Chapter 678: Exaggerated Industry Ratings (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes)

The consecutive releases of BioShock Infinite and BioShock: Rapture sparked heated discussions among players.

In the story of Rapture, unlike the single thread-based ending in Infinite, there actually exists another unfavorable ending. That is, if players choose not to protect the Little Sisters but instead retrieve ADAM from them, they will fall into a bad ending, and Jack will become a tyrant of Rapture, just like Fontaine.

However, despite the bad ending, most players achieved a good ending during their playthroughs. After all, compared to the small amount of ADAM obtained from the Little Sisters, more players chose to save the adorable Little Sisters.

For most players, their main focus was on Elizabeth in the game. Initially, seeing Elizabeth alive gave them hope. But what ultimately awaited them was despair. Especially since players had experienced so much with Elizabeth in the game, forming an emotional bond, this blatant stab at the end left many players breathless.

“Damn it! Why did Elizabeth have to die? Even an open-ended ending would have been fine! Like Ethan in Resident Evil Village!”

“I'm so stupid! Really! I'd rather believe mother pigs can climb trees than Chen Xu’s sweet lies!”

“Bro upstairs, just a friendly reminder, mother pigs actually can climb trees, and the most brilliant thing about Mr. Chen is that he didn't lie!”

“That's just too much! It's always like this, impossible to guard against. And I wonder if anyone else has noticed a pattern: from now on, any game under Nebula Games that features father-daughter characters will definitely involve a tragic storyline.”

“Now that you mention it, it really seems that way! Not to mention Jaina and Captain Daelin, in recent years, Chen Xu's Resident Evil Village and The Last of Us both featured a father dying in one and a daughter dying in the other!”

“?????????? You almost convinced me. So, in BioShock, both father and daughter die, right?”

The forums and related communities were filled with strong condemnations of Chen Xu.

Even after so many years, even with Chen Xu's history of prior offenses, the tragic storyline still managed to pierce their hearts every single time.

Of course, condemnation is one thing, but on major game review websites, the scores for the BioShock duology remained high.

Compared to emotional players who condemned the game due to the fate of the characters, the gaming industry focused more on the stunning performance of BioShock and its profound content and artistic expression.

Renowned media outlets like GameSpot even published a jaw-dropping review article, stating:

“This is the true ninth art!”

“A profound game. I wish I could do my best to portray its brilliance, but I don't know if I can, nor can I claim that I have fully understood this work after dozens of hours of gameplay.”

“But without a doubt, this is another masterpiece brought by Nebula Games, and even a pioneering work.”

“Not in terms of gameplay, but in its plot narrative structure. Unless you suffer from severe 3D motion sickness or cannot accept FPS gameplay, there is no reason for you to miss these two games.”

“This is paradise on Earth, an ideal utopia. Under the leadership of the Prophet, people live a prosperous and warm life like a celebration in a beautiful city floating on clouds; under the leadership of the local lord, Rapture, located at the bottom of the sea, allows people to fully enjoy ultimate bliss.”

“And you only play a down-and-out gambler, or a passerby who mistakenly wandered into the sea...”

“Players encountering the Sky City for the first time will undoubtedly be stunned by the fairytale-like scenery before them. Exquisite buildings float on cotton candy-like white clouds, old-fashioned streetcars speed along railways spanning the sky, and extravagant airships drift by magnificent statues in the distance, just like a world from a fairytale.”

“Players arriving at Rapture will likewise be amazed by the prosperity of this underwater metropolis.”

“But soon, players will realize that this is not a beautiful story. Beneath its beautiful backdrop, there is an indescribable sense of eerie horror.”

“Thereafter, the game's art style constantly intertwines and blends with beauty and madness. The cartoon rendering art design is not a flaw; rather, it showcases powerful dramatic tension, further highlighting the ironic contrast between ostentatious splendor and an unsightly reality.”

“Compared to The Last of Us and Uncharted previously brought by Nebula Games, the cartoon rendering of BioShock is not realistic, but it is even more shocking.”

“Moreover, the combat experience is also very rich, with gunplay combined with the bombardment of different spells, multiple usable Sky-Lines and tears in the environment, and vending machines allowing you to upgrade existing spells and equipment, coupled with special effects gear, enabling you to try various combat styles. However, none of this is the main theme of this game.”

“The game's most outstanding aspect is the creation of a character like Elizabeth. The tacit understanding Elizabeth displays in the game, I believe any player who experiences it will grow to love her.”

“In the initial parts of the game, you might feel it's a clichéd story, somewhat similar to The Last of Us.”

“But it turns out that this is not the case. The game is mixed with many obscure yet profound religious, philosophical, and racial issues. And the plot, a story with time travel as its main thread, is full of twists and turns, even brain-burning.”

“Even more astonishing is that Nebula Games used a duology to perfectly link the Sky City and the underwater city. BioShock Infinite is not a prequel, and BioShock: Rapture is not a sequel. Both are independent stories with independent backgrounds.”

“However, through one character: Elizabeth, two different worlds are perfectly linked together, forming a perfect closed loop.”

“Without spoiling, it's hard to describe the madness of this game in words, but one thing is certain: this is one of Nebula Games' greatest works of all time.”

“If video games are the ninth art, then BioShock Infinite is undoubtedly one of its representative works!”

All major media outlets gave exaggerated evaluations.

But all the players, despite cursing Chen Xu and Nebula Games verbally, did not express any objections.

From the underwater city of Rapture to the Sky City of Columbia.

These two unique cities and the stories they brought have pushed the entire BioShock series to a conclusion.

Whether there will be a sequel, no player knows, but they are certain that it would be difficult to create another game that blends so many rich elements together to create a game like this.

From the sky to the bottom of the sea, this journey left countless players unforgettable. And at the journey's end, Elizabeth also told all players: no matter what, somewhere there is always a lighthouse, a man, a city...

(End of Chapter) <>