Chapter 443: Exploding Popularity (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes)
The standard playtime for completing Uncharted 4: A Thief's End is generally around 15 hours.
Of course, if players opt for the lowest difficulty and aren't interested in collecting all the optional elements, this time can be further reduced.
Chen Xu spent a full two days experiencing the game before he initially cleared the main story of Uncharted 4: A Thief's End.
And for Song Ren, these two days of adventure were incredibly exciting.
From Scotland to Madagascar, then to the Island Utopia, this journey, spanning almost half the globe, gave Song Ren an indescribable feeling.
The environments within ranged from cities, forests, and wilderness to the ocean.
Gunfights, car chases, explosions, and puzzles were all present.
Each segment of the story's narrative was perfectly paced.
Every part had its meaning; nothing felt superfluous.
The marital relationship between Nathan and Elena, and Sam's obsession with Henry Every's treasure.
And finally, the mercenary leader, the dark-skinned woman, chose not to take all the treasure, but only a portion.
This also served as an allegory: excessive greed ultimately leads to ruin.
Three hundred years ago, the great pirate Henry Every and other renowned pirates.
Killed each other over the treasure, leading to their demise.
Rafe, resorting to any means to find the treasure, also met his end.
But fortunately, Sam finally saw the light.
Although the game's story followed the typical blockbuster movie formula, its narrative was exceptionally well-executed.
Especially the ultimate happy ending, which thrilled many players.
“Oh no! Mr. Chen is actually full of love this time!”
“Though I ate a lot of dog food in between, it’s great that Nathan Drake and Elena are together!”
“233333, suddenly looking forward to the DLC! Sam, Sully, Nathan, and Elena are all there, no need to worry about protagonists or important characters suddenly disappearing mid-game.”
“Haha, is this Mr. Chen’s mercy?”
“Enough talk, I’m going to play it again, the scenery in Madagascar is so beautiful!”
“Same here, I’m going to play the car chase again!”
Online, almost without exception, all players who had played Uncharted were conquered by its quality.
Although the story of Uncharted wasn't astonishing, the key was how exhilarating it was.
Everything in the game was designed to enhance this feeling.
Grand and majestic, complemented by the in-game scenery of Madagascar, Pirate's Haven, and the ocean vistas, set to the soundtrack 'A Thief's End'.
The tension-filled battles and spectacular views during the treasure hunt constantly stimulated players' adrenaline.
But it wasn't an endless escalation of excitement; after each peak, it interspersed transitional plot points that allowed players to relax, letting them catch their breath and rest after the thrilling moments.
The consequence of this was that the game's flow felt addictive, a relentless wave without a hint of fatigue.
At the same time, although it was a linear game, it also included some collectible elements, allowing players to better understand the stories behind the treasure.
………………
Inside Nebula Games, Chen Xu smiled: “Indeed, the public’s eyes are sharp!”
He was looking at a hot post from an anonymous player, with a concise and clear title: ‘Warrior of Love Who Warms Hearts with Stories’. The content, naturally, was related to this Uncharted game.
The article was well-reasoned and convincing.
“Mr. Chen, are you sure this anonymous post wasn't sent by you?” Yang Xin raised her hand and asked.
“Absolutely not me, how could I do such a thing!” Chen Xu said righteously.
“Mr. Chen, look, Atari also announced that Element World is launching soon!” Ruan Ningxue said to Chen Xu.
“Atari must be anxious,” Meng Zuo chuckled.
“Don’t worry too much, Uncharted has already succeeded. The priority now is to do a good job with the subsequent Uncharted trilogy DLCs,” Chen Xu said with a smile.
‘Drake's Fortune’, ‘Among Thieves’, and ‘Drake's Deception’ – Chen Xu had actually laid many groundwork in the game.
At the same time, Chen Xu also made some adjustments to certain plot elements.
For example, Nathan’s brother Sam was only briefly mentioned in Among Thieves, but he had no role in the first and third installments.
The reason Sam, who was only mentioned in the second game, was brought out as the main character in the fourth game, was primarily to give Nathan a reason to return to the world of adventure, as Nathan’s personality is simply like that.
These three installments will also be released separately, similar to the previous Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.
Of course, the price will be slightly cheaper, as these three are older games and their playtime is not long, roughly half that of A Thief's End.
Additionally, Chen Xu will make minor improvements to some levels in terms of controls and actions, such as ropes and the auto-aim system.
However, it will definitely not be ready in the short term.
After all, while the action system and other elements are already in place, the art assets still need to be completely redone, and the importance of art assets for the Uncharted series is self-evident.
………………
While Chen Xu was planning the subsequent work for Uncharted within Nebula Games,
The media reviews were successively released, and like the players, they were overwhelmingly positive.
Although no perfect scores were given, they were generally high ratings around 9-9.5.
And the comments spared no praise.
【Incredible visual presentation, Uncharted has shown epoch-making excellence!】
【Before Uncharted, what action-adventure and treasure-hunting games were like isn't important, but one thing is certain: in the coming years after Uncharted, its template will become the textbook for all action-adventure games.】
【A perfect work, but this only makes people more curious, because everyone wants to know what other crazy adventures Nathan Drake has experienced.】
Facing such reviews, all players who had played the game basically had no differing opinions.
Many players felt like they had become Uncharted fanboys/fangirls.
Because from a gameplay experience perspective, they felt that Uncharted pushed the action-adventure and treasure-hunting genres to their limits.
However, although Uncharted continued to have very high popularity online,
Atari had restarted various promotions for Element World, directly announcing its launch date.
There was no choice; seeing the exploding popularity of Uncharted, Zeus became anxious.
Facing the current booming popularity of Uncharted, the best option would be to wait half a month or a month for the hype to cool down.
After all, this is a linear game, and its popularity cannot be maintained indefinitely.
But the key was that Zeus couldn't wait, as Element World was their platform's exclusive blockbuster.
The increase in Huanyu VR's market share due to Uncharted was significant.
If they didn't take action, who knew how many more users Huanyu VR would snatch away.
One must know that in the VR platform sector, it's not just about games.
Buying one copy doesn't necessarily mean buying a second.
Under normal circumstances, once a player purchases a VR platform, unless there's an update, iteration, or they're truly wealthy and capricious, they rarely buy a second platform.
After all, the price is high!
If they really covet games on the opposing platform, they can always go to a VR internet cafe to experience them.
So, Zeus was anxious watching Uncharted dominate the market.
As for Atari, although they knew it wasn't the best timing, they bravely pushed forward.
Because they themselves were very confident in Element World, otherwise, they wouldn't have challenged Nebula Games before.
Now, even after such a long delay and having seen the quality of Uncharted,
Atari's confidence remained undiminished, especially Antorini, the designer of Element World, was even more confident this time.
(End of Chapter)
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