers, I was reminded so strongly of my teenage late nights on the weird internet that I felt temporarily unmoored. It is an extraordinary feat of scene-setting, and totally unlike anything I’ve ever played before.

As an exploration of early-ish internet culture, Hypnospace Outlaw demonstrates how far we've travelled online over the past 20 years while at the same time asking whether we've gone anywhere at all. The bandwidth may have improved since 1999 but the content can look all too familiar today.

This clever, funny, hallucinatory head trip may leave you frazzled, but Tholen's wonderfully singular vision will be burned into your brain for a long time.

Unlike Strafe, Hypnospace Outlaw delivers on exactly what it sets out to do right out of the gate. It’s got some issues but most of them stem from wanting more, which is a good sign.

Hypnospace Outlaw’s imitation of technology from days of yore is commendable, along with capturing the fallible, human ways we interacted with it. Although it may not be the most well-structured experience and is guilty of running its own well of novelty dry, it offers a mostly delightful few hours of misty-eyed laughs and surprises.

The unique combination of narrative and gameplay with internet browsing makes Hypnospace Outlaw a very interesting experience, and the impressively detailed (although slightly exaggerated) reproduction of the end 90's internet makes it a recommendable (albeit short and not too replayable) investigation title.

I’ve had such a time with this. I’ve been bemused, entranced, confused and delighted. I’ve laughed a lot, been slightly creeped out, and constantly astonished at the level of detail in every element of this. There is just SO much to do, to explore, so many secrets I know I’ve missed, and bits I want to return to. This is completely splendid.

Hypnospace Outlaw is one of those games that deserves not merely to be played, but also to be treated as an opportunity to think about our digital lives, now and then. It’s a perplexing, clever piece of work. As they might have said back in the ’90s, it’s totally dope.