Hypnospace Outlaw review: a surreal tribute to the 90s internet

PC; Tendershoot/No More Robots
Journey back in time as an online detective policing a compelling parody of the nascent net, with dodgy graphics, tinny music and a host of weird websites to explore

The very nature of the internet means that things are constantly vanishing from it, as websites, social networks and communities emerge, evolve and dissipate over the years. This constant change means that "the internet" of previous decades becomes something like a dream, existing only in the vague memories of the people who experienced it. Hypnospace Outlaw constructs an entire fictional internet from the Y2K era, replete with low-resolution videos, dancing gifs, virtual desktop pets and forum drama. It's like browsing a half-remembered amalgamation of GeoCities, Angelfire and random Myspace pages.

In this alternative-history version of 1999, the internet really is somewhere you visit when you're asleep, browsing idly while your body rests. You play an enforcer for the growing corporation that runs the web, stamping out copyright infringement, harassment and illegal activity to keep people safe. Assignments drop into your inbox and you flit around the net looking for things to smack with your ban-hammer, following links and typing in searches to find unlisted pages with dodgy material, downloading mysterious software and accumulating a collection of downloaded tracks for your RealPlayer-alike music program.