Beneath a Steel Sky (1994)

took me 26 years to play this game, my friend had on his amiga and said it was good then! 5 stars amazing play it

The game is full of gorgeously realized environments that really give you a sense of dread and foreboding. There is something about dystopian metropolises and oppressive regimes that is so enticing when it is tucked squarely away in fiction. It has an interesting blend of futuristic settings with current-day (90s) technology and culture to keep things relevant. The characters come to life with some phenomenal voice acting and strong dialogue. There are some bits of toilet humor scattered throughout that you may love or hate. The puzzles in the game are mostly reasonable and it shies away from "moon logic" for the most part. However, danger is around every corner and it is possible to be killed. Joey, a robotic personality, joins you in this adventure. On one hand, it's interesting to give Joey new abilities by discovering new chassis for him. On the other hand, it is extremely painful to wait for Joey to catch up yo you so he will join you on the next screen. Considering how often you have to backtrack, this gets old fast. Overall, definitely worth trying out.

One of the principal draws of this for me is the collaborative effort of famous comic book creator Dave (2000AD/Watchmen) Gibbons on the game. Gibbons was responsible for the character designs as well as the backgrounds and had an extraordinary level of input including a graphic-novel style intro and finale. It isn't quite as slapstick as Lucasarts' point and click efforts but it was certainly more tongue-in-cheek than Sierra's offerings from the period. I would compare it far more to the Star Trek 25th Anniversary/Judgement Rights games in tone. While the plot is certainly dramatic and dark, the interactions and dialogue is absolutely ****ing hilarious and delivered with just as funny voice acting - including a turn from a young Jason Issacs. Puzzle wise, there were a few quite less than obvious solutions that I'll admit needing a walk-through for, and each time I had to I never felt dumb for not trying the eventual solution, but there are not many of these situations. Most puzzles/solutions are revealed by carefully moving your mouse around at anything that might look like it's vaguely interactive and most of the time it is, and there is a palpable sense of accomplishment when you do figure it out for yourself. Beneath A Steel Sky sports an exceedingly simple control system - you can select everything from right or left click and F5 brings up the save/load/quit menu, and that's it! It's certainly easier to play than any other point and click and that simplicity made it a more immersive experience. In fact when coupled with Gibbons' influence it was almost more like reading a comic book for seven hours than playing a game.

It's a pretty good game, with a fairly guessable plot.. but it's not the plot that will have you turning but the riddles. I suppose that's the case for most adventure games though. Many of the characters really jump to life, and many of the places appear well thought out and are quite interesting. Just because it's free doesn't mean you should download it or play it, but because it's good, you should do both.

This game is amazing! I can't stop playing it. But how do I save my game?! It has a wonderful storyline and gameplay is very simplistic although very enjoyable. It's challenging without being overly brain-wracking. A must-play for anyone, even if you don't really like adventure games. One prob, how the heck do I save my game. Everytime I die, I go back to the beginning!!!!!!!!! It's gay! That's why this game gets 4/5.