Beneath a Steel Sky (1994)

I love graphical adventure games. Some can be frustratingly difficult or illogical or make you pixel hunt to complete the game. I don't like looking up cheat sheets or walk throughs to complete a game. However, this game has no pitfalls that I can mention. The puzzles are great. The sequence of events and storyline are very good, entertaining and riveting. This is one of the few games I have been able to get through without having to look up a walkthrough. There were no puzzles that I had to "cheat" to get passed and everything was logical. This is a very satisfying game from the puzzles, to the storyline and the imagery. I wish more game authors would use this game as a template to a successful graphical adventure. I thoroughly recommend this game. It is a "must play" for any adventurer and a "highly recommended" to any other gamer.

I didn't play this game back in the day, so I played this with modern day gaming eyes and was blown away. First of all the graphics are great, the attention to detail and work it must've taken to do all of that by hand is amazing. The story is good at times very dark and at other times absurdly humorous. Some surprisingly adult stuff, even a little nudity, though nothing explicit or in bad taste. The voice work is pretty solid, though the various UK accents of some of the side characters can get quite grating even though the acting is never bad. The puzzling is solid, at no point did I feel like I've done this or that puzzle in a some other adventure game. The game has a great cyberpunk sci-fi noir feel to it, even some steampunk maybe. The soundtrack is good, nothing terribly memorable, but it's good. The sound design is great, there's always some background noise or sound affects that add ambience and life to the scenery. Really this has become one of my favorite adventure games of all time, it's in my top 10 for sure. I highly recommend, especially since it's free.

Have you ever read Huxley or Orwell? Do you love the Space Odyssey? Are you read sci-fi novels or watching movies? This is the most addictive old school utopian game I EVER played! With it's beautiful graphics (thanks for Ince), the intimate music I can't stop playing... This game contains everything what you need: logical puzzles, humour, action and if you can imagine this world a lot of exceting! Thanks GOG for it's game, I forgot how it game was... I want to buy one to my room and I can't be overemphasized: THIS IS A MUST HAVE GAME!

To be honest, I initially couldn't get into Beneath a Steel Sky. I tried starting it twice but put it down because I simply wasn't used to the gameplay style and graphics. But I was determined to play it through, and the third time I picked it up, I loved it! An AMAZING game with phenomenal story-driven gameplay and a fascinating ending. The many logic puzzles add depth to the game without making it too difficult, and voice acting in the game outpaces many modern games in terms of quality. To be frank, a game of this caliber is quite rare these days. The beauty and easy-to-love cyberpunk environment only adds to the appeal, and sprinkles of a wonderful dystopian future add to make a wonderful game few can dislike.

First, what matters in an Adventure game review. It has an excellent story, particularly for those of us interested in Sci-Fi. Dave Gibbons' touch to the story is very clear. The ending could have been better, and the telling throughout could have been improved in some particularly critical moments, but overall it was an enjoyable experience. On the negative side, this game has two common issues of the Adventure Games of the 90's (one of which is not so much a "problem" as it is a fact). First, the graphical design is misleading in some parts and makes you miss critical items to the game progression, as they blend into the background and are tiny. I used a guide for certain parts because I could not be bothered to run around aimlessly. Second, it IS an adventure point-and-click and as such, it's basically an interactive story rather than a game. That is not an issue to me, though, and is not an issue to most Adventure gamers, but if you're looking for a point-and-click with strong puzzles and lots of thinking, then look elsewhere.