For instance – a bridge that only opens for registered personnel? You can hack it so instead of declining people with incorrect credentials, it’ll let them right through. With a tool that Foster inherits early on into the game, you can hack into digital devices, changing their programming process. What does make Beyond a Steel Sky stand out from other adventure games is the hacking system. Help is just a Google search away if you need it. There’s nothing too obscure, but a built-in hint system means you can never get stuck for too long. And so, you’ll need to pick up random items, interact with parts of the environment, and figure out what can be combined with what as you feel your way through the story. This is, of course, a classic point-and-click adventure game dressed up in modern clothing. You’ll be glad of the small-ish areas when it comes to solving the puzzles of Beyond a Steel Sky, though. Characters and locations are simply oozing with detail – it’s almost a shame that this isn’t an open world we can poke around in. There’s a mix between realistic and comic book which works to great effect. Beyond a Steel Sky looks fantastic unimaginable that a game from 1994 could have a sequel that looks so wonderful. There aren’t too many environments to poke around in, but you certainly get a sense of the city’s scale thanks to the gorgeous visual design on show here. In fact, that main plot point often takes a back seat as you, as Foster, make your way around Union City and engage with its residents. This isn’t just a story about kidnapping, though. But after a child gets taken from his village, transported to Union City in a huge dog-like vehicle, he takes it upon himself to track him down. Your protagonist, the dully-named Robert Foster, comes from the wasteland – or The Gap, as it’s referred to in the game. It tells a mature and engaging story about a dystopian city in an undisclosed future a future where robots live and work alongside humans and, if you’re not ‘lucky’ enough to be a citizen of Union City, you’re out on your ass in the desert wasteland. But enough that it would sneak in a museum exhibit that looks uncannily like George and Nico under our noses.īut Beyond a Steel Sky is much more than a bunch of in-jokes. Not so much that it would rush to make us Broken Sword 6, of course. Yes, Revolution likes to please its fans. I am a fan of Revolution Software’s other works though, and seeing a handful of Broken Sword references slip their way in – and also discovering that some Broken Sword characters may have actually been references to Beneath a Steel Sky in the first place – left me with a grin on my face. But there are a lot of sly nods, references and Easter eggs that leave me feeling excluded from the joke. Sure, Beyond a Steel Sky does a great job in making you feel welcome, regardless of whether you’re already familiar with its world and its characters. And jumping into Beyond a Steel Sky, the direct sequel released last year on Apple Arcade and PC and today making its way to console, I’m slightly disappointed that I haven’t played its predecessor. I’ve never played Beneath a Steel Sky, partly due to the fact that I was merely six years old when it first released. It’s been nearly 30 years since Beneath a Steel Sky released, and here I am playing its sequel.
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