Chapter 839: A Two-Hour Prologue
Khamu ultimately lacked the courage to jump. At that moment, Bayek encountered a group of soldiers. These members of the Order of the Ancients were extremely powerful; Bayek was completely outmatched and could only be captured.
Inside the pyramid, the Order of the Ancients brought Khamu and forced Bayek to reveal the secret of the Apple of Eden, a Piece of Eden. Bayek fought back desperately, but his strength fell short, and instead, he caused his own son Khamu to die tragically.
Afterward, the Order of the Ancients and Bayek each demonstrated the correct use of the Apple of Eden—it was meant for headshots...
This segment of the story clearly laid out the ins and outs of Bayek’s quest for revenge. After this, Bayek returned to his residence in Hopzafa and left the Siwa Oasis, marking the official end of the game’s prologue.
In the distance, a panoramic view of Alexandria appeared. This vast city-state relied on the Nile River, with the distant green sea, lush vegetation, and sprawling yellow sands forming a breathtaking scene. The logo for *Assassin’s Creed: Origins* also appeared in the sky.
At that moment, the system popped up an achievement: [Complete the Prologue: Don’t Rush, I’ve Only Just Begun!]
Lin Mu was startled. He instinctively checked the system time—nearly two hours had passed since he entered the game pod without him realizing it.
“A two-hour prologue?! Then how long is the total game time going to be?”
Lin Mu was also deeply shocked. He had long known that *Assassin’s Creed: Origins* would recreate a massive ancient Egypt and that the game duration would be lengthy, but he never expected that just the prologue alone would take two hours to play!
Thinking back carefully, the main storyline of the prologue wasn’t actually that complicated—it essentially just involved returning to the Siwa Oasis and assassinating two members of the Order of the Ancients. Yet the reason it took a full two hours to play through was that the entire map was simply too vast!
Although there was a mount, just casually running around, doing side quests, hunting a few wild animals, opening a few fast travel points, clearing out a few military camps or outposts... time inexplicably slipped away.
Moreover, the *Assassin’s Creed: Origins* developed by Chen Mo had temporarily not included the modern-day storyline. So, before Bayek headed to Alexandria, there were no modern-day segments interspersed, preventing the player’s gaming experience from feeling disjointed.
As for why the modern-day storyline was not yet included...
Many people felt that the modern-day segments made the *Assassin’s Creed* story fragmented and unnecessary. Actually, this was a mistaken idea. The most important significance of the modern-day storyline was to connect the modern thread of the entire *Assassin’s Creed* narrative, especially the modern-day segments related to Desmond. It clearly explained the ins and outs of the whole story, turning the *Assassin’s Creed* series into a long epic spanning millennia, linking different ancient protagonists, and greatly enhancing the player’s immersion.
It could be said that, from the perspective of the entire *Assassin’s Creed* series, the modern-day storyline was absolutely essential.
However, in *Assassin’s Creed: Origins*, the presence of the modern-day storyline was relatively weak. Temporarily removing it didn’t affect the player’s understanding of the overall story; instead, it made the narrative more cohesive.
From a game design perspective, the current *Assassin’s Creed: Origins* was experienced by players in the Animus, and the story versions in the Animus were already collected memory samples available for everyone to experience. So, from a design standpoint, it was also justifiable.
Of course, when other *Assassin’s Creed* stories were developed later, it would inevitably involve the modern-day storyline. At that point, Desmond’s story would definitely need to be added, but that would be left for future development.
Lin Mu recalled this lengthy prologue. If he had to pinpoint the most impressive part, it would be the customs and culture of Egypt!
Clearly, Chen Mo knew from the very beginning where the game’s core selling points lay and executed them perfectly. A small Siwa Oasis—whether it was the villagers, soldiers, or even wild animals—seemed to have its own ecosystem. For example, soldiers patrolled during the day and slept at night; villagers went out to work on their own; hyenas hunted antelopes...
Coupled with the highly detailed graphics and the massive map, when players walked through the Siwa Oasis, they truly felt like it was a very realistic village, as if every villager had their own story.
Lin Mu felt very proud. He knew Chen Mo was right. If he had to develop an independent game on his own, he would probably never be able to create such a vast open world in his lifetime. After all, every detail in this game required many professionals to do their respective jobs to complete, and it also required a huge amount of financial investment.
Being able to participate in the development of such a game and being responsible for verifying Egyptian culture and customs made Lin Mu feel honored.
He didn’t continue playing but chose to exit the game pod.
Two hours of gaming had also made him a bit tired, and open-world games weren’t as tightly paced as linear games.
For games like *Uncharted* and *The Last of Us*, players always felt an emotional push driving them forward, level after level without being able to stop. But *Assassin’s Creed: Origins* was an open world, where players had many choices at the same time, so there was no rush to finish. They could slowly complete tasks and experience the Egyptian atmosphere.
As soon as Lin Mu came out of the game pod, he heard someone outside shout, “Hey, someone’s out! Someone’s out!”
Lin Mu was startled. Several people were now lined up outside his game pod. Seeing him come out, the guy at the front of the line couldn’t wait and practically dove into the game pod, as if afraid Lin Mu might change his mind...
It wasn’t just this game pod; there were also lines in front of the other pods. Everyone looked enviously at the player who had squeezed into Lin Mu’s pod.
Lin Mu: “...”
Was this scene a bit too crazy?!
Lin Mu had never been to Chen Mo’s experience store during a new game trial before. Seeing the players queuing up this time, he finally understood why Chen Mo was in such a hurry to build a new headquarters.
The supply simply couldn’t meet the demand!
Many players waiting outside were having a tough time. Whether they could play the new game was entirely up to chance. What if a player in a certain game pod was a hardcore grinder, playing for six or seven hours straight? Then the players waiting outside would be absolutely screwed...
But there was no choice. Players all wanted to play Chen Mo’s new games, so long queues during new game trials had become a unique sight at the experience store...
Lin Mu left the VR game experience area and couldn’t help but sigh, “Terrifying!”