Paul took the box and suspiciously flipped it over to the back.
"Blizzard? The ones who made Warcraft?" Paul frowned, distrust written all over his face. "Why aren't they sticking with RTS? Why run off and make an RPG? Listen, man, I can't handle those turn-based games where you take one step and think for half a day. They're practically miracle sleeping pills."
"You didn't read any of the media coverage at all."
Jack snatched the box back out of Paul's hand and strode toward the checkout counter. "This is real-time combat! A proper action RPG. Click the mouse and you can hack monsters directly, every blade drawing blood! And it's written clear as day on the box: supports free online multiplayer!"
Paul curled his lip and muttered, "Game Gear is all lies," but he still followed him.
Half an hour later, in Jack's apartment.
The bulky CRT monitor gave off a dim glow, and the CD-ROM drive in the case let out a high-speed spinning hum, like a Beast slowly waking.
Installation complete.
Jack couldn't wait to double-click the shortcut on the desktop.
There was no long, boring opening CG, and no complicated background introduction.
As the screen lit up, the dark, dilapidated village of Tristram appeared directly on the monitor. Along with a slightly mournful, ethereal sweep of guitar strings, a chilling sense of loneliness instantly rushed toward them.
Jack quickly created a warrior character and, without hesitation, clicked the dungeon entrance that gave off a gloomy light.
The left mouse button went down.
The warrior on the screen raised his longsword and hacked hard into a skeleton soldier charging straight at him.
Crack!
An extremely crisp and satisfying sound of bones shattering came from the speakers. Along with a powerful impact response, the skeleton instantly fell apart