Chapter 436: World War II Begins! Blitzkrieg against Cameroon! |
The storm is coming!
Just as the media has said!
With Golden Wind announcing the dissolution of their Golden Engine development team,
Unprecedented gloom hangs over Golden Wind and the entire Huaguo gaming circle!
Dark thunderclouds gather over the 9.6 million square kilometers of land!
Vivendi, holding the largest comprehensive gaming enterprise across both hemispheres, has dispatched Komera—a company with long-standing grievances against Golden Wind!
They intend to set foot in Huaguo from another dimension, seeking revenge for Golden Wind's past occupation of Ginza and their triumphant gallop through Tokyo!
Pursuing victory relentlessly!
It must be said.
Not only are they more ruthless and sharp in tactics, accurately targeting Golden Wind's weaknesses for relentless sieges and attacks.
But their sense of timing and overall strategy is exceptionally cunning!
Right when Golden Wind announced the engine team's dissolution, shocking the entire gaming circle and throwing the Huaguo gaming industry into chaos, with only one month left until the Huaguo C-Expo!
Komera pressed their advantage and launched promotions for their flagship title!
And this time!
"Conflict Zone," personally overseen by Seiichi Nakamura, is no longer comparable to works by the likes of Yamamoto and Koizumi!
From the very beginning of the trailer!
The sight of a massive military transport aircraft trailing colored smoke across the sky was enough to make players watching the trailer light up with excitement!
Paired with the theme song specially composed for the game by the currently popular Korean boy band VIXX, the trailer exploded with chat barrage right from the start!
'Wow—amazing! It's actually Battle Royale! I guessed it as soon as the plane appeared!'
'Such an impressive opening! Feels like they put APEX's kill trails on a plane!'
'The visuals are so vibrant, looks really good!'
'Ahhhhhhhhh—it's VIXX's specially composed theme song! My favorite boy band!'
'Feels very modern, very dynamic...'
'But it doesn't seem much different from regular Battle Royale games??'
...
However!
Just as they said this!
Accompanied by dynamic electronic R&B!
The aircraft door opened, countless players parachuted from the sky, descending from the plane with dazzling light trails!
Following the same three-player squad setup, soldiers in various outfits descended one after another.
Intense firefights quickly erupted across the vast map!
Rat-a-tat-tat—!
!! Boom!
Kaboom—!!!
It's worth mentioning that in the main art style of "Conflict Zone," Seiichi Nakamura seemed to have drawn particular inspiration from "Overwatch."
Bright visuals, rich colors, overall leaning toward a light futuristic style.
Combined with the distinctly Korean boy band-flavored music, a chaotic yet intense large-scale battlefield unfolded before the players' eyes!
Of course!
If the game had stopped here, merely meeting players' expectations for Battle Royale games in a standard way.
Then what followed was the part that made players scream!
—Click!
As one soldier performed a slide, arriving beside a random airdrop.
With a click, the airdrop crate opened.
Inside appeared a drone about the size of a shoebox.
This wasn't unfamiliar to players—drones are equipment in PUBG, while in APEX, drones are even Lifeline's ability.
But the next moment!
Bzzzt—!!!
As the drone took to the air!
Whoosh—
An electronic pulse spread across the soldier's minimap.
Immediately after!
All red dots in the building area were marked on his minimap!
Electronic reconnaissance drone!
Rat-a-tat-tat—! Rat-a-tat!
Relying on the drone, this soldier moved as if he had wallhacks, charging left and right as if entering an unguarded territory!
However, just as he was enjoying the slaughter and wanted to cross the main road to assault the opposite building area!
Vroom vroom vroom—!!!
Suddenly, the sound of rotor blades echoed overhead!
Looking up, a sleek, light futuristic-style unmanned helicopter hovered directly above him,
Whoosh-whoosh—Kaboom—!!!
The unmanned helicopter's cannon rotated, its terrifying firepower instantly swallowing the drone soldier!
Meanwhile, on the roof of the opposite building area, a fat soldier stood beside a scattered airdrop crate, holding a remote control in his hand,
That's right!
This unmanned armed helicopter was also something he got from an airdrop!
But!
Before his smile could fade!
Whoosh—
Suddenly, a strange sound echoed from the sky, like a muffled thunderclap.
"What—?"
Puzzled, the fat guy looked up.
He saw a missile descending from the dome above, crashing toward him like a meteor!
Kaboom—!!!
Above the dome!
A gunship aircraft circled past, overlooking the battlefield crisscrossed with various airdrop supports!
Vroom—!!!
Seeing this!
The audience erupted in astonishment—
'OHHHHHHH—support from airdrops?!'
'OMG! Is that an AC-130? You can actually get something like that from airdrops?'
'Oh my god, I can't even imagine how satisfying it would be to deploy one of these in Battle Royale!'
