The art of AI hacking: Pragmata review

Pragmata is a third-person sci-fi adventure game created by Capcom. The story takes players to a dystopian near future where a disaster has occurred on the Moon. It's there that astronaut Hugh makes an unexpected connection with a mysterious AI girl. The game creates a character-centred story of survival and a "makeshift family" amidst holographic megacities and cosmic horrors, offering a fresh take on the themes of isolation and humanity. And gg' s editorial team also decided to go into space to understand what really happened there and why people started creating AI-based children.

5 reasons to buy Pragmata

• A unique combat system that you are unlikely to find analogues to
• See how people have built neon megacities on 3D printers right on the Moon
• A brand new Capcom franchise that is a truly cool experience, not just another remake or sequel
• A fan of concentrated "corridor" stories that don't slow down
• The opportunity to control an AI girl who hacks robots better than Pentagon agents

2 reasons not to buy Pragmata

• You are not going to be friends with AI on principle
• You have a hard time with games requiring a hockey goalkeeper's reaction

Quick transition:

• The plot: when AI rises up against humans again
• Gameplay: learn to shoot in a completely new way
• How everything works in space
• What Pragmata will be remembered for
• Five things you need to know about Pragmata

Plot: when AI turns against humans again

Mankind is actively conquering space, and a mysterious material, Lunafilament, has been found on the Moon. It allows you to print anything on giant 3D printers, even entire buildings. It seemed to be a new stage of development that would make life easier for everyone. But is it really that simple?

One day, a small crew arrives on the moon to help maintain the station. It includes Hugh, the main character of this story. But within half an hour, the station begins to shake like an earthquake, and the team is attacked by robots that were created as assistants.

The moment before one of the robots is about to reach Hugh, a mysterious little girl appears in front of him. She is not a human, but a Pragmata, a special kind of AI that had a very important task on the Moon (you'll find out what it was). Pragmata rescues Hugh, and now they need to find out what's going on here and return to Earth together.

Hugh gives his companion the name Diana, and now they are vital to each other. Without Diana, Hugh can't destroy the robots, because the girl has a special protocol built in that allows her to hack them, opening a window for attack. And how long can a small robot live alone when hundreds of giant machines are hunting for it? That's right - not long.

I have to admit that this space opera really stuck with me. The story turned out to be interesting, emotional and once again showed that if humanity mishandles new technologies, the consequences will be catastrophic.

The only thing I missed was the conflicts between Diana and Hugh, because their relationship seemed too perfect. Although the potential in the duo of "a man with a midlife crisis" and "a robot girl who doesn't even know what the ocean is" could have generated even deeper scenes (something like the connection between Joel and Ellie in The Last of Us). But otherwise, there are no complaints about the plot.

Gameplay: learn to shoot in a completely new way

Gameplay-wise, this is an adventure action game that resembles God of War (2018) in its formula. You have several locations divided into zones that you explore as you move forward. But first of all, we need to discuss the most interesting element of the game - the combat system.

Diana and the art of hacking

Diana is an important ally of Hugh in battle. She launches a hacking procedure against enemy robots in real time, using their defence systems to identify critical vulnerabilities. When you hover over an enemy, an interface is activated that overlays a puzzle grid. You have to make your way through the cells to the green endpoint while the enemies continue to attack.

Successful pathing (ideally through bonus yellow nodes for effects such as defence weakening or overheating) interrupts enemy systems. This opens up armoured areas that Hugh can attack with a variety of weapons. This mechanic turns each battle into a tense rhythm of multitasking, where Diana's hacks create short-term windows of vulnerability that require precise timing and positioning.

Even before the release, players had a question: "Will I get bored with this mechanic?". Personally, after 17 hours of playthrough, I didn't get bored at all. Firstly, this is a really fresh experience that I have never seen before. You're constantly immersed in the process, trying to find the right path in the arena with deadly machines in a matter of seconds.

Pumping and arsenal to make robots afraid of you

Secondly, the game has a pretty good progression system. In each zone, there is a special shuttle that will return you to the base where you can recover and prepare for the battle. You can unlock new hacking abilities to make robots explode, create an electric shock, or even make robots start attacking their own.

The choice of weapons is also not poor: an assault rifle, a pistol, a shotgun, a bazooka, a sniper rifle and various gadgets (for example, drones flying nearby). There are also mods that add 10% to damage or allow you to keep enemies hacked longer. Thanks to this "salad", the game keeps an excellent pace - I even closed all locations 100%, which rarely happens to me.

Exploring the world without reinventing the wheel

As for the exploration, everything is simple and familiar. The locations have hidden secret paths and rooms with resources or new gadgets. Since most of the zones are chambered, it's easy to find them (especially with Diana's gadget that highlights interesting objects). That's why the whole game feels like a very intense adventure.

The combination of atypical combat mechanics and interesting exploration creates a game that is extremely difficult to turn off. You want more, more and more.

How things work in space

On a basic PlayStation 5, Pragmata kept a stable 60 fps almost all the time. Small drops occurred only during battles with some bosses. Also, the game never crashed during the entire playthrough, and I encountered just one bug when Diana's hacking screen wouldn't close.

Take me to this beautiful moon

Pragmata's visuals combine realism with the surreal elegance of science fiction. Towering skyscrapers punctuated by neon advertisements are reflected in the rain-drenched streets, while holographic distortions and energy fields warp reality around the destroyed infrastructure of the moon.

The character designs are striking with high-quality facial animation and intricate cybernetic detail, with Diana's fragile innocence contrasting with Hugh's shabby spacesuit. All of this is rendered under dynamic lighting that varies from harsh orbital rays to flickering emergency lights, giving each scene a sense of atmosphere.

Melancholic audio to enhance the effect

The soundtrack is also top-notch. The compositions in between battles are calm and perfectly convey the atmosphere of space, where you are the only one left alive. During the battles themselves, driving music sounds to make it more energetic to destroy robots. The characters are also voiced perfectly - you believe their emotions, and it's generally pleasant to listen to the conversations, especially when Diana says something. So, if you are looking for atmospheric space action, you should definitely go to Pragmata.

How will Pragmata be remembered

Pragmata will be remembered as an interesting and emotional sci-fi adventure that shows the relationship between humans and AI from a new angle. The highlight of the game is its atypical combat system that will test your reaction and multitasking skills. However, this is what makes Pragmata stand out from other releases this year. Add to this the variety of locations and ways to destroy enemies, live characters, and the dense atmosphere of abandoned space, and you get a game that you sincerely want to recommend to everyone and that is so hard to say goodbye to after the final credits.

Five things you need to know about Pragmata

• Pragmata is a brand new franchise created by Capcom
• The game is a sci-fi action adventure from 3 persons
• You play the role of an astronaut and investigate the causes of the crash of the space station on the Moon together with the AI girl Diana
• During the battles with robots, you have to hack them in a mini-game and shoot them with weapons
• A variety of modules, gadgets, and mods allow you to experiment and keep the game interesting

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