![]() Building on the original game’s ‘Virtual Theatre’ concept, NPCs will often walk around doing their own thing. The controls (I played using an Xbox controller) are very user friendly and exploring each environment while puzzle solving is a joy. It soon proves to be an inspired addition to what is fundamentally a very old-school adventure game, managing to keep things feeling fresh while only becoming a minor frustration later on. Doing so takes the player to a screen that allows certain functions (for example, permission to extend a bridge) to be manipulated by swapping specific command modules. Activating it picks up any hackable device within range, and Foster will often need to stand in the right place at the right time to hack several devices at once. The hacker tool is an inventive core gameplay mechanic that takes full advantage of the sequel’s switch to 3D. However, he still can’t enter through the vehicle-only entrance… which is where the hacker tool comes in. ![]() With this new identity, Foster can interact with MINOS – which is embedded in everything – and is considered a citizen of Union City. With the help of a young hacker, Foster is able to assume the identity of a dead man found on the outskirts of the city called Graham Grundy – a lengthy puzzle involving a citizen ID ‘U-Chip’ implanted in the palm of his hand. There is a also a hacking tool introduced early on that allows Foster to manipulate robots and devices connected to the MINOS network (the successor to the first game’s LINC network), which is where the real brain power is required. However, this doesn’t make the difficulty too easy a number of incorrect inventory item interactions are allowed for each hotspot, prompting a series of humorous responses from Foster. ![]() The inventory system is beautifully streamlined, with Foster only able to use certain items with certain hotspots. It’s the perfect opportunity to learn the basics by chatting to a variety of quirky characters – both human and robotic – while solving the game’s introductory puzzles. The opening section takes place outside a vehicle-only entrance, and the only vehicle available has a drained power cell. However, before witnessing this futuristic paradise first-hand, Robert must find a way inside Union City’s towering exterior walls. Robert eventually tracks the vehicle across the Gap to Union City, which appears to have become a utopia in the decade since he left. One day while fishing, a mysterious four-legged, dog-like vehicle emerges from the water and kidnaps a local boy. Following a concise recap of Robert’s previous adventure liberating the totalitarian dystopia, disaster strikes. Yet the past has a terrible habit of catching up with you. Since leaving Union City at the end of the first game, Robert Foster has fully re-embraced life in the Gap, a vast desert wasteland that serves as the Australian outback of the future. Newcomers are made to feel more than welcome from the opening cutscene, a gorgeously animated comic book with Dave Gibbons’ fingerprints all over it that harks back to the iconic opening of Beneath a Steel Sky. Yet it’s easy to see why it has endured unmistakably British (even if it is supposed to be set in Australia), with a memorable cyberpunk narrative and distinctive artwork from Dave Gibbons of Watchmen fame, Beneath a Steel Sky pioneered Revolution’s trademark mix of serious storytelling with humorous undertones – which came to full fruition when the first Broken Sword game was released to critical acclaim in 1996.īeyond a Steel Sky is fully aware of this legacy and – for the most part – successfully walks the fine line between fan service and doing its own thing something that Broken Sword 5 admittedly struggled with at times (no doubt a result of its crowdfunding origins it still turned out great). ![]() Easy (and free) to play on PC even today thanks to the tireless efforts of the ScummVM team (it has just been made available on Steam) and remastered by Revolution for iOS in 2009, its longevity has been truly impressive. The original Beneath a Steel Sky has become something of a cult classic since its original release in the early ’90s. Set 10 years after the events of the first game, players must once again take control of protagonist Robert Foster as he investigates a sinister plot inside the sprawling metropolis of Union City. Beyond a Steel Sky is the long-awaited and much-anticipated sequel to Revolution Software’s critically acclaimed 1994 science fiction adventure game Beneath a Steel Sky. ![]()
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