Chapter 757: Over-the-Shoulder Perspective
October 1st, the experience store officially launched the trial play of *The Last of Us*.
Many players were still interested in *The Last of Us*. After all, it was a game produced by Chen Mo, which naturally came with a sense of trust.
What the players didn’t know was that the trial wasn’t just happening in the experience store.
Chen Mo had already sent the complete version of *The Last of Us* to major gaming media outlets both domestically and internationally, so they could start their game reviews early.
In truth, it wasn’t that Chen Mo didn’t want to promote *The Last of Us*. This game was widely recognized as a masterpiece, so the idea of it being “neglected” definitely didn’t apply.
However, this game really wasn’t suited for traditional promotional methods. Even if he pushed it hard, the results wouldn’t be great.
For players, only by reaching the final ending would they truly understand the meaning of “masterpiece.”
Given that, there was no need for those cumbersome promotional tactics. Just releasing a promotional CG would suffice.
Of course, if he did absolutely no promotion, sales would definitely be poor when it launched on the 15th. Even if *The Last of Us* was excellent and players’ word-of-mouth exploded, it would still take some time for it to truly catch fire.
That’s why Chen Mo sent the complete game to major gaming media outlets in advance. He hoped their review articles could come out before the game’s official release.
By then, all the players would be in for a huge surprise, right?
…
October 1st, morning.
As soon as the experience store opened, the players waiting in line filed in orderly, swiped their ID cards, and headed to different floors.
The store had long established a very stable player base. Every holiday or when a new game launched, the number of people in the store would explode. So these players had also formed certain habits: get up early, line up, take turns trying the games—everything remained orderly.
Chen Mo had gotten up quite early today and was already sitting on the sofa in the first-floor lobby.
The earliest batch of players had already rushed straight to the third-floor VR game experience area. After all, most of the games Chen Mo was making now were VR games, so that area was the most popular.
Still, the PC and mobile game experience areas also had plenty of players and would soon be packed as well.
Among the early-morning queue, Chen Mo spotted a familiar face.
“Zhao Lei?” Chen Mo looked up and greeted him.
Zhao Lei was a bit surprised. “Boss, you still remember me? Good morning.”
Chen Mo smiled. “Of course I do. Feels like it’s been a long time since you last came to the store. I thought you might have left the capital.”
Zhao Lei shook his head. “It’s a long story. I went on a blind date before, met a girl I really liked, got married, and then it was all about family matters. My child was just born two months ago, and I’ve been swamped. Today’s a holiday, so I stole some time to come check out the store.”
Chen Mo was a bit surprised. “You’re already a dad? Congratulations! Tell you what, I’ll give you a game later.”
Zhao Lei chuckled. “Hey, boss, you’re too kind. I’ll head up and play for a bit first—if I’m late, there won’t be any spots left. I’ll come down and we can chat more.”
Chen Mo nodded. “Alright, go ahead and try the new game. The trial just started today.”
Zhao Lei nodded. “Definitely. That’s the main reason I came. Even though I haven’t been to the store in over two years, I’ve been keeping an eye on your new games.”
After greeting Chen Mo, Zhao Lei headed up to the third floor.
Zhao Lei was the office worker who used to frequent the experience store. He was a typical drifter in the capital, under a lot of life pressure. He had even tried *The Stanley Parable* before.
But later, he hadn’t come to the store for a long time. Chen Mo thought he might have left the capital, given how tough life was there. Zhao Lei was already in his thirties, and drifting like that wasn’t sustainable.
What surprised Chen Mo, though, was that Zhao Lei had actually gotten married and hadn’t left the capital.
It was easy to imagine that his daily life was probably pretty tough.
…
Zhao Lei arrived on the third floor and found that more than half of the gaming pods were already occupied. In the elevator, he thought he spotted two or three familiar faces—maybe streamers from online platforms?
Back when Zhao Lei used to come often, the experience store had just moved here not long ago. The only VR game was *Minecraft*, and *League of Legends*, which dominated the PC side, hadn’t even started development yet. At that time, Chen Mo was just an ordinary B-level designer.
In the blink of an eye, Chen Mo had become one of the top designers in the country, having developed many classic VR game masterpieces.
Even the experience store was full of new faces now, with many streamers showing up.
Time flies.
Zhao Lei sighed to himself, found an empty gaming pod, and climbed in.
The login screen of the gaming pod was themed after *Uncharted*, and inside, there were already many VR games to choose from, a dazzling array.
In the most prominent spot was *The Last of Us*.
“So this is the boss’s new game. Let’s give it a try.”
Without much hesitation, Zhao Lei selected *The Last of Us* and entered. After all, it was a new game.
…
Entering the game.
Unlike other games, *The Last of Us* didn’t have a login scene at the start. It seemed to jump straight into the game scene, pitch black.
“Tick, tock, tick, tock…”
A crisp, steady ticking of a clock echoed in Zhao Lei’s ears.
Then, the game screen appeared.
In front of Zhao Lei’s view, a little girl was lying on a sofa, apparently fast asleep.
Seeming a bit uncomfortable, the girl slightly shifted the arm she was resting on.
A door opened nearby, and a middle-aged man walked in while talking on the phone. The camera smoothly shifted to him.
“Tommy, he’s the contractor, okay? I can’t lose this job. I know… we’ll talk in the morning, alright?”
The light came on, and the little girl woke up. The middle-aged man sat down on the sofa.
He was worrying about his work for the day.
The little girl, very thoughtful, had prepared a birthday gift for him: a watch.
The father and daughter exchanged a few jokes. Though there were no particularly touching scenes, it felt inexplicably warm.
Night fell.
The father picked up the little girl and carried her upstairs to bed.
“Goodnight, baby.”
The view lingered on the sleeping girl, and the light gradually dimmed, indicating the passage of time.
Then, the phone on the bedside table rang.
A strange call. Uncle Tommy was looking for the girl’s father, and then the line went dead.
The little girl climbed out of bed, rubbing her sleepy eyes, still not quite understanding what was happening. But she decided to go find her father first.
At that moment, the camera automatically moved behind the little girl, and the game began.
Zhao Lei was a bit surprised. “This game… isn’t first-person perspective? It’s a third-person follow cam?”
Right now, Zhao Lei’s view was from behind and above the little girl—a standard over-the-shoulder perspective. This kind of view was common in many PC games.
However, in VR games, because players had a wider field of view and the goal was to enhance immersion, many games used a first-person perspective.
Chen Mo’s *The Last of Us* seemed a bit retro in its use of perspective.