The "Elite" in the title is no coincidence...

...as Uplink is at heart a great open-ended space trading game, only, well, sans the space and the trading. Instead of a ship, you've got a rig to upgrade, and upgrade, and upgrade, using cash from completing missions or free-form skullduggery. And instead of some slight variation on sci-fi tropes you've played a zillion times before, you've got a smart, well-written setting.

Presentation is bare-bones, but perfectly elegant -- there's nothing here that doesn't add to the atmosphere. And boy, did Introversion nail the atmosphere. Pure paranoia and desperate intelligence. That beep quickening as the security systems home in on your location... more of an adrenalin rush than anything you'll get from a game with polygons.

Uplink is really hard, and rather unforgiving (particularly if you don't 'cheat' by backing up your progress, which the game erases if you're caught). Not recommended if you're prone to throwing computer parts when frustrated, but the difficulty does raise the tension another notch.

I wouldn't call this a hacker sim any more than Crimson Skies is a flight sim -- Hollywood-style hacking is the setting and inspiration. If you're looking for a game to transport and absorb you, Uplink might do the trick, even if you've never fantasized about breaking into the DMV computer bank to replace your license photo with a more attractive one.