There's no denying the importance of the early King's Quest titles to the history of graphical adventure games as a whole, but besides wanting to experience a bit of gaming history, there's not much to recommend about these games to newcomers. The first two King's Quest games don't really add much to the lore and all of them suffer from unforgiving gameplay mechanics such as waiting for random encounters to produce critical items, reaching dead-ends without even knowing it, illogical puzzles (the one in the first King's Quest is infamous), ridiculously narrow walkways for you to plummet to your death and inventory items that are not visible on screen or if you "look" around. It makes for an infuriating experience for anyone who weren't brought up on these games and happen to already know the answers. I'd recommend you try the AGD Interactive VGA remakes of the King's Quest games if you really want to experience the lore.
Since Beneath a Steel Sky is free, there's no reason not to give this game a try, especially if you're a point 'n' click adventure game fan. Yes, the game hasn't aged very well in the graphics and audio departments, backtracking is a pain and so is waiting for your wisecracking robot sidekick, Joey. The game does have a lot going for it though including its weird, dystopian version of Australia and the fact it's fun and accessible to the players of today.
