Beneath a Steel Sky is a game that was released at the height of Point and Click gaming's popularity. It is in many ways far more mature, both in story and tone, than the Monkey Island games (lets face it, they will now and forever be the standard that all PnC's will be compared to) . This is a trait that Revolution Software would become famous for, as well as being one of the few adventure game makers that would allow your character to be killed, causing the player to constantly save in multiple slots - just in case - as also demonstrated in their Broken Sword games. With background artwork drawn by Dave Gibbons, an incredible comic artist who later went on to illustrate the Alan Moore graphic novel Watchmen, Judge Dredd and Batman Vs Predator amongst many others, the look and feel of the game is amazing. Beautifully drawn and a slick style of animation that was pretty head of its time, with some incredible dark and atmospheric production choices. While some of the puzzles in BaSS are a little simplistic, some are fiendishly difficult, which gives it balance enough that it can still take a long time to finish. The voice acting and dialogue hasn't held up too well, and often feels like local yorkshire actors have been drafted in to record dialogue, but the music is catchy and excellently made. The game has a fair amount of humour to balance out its heavy tone, though it isn't quite as witty or perceptive as in MI or Full Throttle, but the game is first and foremost about its story; a lovingly written, complex Phillip K Dick-esque science fiction dystopia. I admittedly haven't played the gog version just yet to comment on how well its been ported, or if there are any bugs, but as it is free i would highly recommend it to all fans of the genre, especially those of the Broken Sword games (the first two at least). Just remember to keep saving.
