Chapter 834: Entering the Animus
On June 1st, *Assassin's Creed: Origins* officially launched its trial play.
For this game, Chen Mo didn't bother with any promotional campaigns, nor did he pay attention to the situation with *Castle: Medieval*.
Strictly speaking, there weren't many highly competitive games releasing during the period of *Assassin's Creed: Origins*. The game's only real competitor was itself.
For Chen Mo, the *Assassin's Creed* series wasn't about competing with other games. The classic status of this series was beyond question. What Chen Mo cared about was how to perfectly present this series to players, allowing them to experience the same authentic *Assassin's Creed* as in his previous life.
As for whether this series could become Thunder Interactive Entertainment's new golden brand...
That would only be truly known after players gave their feedback from the trial, and even after seeing sales figures and media scores.
...
The experience store hadn't opened yet, but a long line had already formed outside.
Although the new headquarters of Thunder Interactive Entertainment would be completed this year, the players weren't sure exactly when they would move in.
However, many people were still optimistic. Since Chen Mo said they could move this year, it probably wouldn't be a problem. Days like this, where you had to queue to play new games, were numbered, so they should cherish them.
Little Fatty Zou Zhuo was naturally one of the first players to arrive, standing at the front of the line. He looked back and spotted a familiar figure.
"Old Qin? Why are you here?" Little Fatty was quite surprised. Old Qin rarely showed up at the experience store.
"Come on, Master, let's switch places. You take my spot." Zou Zhuo said as he swapped positions with Master Lin, standing in front of Old Qin.
During this time, Master Lin had become a regular at the experience store. As for why a fortune-teller kept running to the experience store...
In his own words, "Today, I calculated with my fingers and found it's suitable to go online." But he had been coming to the experience store for at least three weeks straight...
Actually, everyone knew that the reason Master Lin kept coming to the experience store was partly because the Sky Bridge was indeed close by, and partly because the foot traffic at the experience store was much higher than at the Sky Bridge, so he could pull people aside for fortune-telling...
Of course, Master Lin didn't set up any fortune-telling stall or anything. He did all his fortune-telling orally, and he also played games in the experience store during his free time. Chen Mo found him quite interesting, so he didn't kick him out. Although this master was a bit of a goofball, he had a good heart.
On the contrary, Master Lin was often the one getting bullied...
Originally, Master Lin didn't play games much, but through constant exposure, he was even starting to get into the mobile battle royale game...
Old Qin peered into the experience store and said, "Ah, I heard Chen boy released another new game. Of course, I have to play it to death. But I wonder, is this game like *Dark Souls*? I'm so excited."
Zou Zhuo said, "Yeah, *Dark Souls* is truly a classic. This time it's still cold weapon combat. Maybe they're using the same combat system as *Dark Souls*? It feels like everyone in line today has played *Dark Souls*."
Old Qin looked at Master Lin, who was in front of Zou Zhuo. "This master... have you also played *Dark Souls*?"
Hearing the words *Dark Souls*, Master Lin couldn't help but shudder, recalling some terrifying experience...
"Ahem, you two young lads." Master Lin turned around. "So young, yet always thinking about darkness? I won't play *Dark Souls*. You should play some games that purify the soul instead."
Zou Zhuo was confused. "Like what?"
Master Lin smiled. "Have you two played *Rhythm Master*?"
Old Qin: "Beat up Master? Oh right, today is Children's Day! Master, since you're asking for it, I won't hold back!"
Master Lin: "...Get lost!"
...
It wasn't just the players waiting to try *Assassin's Creed: Origins*. Lin Mu had already arrived at the experience store early and was lying in the VR pod, ready to play.
Although Lin Mu had directly participated in the development of *Assassin's Creed: Origins*, he hadn't actually tried the finished product.
Because the entire development schedule was very tight, everyone had their own responsibilities. Lin Mu had been constantly researching historical materials, discussing details like scenery and costumes with the art and design teams. The work was intense, so he had no time to look into other aspects.
Only now that the game was officially completed and the trial had begun did Lin Mu finally have time to experience the game.
Lin Mu was also very eager to see how the finished product of *Assassin's Creed: Origins* turned out.
As a designer, Lin Mu had played many VR games, and he had personally worked on action games like *The Grand Tang*. So he had a general expectation for *Assassin's Creed*.
Whether it was gameplay, art, or music, *Assassin's Creed: Origins* was world-class, and Lin Mu knew that well.
While other players were still queuing up, Lin Mu had already snuck in through the back door and lay down in the game pod.
...
Inside the game pod, a new, high-tech icon appeared: Animus.
This was the mysterious program shown in the previous trailer, said to allow users to travel through time to the past. But Lin Mu still didn't know the specific details of this program.
Activating the Animus, Lin Mu's vision was filled with a high-tech interface.
In the center of his vision was a horizontal DNA strand, constantly flipping and scrolling.
At the top left of this DNA strand was Abstergo Industries' logo, the time, and a line of large text: Loading...
Then, the DNA strand flipped to a horizontal orientation, looking like a bridge with an enormous span, one end connected to the player and the other extending into the darkness in the distance.
Countless image fragments appeared from this DNA sequence. These were scenes that looked quite historical, from various eras and with different costumes... All these images flashed by, too fast to see clearly.
At the same time, the male voice from the Animus trailer sounded again.
["Within everyone's genes exist the memories of their ancestors. Like the migration of birds, animals inherit these experiences genetically. Our DNA is like an archive, containing not only the genetic structures passed down from previous generations of life forms but also... the memories of our ancestors."]
["The Animus is a new device developed by Abstergo Entertainment. It allows users to read their own memories and relive the lives of their ancestors. In other words, it is a projector that can image genetic memories in three dimensions."]
["This is not a time machine, but a virtual reality simulation machine. Please remember, the Animus is not omnipotent. In some cases, the memories it presents are not 100% accurate, and there may be instances that do not conform to historical facts or translation errors. Sometimes this is intentional; designers may alter settings out of goodwill or malice."]
["For example, they may translate and simplify the characters' language so that modern users can understand the dialogue without barriers, or they may restrict users from seeing certain memories. If the user performs some incorrect operations, it may trigger some strange consequences. If you see yourself flying into the sky or stuck in the ground, don't panic. Restarting the program can solve most problems."]
["Please remember, Animus users cannot change history; they can only relive it. They must perfectly synchronize their actions with the character they are portraying to better read the next memory fragment. If the user performs completely opposite actions, such as killing innocents indiscriminately, it will often result in 'desynchronization,' and they must start over."]
["Fortunately, with the advancement of technology, the current version of the Animus has undergone many improvements. Users no longer need to be direct descendants of these historical figures to relive these memories. This is the software you are now seeing: Helix."]
After this introduction, an interface appeared in Lin Mu's vision, which was the software mentioned in the introduction, running on the Helix platform.
In the software, there were many modules, each with a background image and a half-length portrait of a character. However, only the first module was available now, and the character's half-length portrait was Bayek, who had appeared many times in the previous trailers.