Well the hex consoles are something that are helpful, if you need them. I did leave the option to just go hack them all after you take over each node on the server. I know some people don't like puzzles so I didn't want to force them to use them. So you are using them as intended.
I would love to have the game jump into more separate modes. The conduit you pass through when you open the tears, that gauntlet-style challenge, was just one of several types of mini-game environments I was thinking about adding. One of them was fish... aka Phishing.