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Posted on: September 16, 2023
scorcherkozani
Verified ownerGames: 239 Reviews: 14
Good story, bad game
Nostalgia aside, this game does have a few things to offer. The visuals are good, the voice acting fun (though I did not like Foster having an American accent) and the story moves along nicely. But it is an overall weak affair, since the puzzles are too few and repetitive (and some downright stupid). Worth a try, if it is on sale, but do not pay full price for this.
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Posted on: August 30, 2024
Ramevox
Verified ownerGames: 650 Reviews: 68
Disheartening
I love the original Beneath a Steel Sky, and I was pretty excited to play a new game in this setting. How would they cleverly pitch a new story with old characters and the same city? And that's what kills this game really: they didn't. The story pretense is absolutely nonsensical and lacking any agenda from Foster. I will avoid the spoilers, but the story just happens and the main character just enjoys the ride of subsequent set pieces the developers prepared for him. The reimagined city is hard to accept, given the massive shift it suffered from the hands of Joey. Old characters' are exploited for cheap nostalgia factor, and treated as extremely important figures for some reason, while in the original game they were all just accidental obstacles and/or helping hands of Foster. The Museum of Joey is abhorrent. New characters are way too comical and don't really fit with the others. The story climax is rushed and inconsequential, really. There's no weight to anything. Important issues are brought up by the game - once, and they are repeated in the most basic fashion at the end. An attempt to give some commentary, or presenting both sides of the argument, falls short and dishonest. Yes, it does comment on social media and intertwining it with real life, but nobody needed the Beyond a Steel Sky game to reiterate the same old things again to undefined audience and from undefined standpoint. The game even ironically remarks that it's plain worse than the original and there's no real point of it existing - yep, it does say that - but it doesn't change the fact that's the case, actually. The switch to 3D is suprisingly successful. The city transition (especially the upper levels) is nice, and it's enjoyable to walk around familiar environments. The gameplay is severely lacking. You're on a ride, and barely need to solve some simple puzzles. There's a neat hacking mechanic, but it's criminally underused and relies too much on stumbling on things by chance.
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Posted on: January 27, 2023
scotttl04
Verified ownerGames: 1524 Reviews: 28
It's great
Most adventure games now that are good still feel like they are missing a middle or an end. This has a whole story and it flows nicely. A great follow-up to the original.
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Posted on: January 11, 2025
Lowfyr
Verified ownerGames: 462 Reviews: 2
Avoid if finicky mechanics annoy you
In theory a good game with interesting setting and story, but a lot of the puzzles rely on the "hacking" mechanic in which you swap "stuff" around until it reaches a certain spot. While "reprogramming" things to do what you need is kind of fun, daisy-chaining those nodes until you get A to B over 3 or 4 interactions gets old fast. This is also not helped by it being finicky to find the sweet-spot between interaction notes.
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Posted on: January 16, 2022
xeelwarbeast
Games: 81 Reviews: 1
A worthy successor to the first game
A worthy successor to the first game (Beneath a Steel Sky). Do not listen to the drowning in nostalgia veterans that deem garbage everything that has been released after 1999. I was born in 1981, so I did play tons of the pre-PC, as well as PC MS DOS games, including the first game of the installment. And, in my opinion, Beyond a Steel Sky is one of the best adaptations in its genre (point and click quest) that were released in the past decade. Yes, it has its shortcomings, but so did the first one. It's too bad that there are almost no games such as this one nowadays, and with so many negative reviews I doubt there would be more. Pros: A well made modern approach for an old-style point and click quest genre. Great visual designs. Good although very short story. Hilarious and goofy dialogs. Quite decent graphics. Cons: Lacks polishing (numerous visual and animation bugs). The city looks completely deserted and definitely could use more movement in the background. Too few hidden/for-laughs outcomes related to device hacking (IMHO, lost potential there). The story is too short (though this game still takes more time to finish than the first one, so it's kinda subjective). Overall: Should you buy it? If you love a detective-like stories with goofy dialogs and weird jokes, then the answer yes. If you liked the first Beneath a Steel Sky game, then definitely yes, as it's the direct continuation to the original story that delivers a very similar experience. However do not expect miracles. I would recommend treating this game as a good interactive evening time movie.
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