Chapter 598: Bold Design (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes) (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes)

Although not a game designer, as a reviewing reporter, Li Yue was well-informed and had played many games.

But the prologue of The Last of Us had truly stunned him.

The game's brief prologue accomplished three tasks: tutorial, setting up the plot's beginning, and narrating the background.

However, the more crucial aspect wasn't these three segments, but rather the way it used emotion as a driving force.

Initially, the emotional interaction between Joel and Sarah at home created a warm feeling for the player.

Then, as the catastrophe began, players would see Sarah looking around with curiosity and tension during her father's conversation, just as a little girl of her age should.

At this point, the game wanted players to empathize with Sarah's emotions, which is why the initial in-game perspective focused on Sarah.

But what followed was the game's boldest move: letting Sarah, whom the players had just grown to like, immediately die amidst the chaos.

And she died tragically.

At the same time, before this sad emotion could even fully erupt, the game screen went black, immediately transitioning into a new world.

He listened to the narration of news reports in his ear, introducing the post-disaster world background.

Li Yue hadn't yet recovered from the shock of Sarah's death and the scene transition.

He couldn't even imagine how stunned players would be at that moment.

Though it was just an opening, he had already glimpsed its essence. It could be said that Nebula Games was truly daring with this game.

Because The Last of Us would be a game centered around emotion.

This emotion wasn't just a theme within the game itself, but an empathy with the player.

Instead of focusing on gameplay or levels, where it's easier to make a splash, could this game called The Last of Us succeed by concentrating on and manipulating players' emotions?

………………

With lingering doubts, Li Yue quietly watched the subsequent plot unfold.

As expected, the virus infection was not contained, and tens of thousands of humans were infected; once infected, death was inevitable.

Streets were piled high with corpses, and cities were declared martial law zones.

Residents rioted and were suppressed; the order of the entire nation was on the verge of collapse.

Food and other necessities were strictly rationed, while some armed organizations launched uprisings.

At this point, Joel reappeared. Twenty years had passed since that night. Joel was now clad in ragged, dirty clothes, his hair half-grayed, his face weathered. On his hand, he still wore a broken watch.

That was Sarah's birthday gift to him on that night twenty years ago.

Noticing this detail, Li Yue immediately felt the wound from being stabbed earlier seemed to start bleeding again.

After all, that scene was truly heartbreaking.

Then, a character from the previous promotional trailer, a woman named Tess, appeared in the house.

Through their dialogue, Li Yue gained a deeper understanding of this post-disaster world.

Although the infection was still spreading and not fully controlled, official forces still existed.

Items like food were strictly controlled, requiring ration cards for exchange.

Most parts of the city seemed to have become ruins, with tattered Stars and Stripes hanging from high-rise buildings. Soldiers patrolled the rooftops and streets, while mountains of trash accumulated in alley corners below.

The walls of buildings were covered with various despair-filled graffiti.

'No future left!'

'Burn it all down!'

'Only the Fireflies can save us!'

But on the streets, wanted posters for the 'Fireflies' resistance organization were everywhere.

Armored Jeeps patrolled the streets, and loudspeakers reminded citizens that they must carry their new ID cards when going out.

Along the way, two people were discussing issues related to being selected for outside work.

Tess reminded Joel that the ration lines still hadn't opened, implying there were probably no more supplies.

However, it was evident that even so, some people still held a glimmer of hope, queuing in front of the ration lines.

Li Yue controlled Joel to wander around the city, observing what the apocalyptic world in The Last of Us was like.

In front of a building, soldiers had sealed it off. Two heavily armed soldiers in protective suits drove four people out of the building, making them kneel on the ground with raised hands for infection checks.

These people were escapees hidden in the sealed building. The first and second tested negative for infection, but when it came to the third person, the detector sounded an alarm.

Without hesitation, the soldiers in protective suits immediately pinned him to the ground.

Although the person continuously shouted, pleading for another scan and claiming the detection was wrong.

But the soldiers behind him showed no mercy, directly injecting him with medication. In less than two seconds, accompanied by a spasm of his body, he fell silent.

When it was the fourth person's turn, he chose not to undergo the infection test, but instead tried to escape, only to be shot dead by the soldiers.

During this, Li Yue was a little curious and tried to get closer, but in the next moment, he was brutally shoved to the ground by a soldier.

And if he approached again, he would be instantly shot.

It could be said that the presentation was extremely realistic. Moreover, let alone an apocalypse, even in peacetime, in this land of freedom permeated with the smell of gunfire, getting that close would definitely earn you a bullet.

Except for this inspection scene, everywhere else with soldiers was the same.

It fully demonstrated that in the apocalypse, human life was the cheapest commodity.

Although so far, the game hadn't shown many bloody scenes of the apocalypse.

Yet, the strict rules within this city, along with the surrounding environment.

It had already completely revealed to Li Yue what a post-disaster world, where civilization had collapsed, truly looked like.

There were no grand scenes, not even battles.

But this simple game opening alone had already made Li Yue feel the atmosphere of the apocalypse.

………………

Not only Li Yue marveled, but the other media participating in this closed beta test felt the same way.

That almost audacious 'knife' design at the beginning, combined with the instant scene transition just as the strongest emotional impact hit, allowed players to savor the recent shock.

This clever design was perfectly paced.

The game's background and world design also surprised them.

Because the world of The Last of Us was not merely one where disaster had just struck, or one that had completely collapsed, as in typical apocalyptic games.

Instead, it was a world that had moved past its initial stages, where the entire civilized society had begun to transform—a highly realistic world.

In twenty years, had civilization been destroyed?

It had indeed been destroyed. From the dialogue between Tess and Joel, much information could be gathered, such as smugglers operating in a gray area to make money, and the so-called hunters outside the quarantine zones.

But at the same time, this world still retained some remnants of civilization, such as currency and the military.

Of course, in addition to that, there was one more point that made the attending reviewers curious and somewhat expectant.

That was about Sarah's death.

The pain of liking someone only for them to be immediately destroyed was indeed shocking.

But similarly, numerous small details earlier also hinted that this would not be a simple 'tool-man' plot device.

Sarah and Joel's bond, and the broken watch Joel had worn for 20 years, yet still hadn't taken off.

All seemed to hint at something.

But what exactly?

Everyone believed they would find out in the subsequent storyline.

(End of Chapter) <>