Excellent music and beautiful artwork make this simple and short story a must-play. Puzzles have just the right difficulty to keep it entertaining. Recommended!
Fun, difficult, gory, stylish - this game is a keeper. It'll definitely make your palms sweat, but you'll have a ton of fun in the process. Highly recommended!
I have a soft spot for adventure games and that's what they market this game as. Unfortunately, it fails on so many levels that I can't in good conscience recommend it to anyone. On the one hand, I did enjoy some parts of the story. The voice acting is good, the animations are pretty good. It's got some likeable parts. But on the other the gameplay is absolutely atrocious. The game controls are almost unusable. Rather than have you take advantage of both a mouse and keyboard, they cripple you with either. Lots of repetitive key tapping. Lots of repetitive mouse gestures. What do you do when you don't have a numpad? I guess you can't play this game and you'd be lucky. The story is ok for a while, then everything totally unravels for the worst in the last bit. And you still have to do the same repetitive crap you've done for the entire game. You get god like powers! Yet you still have to tap your arrow keys really fast! Why!? I mean really, what game makes you care about your characters "mental health?" Maybe this wouldn't be so bad if everything in the entire game isn't designed to make your loser character want to off himself. Or how about stereotyping the only black character in the game with any screen time? Or what about that part where your female character HAS SEX WITH A DEAD GUY!? I'd like to somehow blame this on someone, and I choose David Cage. Seeing his on-screen avatar was just a sign for things to come. For all its somewhat original concepts, this game fails on almost every conceivable level as an adventure game. You might be inclined to compare it to The Longest Journey, another European adventure game. But where that game succeeded in bringing the gamer in, this game succeeds in making you totally indifferent to what happens to the characters. Dreamfall came out only one year later and it looks much nicer, and plays much better (even though it's also pretty poor). Skip this game - it's hard to enjoy and you will feel cheated by the time it's over. This is the first time I've every actually been glad a game was short.
Beneath a Steel Sky is a great adventure game set in a cyberpunk world - I don't know if it's the only game of its kind with that setting, but it is the only one I've ever played. The story and voice acting are top notch, as is the animations featured in the game. The simplified point and click control scheme is greatly appreciated. The only real flaws are the inventory system, which is ok but lackluster, and the length. Unfortunately this game is rather short and you'll be left asking for more. Either way, at this price, have at it and enjoy.
The good - The artwork and level design are top notch. First few missions are challenging and fun. The bad - Gameplay quickly becomes very repetitive. Maybe I just don't play this game as it should be played, but levels end up taking me forever to complete, and I spend most of my time repeating the same actions over and over again. Non-existent friendly AI, meaning your other characters won't do anything unless you tell them to. So instead of having to worry about your current character, you have to be all over the place at the same time. Cinematics are in exactly the same style as Diablo 2's cutscenes. These however don't appear nearly as polished. The ugly - Voice acting is abysmal, and like the storyline, is filled with stereotypes. Oh, Mexicans saying CARRRRRRAMBA every 10 seconds? How witty. None of the voice actors even speak spanish, so get ready for the worst fake Mexican accents you'll ever hear in a game. How many times can Sam finish a sentence with "TEEEHEEE?" Too many. Or how about Sanchez' special ability - leaving a tequila bottle around so the bad guys can get wasted? Pure genius. When the credits finally rolled, I realised that this game was made entirely by Europeans. Is this the notion that they have of the wild west and its denizens? I shudder to think. Anyway, if you're greatly appreciative of fancy hand-painted backgrounds and the commando-style gameplay, this is the game for you. Otherwise, skip it entirely. CARRRRRAMBA!
This game still holds such a high place for me. I loved it the first time I ever played it. It was so long, engaging, and rich in its storytelling that I just couldn't stop playing it. I sold my physical copy a long time ago, but luckily GOG has it now and I just completed the game once again and it was just as good as it was the first time around. TLJ is not particularly challenging. The puzzles are, for the most part, straightforward and the story is completely linear. There are a few puzzles that are just wacky, but that's common in adventure games. Really, TLJ is more like an interactive movie or book. It's so character driven that you relish the chance to learn more about them and the worlds they live in. You'll spend more time in this game listening and learning than solving puzzles. Anyway, a real, unique gem. Probably my favorite adventure game. Buy it, set aside a good 2 or 3 days, and get going on the longest journey.
I think the best word to describe these two games is "surreal." When I was a kid, the quirky humor and silly levels really captivated me. I got to be the best of the best, even managing to complete all of EWJ2 without ever firing any weapons. Anyway, 15 years later or so and I have to admit these games are still fun, but much harder to get into. If you're looking for a good time-waster, look elsewhere because the strangeness and difficulty of these two will probably make you invest more time than you're willing. On the other hand, if you're looking for one of the most challenging and creative platform games with lots to look at, then have at 'em.
