Just before playing this game I played the the first one for comparison.
The first one was from 1994, was quirky and unpolished, which was a feature of many of the games- big industry gaming was not there the way it is now. Jokes then were more quirky, probably because they had less people and public representitives to "smooth" them out. The world was humourous, but very dangerous, and death was around every corner, even if it was a humourous death at times.
Fastforward to Beyond a Steel Sky. it is, in comparison, a very polished game. Cell-shaded graphics, fully voiced, most of which done decently, fully 3d animated characters. It is also a longer game, being closer to 20 hours than the original 7. The music was much much better than the former game. It does tip its hat to its predicessor, though, placing it in an elevator where it belonged.
Animation helped individualize each plot character, even aiding in the humour, which was something difficult for the pixelled original.
Despite its polish and shine, it's humour was often too smooth and not as quirky as the first. Death was nearly non-existant, which removed a sense of accomplishment and pressure.
The story itself, while engaging enough, had a few plot holes and manged to unravel itself and the enitre first game rather than improving upon it- a bad habit oft found in many sequal movies and games. So in a way, it was like replaying the first, but backwards. Regardless, you save the day... again, yet somehow it does not seem as inspiring.
All in all I would likely give it a 3.5/5. It was an amusing light-hearted point and click adventure-no real pressure, but in some ways does not live up to its 7 hour predecessor, even as it excels in other ways. If you are looking for a relaxing point-n-click adventure puzzle game with hints (when needed), you might find this one of interest.
