.hack: G.U., Vol. 1: Rebirth

List Price: $29.99

Features:

• Delve deeper into The World - Featuring an enthralling storyline that builds upon the excitement of the first .hack series
• Special items for .hack fans - Utilize your save data from the first .hack series and unlock a special surprise
• Realistic interactions - Communicate with your partners using the all-new communication features and an upgraded interface
• Hack the game - All new features allow for greater hacking abilities. Manipulate The World to your advantage
• Strengthen your alliances - Form a guild with other PCs; share information, trade items, and reap the benefits of their knowledge

Accessories:
PlayStation: The Official Magazine (1-year)	Electronic Gaming Monthly	Play	Tips & Tricks Magazine

Customer Reviews:

A huge improvement and more on the way [Posted on 2007-02-01]
If you've played the original .hack games, then you won't be disappointed in this one. If you haven't played the original .hack games and like MMORPG games without the MMO part, then you'll like this game. The OS interface is familiar, yet improved from the first set of games. You still get e-mails and still respond to a few, getting responses back and so on. However, now you have greeting cards and "affection levels" of characters you can call on. The higher their affection level, the better they will fight with you in battle. There are still "message boards" but now there are more of them, both on and off "The World" that can unlock certain events and levels within the game by either reading or responding to them. There's even a section of boards where fans post art that you can download to use as wallpaper on your OS. There's also still a News section, but now it has clickable links to short movies and even sometimes ads, making it seem more like an actual Internet connection.

You play as Haseo, who has conveniently been attacked by "Tri-Edge" which resulted in him being leveled down to 1 and having everything reset so you get to begin with starting equipment. Just as if you were starting a new game! One big addition to this game is the ability to kill other players. Those who do are called "Player Killers" or PKers. Now, you can't just rush out and start hacking away at your own party, but if you come across a glowing blue area, that means that someone is fighting inside. If you enter, you can't leave unless you have a smoke bomb or defeat the enemy. Often times it will be a player being attacked by a PKer and your party has the chance to save them. If you do, you get an item from them as thanks. Haseo's character is an "Adept Rogue" which can eventually use multiple weapons and magic, but never to the mastery of the job classes of the ones who ONLY use those weapons. Sort of like the Red Mage of the game. Don't worry though, it doesn't slow you down. Haseo pushes right along, starting off with the familiar twin blades and eventually learns others. It can be difficult at first, but just pay attention to what the other characters are telling you, take breaks from the story to level up every so often, and you'll do fine. Its a great game with interesting character development and unique game play. Plus, when you're done, your saved game data can carry over to the next game, GU Vol. 2. All of your weapons, abilities, e-mails, everything. There are three volumes in all, but no word yet as to when they will all be released in the US. Good luck gaming!

Better than the original [Posted on 2007-05-24]
I, too, played through the first .hack games and quickly found myself bored. The only reason I beat it was because the storyline had me interested enough to keep going. The gameplay, though, became monotonous very quickly.

I'm very glad to say that this is not true in the new //GU series. Leveling up is MUCH easier, so you'll be obtaining new items fairly quickly. There are sidequests to take, and similar to the original series there are also rewards for completing certain lists (item collection, monsters found, number of players talked to, etc.).

The storyline is also much improved in comparison to the original. It's somewhat darker without being "adult" and things pick up very quickly. There's also a fair amount of character development with the protagonist, an improvement over the original where he was pretty neutral and/or silent with everything.

You take the role of Haseo, a PKK (player-killer killer) who is hunting down a character by the name of Tri-Edge. Tri-Edge killed Haseo's friend Shino in the game, but for some reason this resulted in her going into a coma in real life. Haseo is trying to get to the bottom of what's going on with Tri-Edge and Shino.

I'd also recommend watching the //Roots anime. It provides a lot of the backstory for Haseo, so it helps to understand some of what's going on before the game gets around to explaining things.

Overall, I'd highly recommend this game for any RPG fan. The storyline is great, the characters are memorable, and the gameplay is quite enjoyable.

Surprising [Posted on 2007-12-12]
I'll admit right now that I'm a huge .hack fan, but beyond that, the original .hack// game trilogy (infection, etc.) was horrible. Absolutely terrible. Randomly decided one day to give this new trilogy a go, and ordered this. It's a surprisingly good game, after such disappointments with the others. I enjoyed it very much, and had a hard time pulling myself away from it to take myself to work. Beyond work and other necessities I didn't stop playing until it was done. Now moving on to the next in the series.

Recommended buy for .hack fans, and maybe if you're just a bored gamer looking for something to play.

Crazy! [Posted on 2008-01-24]
I cant stop playing this game! Every day after work I come home and play it like an addiction that I cant stop. I am currently at the end of part two now and the fun never seems to end. There are so many twist and turns like a good movie. Everyone needs to at least sample it...

simply amazing!!! [Posted on 2008-06-03]
I got this game as a birthday gift and simply thought that this would be a game that I would play ever now and then as a time consumer,boy was I wrong! Its as fun to play as the orginal series! I beat this game in five days and was upset because I didn't have the second volume! If your a big fan of dot hack like me, then this game is a must have for your collection!!!

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