> [NDL_LINK INTERFACE v0.1.8]
> jackin://ghostwire<.node//WIRE.ndl
> Access… Granted.
Hello Operators. Welcome to first ‘Hacking the System’, a new series of posts that jacks into the world of DeadWire. The countdown to the game’s launch later this summer is well and truly on, so I wanted to start by talking about one of the game’s key gameplay features… Rewire Mode.
What is Rewire Mode?
DeadWire’s cybernetic-infused city is a playground for elite hackers like Wire; their mentorship under Noodle has made them one of the most adept at ‘rewiring’, the ability to hack into the networked systems found in everything from doors, vehicles, and even human implants. By harnessing their skills through Rewire Mode, Wire can link these systems together and unleash daisy-chained chaos and carnage as they go.
Rewiring the past
How did Rewire Mode come about? I’ve been gaming for many years, and enjoy a really broad range of genres, so inspiration for my own projects come from far and wide. The first kernel that eventually became Rewire Mode started when I played the excellent Dishonored 2 by Arkane Lyon. One of the game’s protagonists - Emily Kaldwin - is marked with a number of supernatural abilities shortly into the story, and one of these is called ‘Domino’, which enables players to link enemies together and causes them to die or fall unconscious together.
I wanted to see if I could take that idea and adapt it into a 2D game… 20 minutes later, I had a rudimentary prototype where two green boxes could be linked together and disappear. And that’s where I melded it with an idea from a second AAA franchise: Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs. I’d coincidentally seen a video on Watch Dogs 2, which inspired me to try and evolve my prototype mechanic so I could link to more things. I programmed it so I could open in-game doors through this daisy-chaining, and I just continued building Rewire Mode from there!
Initially when Rewire Mode was being developed, I had it freeze the game, enabling players to have infinite time while they linked enemies and environmental objects together - even select different types of hacking - but I eventually decided to focus the gameplay on action and speed. So now, time is ‘merely’ slowed down in Rewire Mode, rather than stopped entirely. As a result, DeadWire’s gameplay started feeling much more arcadey, with hacking becoming more context based. For example, if you hack electronics they stun people close by, enemies with armor will lose their armor… and if they’ve no armor then they’ll die.
Everything in the game is separated into one of four distinct categories: Human, Explosives, Electronics, Objects. Depending on what is linked, different things will happen. This creates situations where players can achieve multiple actions. For instance, linking an enemy to a speaker that distracts them; killing the enemy hacks the speaker that blows up, stunning a second enemy standing next to it, and enabling you to shoot them. Another example is linking an explosive barrel to a car, and the car to a locked door. Blowing up the barrel starts the car’s engine, which opens the door… and there might be an enemy on the other side.
Ultimately, one of my goals for DeadWire is to create a highly reactive world; I want you to experiment and force you to hack as you shoot. For me, the peak DeadWire experience is achieving that mix of gunplay with tactical hacking… and I can’t wait to see what you come up with when the game launches later this year.
Stay secure, Operators.
Shotgun Anaconda
> jackin://ghostwire.node//WIRE.ndl -- end