'Recon drones, unmanned armed helicopters, and gunships! God! Did they put COD's armed support into Battle Royale?'
'Unbelievable! This looks absolutely fascinating!'
'Damn, it's such a Frankenstein! The mode is PUBG's, the art style is OW's, the airdrops are COD's?!'
'Don't say it! Don't you dare say it!'
'Bad news: Frankenstein monster; Good news: They stitched everything together.'
'Damn... isn't this basically stealing Old Thief's thunder?!'
'You little Japanese really know how to stitch things together!'
'The key is... cough... this damn thing... looks... kinda fun...'
'Yeah... definitely......'
...
Oh no!
Komera actually figured out how to stitch things together properly!
Without a doubt!
As soon as this trailer dropped, players' eyes lit up!
The light futuristic style, the currently hottest FPS game type—Battle Royale, plus the armed support that previously amazed countless people in COD and had them shouting how novel it was!
You could call it a Frankenstein monster, you could say it's copying Golden Wind's ideas.
But you absolutely cannot deny—
It's definitely a Battle Royale game that gives people ample desire to play!
No "Silent Hill"-style failed imitation ending up as a poor copy!
No "Torii"-style emphasis on industry over gameplay!
No "Night Owl Island"-style forced implementation and intentional bugs!
For a moment!
Many players who followed and loved Golden Wind couldn't help but feel a sense of powerlessness.
Komera has evolved.
Although they loved Golden Wind and hoped Golden Wind could continue to shine brilliantly while fighting on home turf!
The objective reality remained.
Golden Wind's reputation had reached an unprecedented low amid suspicion and discussion.
Even more terrifying, their old rival—Komera—had actually completed an evolution after a major reshuffle!
They no longer randomly used "I reckon" power.
Through imitating "Sekiro" and making a name with "Night Owl," Seiichi Nakamura, who now successfully occupied Komera's presidency, fully utilized his traditional skills!
He understood current gaming trends better than Yamamoto, he borrowed more extensively than Koizumi, and he had better grasp of timing than Uekoe Kagemasa!
Right at this moment when Golden Wind had fallen to rock bottom!
Right when dark clouds completely overshadowed the Huaguo C-Expo!
"Conflict Zone" was like a muffled thunderclap before the storm, explosively striking every Golden Wind fan.
That invincible posture was even despair-inducing...
...
And this!
"Is exactly our opportunity."
Meanwhile!
Golden Wind!
Emergency meeting!
At the head of the conference table!
Gu Sheng and Shen Miaomiao sat side by side!
Below them, Moriya Tetsuya, Lu Bian, and Xu Dajiang—the three vice presidents—sat solemnly!
Further down!
Jiang Yun, Kailing, Jiang Shan—Golden Experience Studio!
Sean Connor, Karl Dennis, Ana Francisco—Melancholy Blues!
The "Battlefield Storm: Rise" team had been waiting for this very moment!
For this.
They had lain dormant for two and a half months!
You said I focus on shady movie adaptations? Then I heavily promoted "John Wick," making John Wick known to everyone!
You said my engine bottleneck is unsustainable? Then right after engine development completed, without explaining any reasons, I directly announced the dissolution!
You said I'm shrouded in gloom and helpless about my flagship title? Then I completely sealed information, keeping tight-lipped without revealing any details about the flagship project!
Because we in Huaguo have an old saying—
If you want something to perish, you must first make it crazy!
Now!
Komera, who opened champagne at halftime long ago, convinced they already held victory in their hands, had reached peak arrogance!
According to currently available information, the trailer premiere was only the first step in their massive promotion campaign!
Afterward, they planned to completely imitate Golden Wind's past actions in Tokyo, hoisting their own flag high over Shanghai in Huaguo!
"And I, still say this,"
Under everyone's gaze, Gu Sheng—who had been manipulating information blockades behind the scenes with official cooperation, determining victory from a thousand miles away—slowly spoke:
"CJ Exhibition is our Huaguo's exhibition,"
"Huaguo is our Huaguo, Shanghai is our Shanghai,"
"Now, the timing has arrived,"
"If Cologne was our gaming industry's World War I without an engine, with heaven and earth not aligned,"
"Then this time,"
"On our own land, at our own exhibition, with our own engine,"
"Heaven, earth, and man are all in our grasp,"
"Friends,"
"The initiative of war should return to our hands!"
As Gu Sheng's voice fell!
A long-prepared message was released across all media, spreading everywhere—
[Golden Wind:]
[First title fully crafted based on Huaguo team's self-developed game engine "Golden Engine"]
[Unprecedented next-generation 3S gaming experience—]
["Battlefield Storm: Rise"]
[Golden Wind]
[Unveiling for you]
Gaming World War II thus commences!
First target confirmed—
Blitzkrieg against Komera!!!