Several reviewers also commented on the accompanying alternate reality game. Ann Powers of the "Los Angeles Times", praised the album and game concept as "a total marriage of the pop and gamer aesthetics that unlocks the rusty cages of the music industry and solves some key problems facing rock music as its cultural dominance dissolves into dust." In relation to the declining music industry, Joseph Jaffe of "Brandweek" commented that such "mysterious marketing measures [...] are what's desperately needed to gain attention in this uncertain era of distribution dilemmas and sagging sales", also commending acts such as Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead for being "more innovative than marketers". "Entertainment Weekly" gave the album a B+, comparing it to "The X-Files" and calling it "A sci-fi concept album whose end-of-days, paranoia-drenched storyline has been disseminated via the Internet". It also stated: "Amid its carefully calibrated sonic assaults, "Year Zero" has a number of tracks that will stop you in yours. Sometimes, it's a matter of dropping the volume [...] Even his use of electronics has shifted to a new level [...] Is the truth in here? Dunno, but Reznor's claim that 'I got my violence in high def ultra-realism' sounds like gospel to us."