Beyond a steel sky pc7/6/2023 ![]() ![]() Why choose the form factor of the open world and at the same time not introduce anything that will breathe in life into it is beyond my understanding. It’s interesting to see the scenery once and basically, that’s it. ![]() The game world is very beautiful but empty at the same time. At some point it felt like it was the developer’s goal to waste your time on these and long walks around, just to make sure that average gameplay time would hit a certain mark. Most of the characters and the plot were very cliche for my taste, and occasional fun dialogues of Joey and Rob are lost in the massive spineless waves of non-essential and dull dialogues of non-essential and dull characters. At this point, I didn’t have any connection with the characters left, nor with the narrative. As I got the middle of my 12-hour game (which would take less for a walkthrough - I would say I’ve spent 2 hours at least dealing with bugs, reloading savegames, and listening to needless dialogues) I realized that I’m not going to have a deep and fun experience, but decided to finish the game anyway. Minor bugs in character behavior, camera, and sound were annoying and distracting from the story, and puzzles were way too linear and not thrilling. The more I was playing, the more I was getting disappointed. And by the way, physics for moving around is buggy - you going to be stuck in spots with plenty room, stuck into other characters, experience buggy pathfinding with your character doing a “moonwalk” while stuck in a coffee-table and similar stuff. Through the first hour, I realized that it’s just a gimmick for a feel of “a familiar to contemporary AAA action” user experience, yeah you will have to walk around to find the needed characters and items, but no action per se of any sort. I was surprised by the camera and control style (which is not point-n-click apparently, but a 3rd person action gamepad style), which gave me the impression of more action inclined adventure style. Visually game set me right on the mood for a good old adventure game with a nice “comic book” feel, reminding some sort of Telltale Games mixture with Borderlands. The sequel takes place ten years later after Rob’s peaceful life is interrupted by violent events, that force him to return to Union City. ![]() He escapes and soon uncovers the corruption which lies at the heart of society. ![]() After many years, armed security officers arrive, killing the locals and taking Robert back to Union City. The game is set in a dystopian future, the player assumes the role of Robert Foster, who was stranded in a wasteland known as "the Gap" as a child and adopted by a group of locals, gradually adjusting to his life in the wilderness. If you are not familiar with the original - then just a couple of words about the setting. Well, fast-forward to me buying the game when the sale started on Steam. I knew that it was already available through Apple arcade, but decided to wait, as I didn’t want to be affiliated with Apple’s “new gaming service” in any way. When I found out about the sequel called “Beyond A Steel Sky”, I was very excited, as good cyber-punk never grows old on me. I’ve replayed the original later though my life and played Broken Sword 1-4 from the same game development company “Revolution” as well as dozens of other quests, point-n-click, adventures, and whatever you call them games, including all the classics from Lucas Arts and Sierra of course. It was not even a cd-version, it was a floppy version without voiceover and if I remember correctly, the PC my family had just a pc speaker instead of a fancy “sound blaster” card, so it was mainly just beeping and clicks as a sound. I’ve played the original “Beneath a Steel Sky” back in the 90s as a kid. If you are looking for a good, smart and stylish cyber-punk adventure, check out oldies or indies like The Red Strings Club WHY? Just to get the idea of how relevant is my review could be to your experience. Verdict - Didn’t like it, get it when it’s on 70% sale. I liked graphics, models, level design, and lightning, but it's not enough for a good game. All elements feel disconnected from each other. If you are looking for TL DR Overall game tone, mood, and puzzles got more cartoonish/kid, a lot of dull uncanny valley characters, cheesy cliches, and bugs. TL DR Overall game tone, mood, and puzzles got more cartoonish/kid, a lot of dull uncanny valley characters, cheesy cliches, and bugs. ![]()
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