Chapter 1039: The Stunning "Transmigration-Style Game"
Discussions about "Iron Man" exploded online instantly. This work, marketed under the guise of a "transmigration-style game," sparked a massive debate among players about the "transmigration experience."
Many players who purchased "Iron Man" were posting online to share their experiences and insights, because they discovered that this game had many clear differences compared to previous next-generation VR games!
"This suit of armor is so awesome! Can I take it to the beachfront mansion and play with it myself?"
"The game is incredibly satisfying, but it's a shame the playtime is a bit short, only about six hours. That's a bit of a letdown. Honestly, the motivation to go through a second playthrough isn't that strong either. The main selling point of this game is the thrill—researching the armor is thrilling, the combat is thrilling, and even flirting with girls is thrilling. Oh, that deep kiss with Pepper Potts, I was practically swooning..."
"I think the game length is fine. I don't mind going through multiple playthroughs of such an enjoyable game. But what bothers me a little is that there aren't enough combat scenes."
"This is similar to 'Detroit: Become Human.' It's not primarily focused on combat; combat is just one aspect of the game. The other content is also very fun—the awards ceremony, the speech, arguing with the senator, the car chase. I even found the part where you build your own armor and learn to fly particularly enjoyable."
"The part where you synthesize the element was also incredibly intense! I was still agonizing over how to solve the palladium poisoning problem. The puzzle-solving content in that section wasn't complicated, but it was full of drama!"
"And I got to experience an F1 race too! Plus, that briefcase version of the armor is just a genius design!"
"The final super-long battle, lasting nearly half an hour, was a blast! First, the aerial chase, then the robot fight, and finally taking down the giant boss together—it was all so seamless!"
"Yes, yes, yes! I agree! And the 'Experience Mode' unlocked after completing the first playthrough is even more amazing."
"Yeah, after playing the Experience Mode, I realized I was too conservative. When faced with the beautiful journalist Christina, I just chatted with her for a bit and let her go. But Tony directly said, 'I want to spend a few sleepless nights with you,' and took her home. Sure enough, even if I had billions in wealth, I'd still be a loser..."
...
The "Experience Mode" players were discussing is a new game mode unlocked after completing the first playthrough.
In this mode, the player completely relinquishes control of the body, allowing Tony Stark to complete the entire story. The player can choose to experience it in first-person or switch to a cinematic perspective to enjoy a VR movie automatically edited by the system.
In this mode, Tony Stark's personal charisma is fully displayed, opening the eyes of those "conservative" players.
Of course, experiencing this once is enough. Players still prefer to play as Stark freely, following their own ideas—or rather, to be themselves in the world of "Iron Man."
While marveling at the high degree of freedom in "Iron Man," players also noticed the difference between this game's NPCs and those in other games.
During combat, enemies would adopt completely unexpected tactics.
For example, in the level where you fight the terrorists one-on-one, at the start, a few terrorists would foolishly open fire, then others would hide behind cover, take hostages, or simply turn tail and run...
The objective of this level is to eliminate every single terrorist without exception and destroy all weapons. So, if a terrorist crawls into some obscure corner, it often becomes very troublesome.
Moreover, when players drag those terrified, trembling terrorists out of their hiding spots, some would shake and scream in fear, while others would go berserk and fire wildly. Each one had a different reaction, making it feel very realistic.
Every time a player entered this scene for combat, they almost always encountered completely unknown situations.
If the combat module wasn't enough to highlight the uniqueness of the NPCs, then the other story segments outside of combat made this new NPC intelligence system stand out even more.
Facing reporters at a press conference, bickering with a senator at the Senate Armed Services Committee, flirting with pretty girls at a party... The biggest feature of "Iron Man" compared to previous games is that players are no longer passively letting the character speak; instead, they truly become the character and interact with the NPCs.
And the NPCs' reactions are entirely on a human level. Some people even went so far as to try insulting Christina or forcefully kissing Pepper at the start. The former resulted in Christina sarcastically mocking them, while the latter caused Pepper to deliberately distance herself from Tony for a long time, with their relationship only gradually easing by the middle of the story.
Even the different wording of each player's sentence could trigger different reactions from the NPCs. Sometimes, deliberately using a harsh tone to say the opposite, these NPCs could pick up on it!
Players finally understood why it was called a "transmigration-style game"—because this experience truly felt no different from transmigration!
Sight, hearing, touch, taste, action, speech, feedback from the surrounding environment...
All these elements were too well-crafted. Whatever players did in the real world, they could do the same in the virtual world—that's "transmigration."
The last major hurdle of VR games, "dialogue," had also been overcome.
Of course, calling it the "last major hurdle" might be a bit off, because judging from the current content of "Iron Man," this "transmigration-style game" still has a heavy shackle: the story line.
As introduced earlier, "Iron Man" is essentially a sandbox game. Within each small segment of the story, players seem highly free, but in reality, they cannot deviate too far from the main storyline. It's not complete freedom.
But this is understandable.
First, this is just the initial form of a "transmigration-style game," a bold attempt with room for future improvement.
Second, story lines and freedom inherently have an irreconcilable conflict to some extent; they cannot be perfectly balanced.
If a very exciting story line is prepared for the player in advance, then it must be ensured that the player doesn't stray too far, or they won't experience the brilliance of that story line.
Therefore, every type of game has its own limits. There is no all-encompassing, perfect game.
Regardless, it's an indisputable fact that "Iron Man" will achieve dual success in both reputation and sales. Although it falls short of the previously released GTA on the Matrix Game Pod in terms of reputation, long-term gameplay, and depth of story, as the first "transmigration-style game," it holds very significant historical importance.
Recommended reading: Urban God of War's New Book