One of the thing I recall from Uplink, apart from the game, it was the modem ringing sound and as soon as i heard it extending my hand to unplug the modem, then realizing the sound was in game. That was an immersive experience.
Looking back now the intro is so simplistic, and no way anyone now would have the same experience (it's a different tech world now) but at the time I was really amazed at the thought behind the design choice.