When Nokia could still crack walnuts, I played various Java games on the Symbian system. At that time, the little pixel man was stuck when running, but he just didn't think it was fun. Later, smart phones became popular, and I played more and more mobile games, and the graphics became more and more sophisticated, but I always felt that something was missing.
Until I met "Ares Virus".
I'm not going to brag about it, but when this game first came out, I just tried it casually. After all, we have seen a lot of post-apocalyptic survival themes. "Fallout" and "Metro Exodus", which one is not a 3A masterpiece? But Celadon, a developer in Xiamen, really impressed me.
To be honest, when I opened the game for the first time, I thought I had returned to the feeling of playing a handheld console ten years ago. That kind of overhead 2D picture, coupled with the desolate background music of the apocalypse, inexplicably reminds me of the time when I was hiding in bed secretly playing "Broken Land". But "Ares Virus" is much more "humane" than those old antiques. You have to find food, make weapons, and even learn to bandage your own wounds. When you are injured, you go out to fight without wrapping it in gauze? Just wait to die.
What impressed me the most was actually the villagers in the game. Although they are pixel villains, everyone has flesh and blood. I would run across the entire map to help an old woman find medicine; I would also hesitate in the shelter for a long time whether to go out and take risks because of a certain NPC's words. At that time, I understood that this game is not for you to have fun, it is for you to feel a little human touch in the apocalypse.
I remember one level where we had to clean up zombies in a gathering place for villagers. After I finished playing, I turned around and saw a group of little people waving to me to thank me, which made my eyes well up for some reason. Maybe I was thinking of the brothers I met on the forum back then. Just like in the game, they knew they were just pixelated villains, but they were still willing to help each other.
Now I still open it occasionally to play, and browse through the posts from that year in the forum. Many people who have played this game have become old friends, and occasionally they will joke, "Brother, are you still alive?" What this game taught me is that in a ruins, what is more precious than weapons is the encounter😌
It's three o'clock in the morning and it's time to go to sleep. Next time, let's talk about those days of battling wits and courage with Celadon, that's another story.