Chapter 604: A Clean Sweep of Perfect Scores and an Entire Cast of Riddlers (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes)

Facing skepticism from some players, along with the strong offensive from FOW's Wasteland 1981, a single image instantly boosted the hype for The Last of Us.

It was a picture of Joel and Ellie walking towards the distance in the twilight, amidst the ruins of a post-apocalyptic highway. However, what was most striking was not the content of the image itself, but the text on it and the logos surrounding it.

Game Timespace, GameSpot...

A clean sweep of perfect scores, with even the lowest-scoring media giving it a high score of 9.5. And the most crucial point was that all these game media outlets were, without exception, well-known domestic and international gaming media.

Simple scores and logos, yet they left everyone who saw them in shock.

Players who had been following the game were stunned. Usually, Nebula Games' new titles would be released first, and then media reviews would follow a few days later.

But this time, it was clear that Nebula Games had secretly invited various media outlets to conduct exclusive pre-release reviews of the game!

After Chen Xu released this scoring image, the various media outlets, having already prepared, successively published their respective journalists' reviews and scores for The Last of Us.

Among them, the most authoritative GameSpot gave The Last of Us a remarkably high rating:

'Unparalleled atmosphere design, impeccable narrative presentation, and incredibly engaging gameplay interaction make The Last of Us worthy of being counted among the greatest games.'

'There is no sufficiently large open world, nor are there various thrilling and grand scenes; this is a pure post-apocalyptic adventure game, yet it is incredibly moving.'

'In the game, Chen Xu has shown us a real and cruel post-apocalyptic world. All the protagonists and supporting characters are interconnected, and its emergence can be said to have redefined the upper limit of interactive narrative presentation in games. Combining the story's performance and the gameplay experience, it has undoubtedly become a masterpiece.'

Whether domestic or international, the reviews from other media outlets were similar.

This left many players utterly bewildered.

Taking money?

If it were just one or two game media outlets, that would be understandable. But the key was that so many game media seemed to be praising The Last of Us to the heavens; this couldn't simply be about receiving money.

……………………

The sudden influx of perfect scores garnered the attention of the entire gaming industry. For players, especially fans of Nebula Games, this was incredibly morale-boosting.

As these reviews came out, countless players quickly took screenshots of the scores from various well-known media outlets and posted them across different forums and communities.

Meanwhile, Alex and Grayson, who were also busy promoting their game, were completely dumbfounded. The current situation had left both of them struggling to grasp reality.

A clean sweep of perfect scores from the media!? What was going on?!

Grayson's initial thought was that The Last of Us might be a decent title. But as a linear game, at least from what The Last of Us had shown so far, it didn't seem to have too many captivating elements. Neither the gameplay nor the background seemed particularly outstanding.

At least not to the point of being a major promotional gimmick, otherwise there would be no reason not to promote it. These factors directly pushed the success or failure of The Last of Us entirely onto its story.

Although this is the core of linear games, who could guarantee that The Last of Us would excel in this aspect? So, Grayson, after discussing with Alex, decided to prepare for the A-round Test of Wasteland 1981 in advance, hoping to give Nebula Games a bit of a challenge.

But now, with the media scores for The Last of Us released, Grayson and Alex instantly understood Nebula Games' strategy. There was no doubt they were employing a media-centric promotional model, but while media promotion was one aspect, one also needed solid foundations. These uniformly perfect scores also confirmed one thing: the quality of The Last of Us was outstanding. Otherwise, it would be difficult for major media outlets to align their front like this.

But the question remained: could a game so focused on its narrative truly live up to the honor of being called a 'masterpiece'? Alex and Grayson still harbored doubts. After all, a game worthy of being called a masterpiece must have many aspects that reach industry-leading standards, while also surpassing current industry levels in certain areas, or even bringing about comprehensive innovation to the industry.

However, from Nebula Games' external promotion of The Last of Us so far, it was clear that there wasn't much breakthrough in terms of gameplay and other content; at most, it maintained top industry standards. The remaining crucial factor was the story's presentation, but what exactly did it achieve to make all media outlets give it perfect scores?

This question was not only for Alex and Grayson but also for game designers in the industry who were following The Last of Us.

What made this game, hailed as a perfect masterpiece by countless media outlets, so divine? One could only truly understand once they got their hands on it.

However, despite being only two days away from its official launch, for players eagerly anticipating the game, it felt like an eternity. Before, the lack of major leaks was acceptable, but now that various media outlets had given it perfect scores, seemingly making it another masterpiece like The Witcher: Wild Hunt, how could one not be excited?

"Damn it, Mr. Chen's promotional style is getting smoother and smoother!"

"+1, I now understand what it feels like for every day to feel like a year."

"The game has been pre-downloaded, and in Nebula World, The Last of Us' theme can already be loaded, but I can't play it yet! I really want to see what makes this game so divine!"

"Mr. Chen is really becoming more and more Riddler-like now! And these media outlets too!"

"Exactly, they all say it's a perfect masterpiece, incredible, but where exactly is the incredible part, tell us!"

Many players were both excited and frustrated. Despite the major media outlets having already given The Last of Us perfect scores, most players still didn't know what story the game told. Furthermore, all invited media had signed non-disclosure agreements, and their external reviews focused more on presentation and broad strokes, without delving into detailed plot or background specifics.

This situation created a bizarre spectacle of 'riddlers' – all media praising The Last of Us, yet players having no idea about the game's actual content. The only clear thing was that the story was a major core of the game.

It was an entire cast of riddlers, making players stomp their feet in frustration.

(End of Chapter) <>