Beneath a Steel Sky Review

Beneath a Steel Sky is an old game, but with stunning graphics, which gives this adventure a beautiful and charming look. The game is set in the future, where huge cities with tall skyscrapers are ruled by corporations. Only a wasteland, called The Gap, remains outside the city. The player takes on the role of Robert Foster, who is a member of one of the tribes living in The Gap.

Almost three decades have passed since the release of Revolution Software's critical darling Beneath a Steel Sky, and the genre has seen a lot of change in that time. In an effort to make up for the intervening years and bring in new players, the sequel could have gone a few different ways - it could have stubbornly clung to a 2D point-and-click aesthetic, refusing to account for the advancements of the past thirty or so years; it could have tried to pursue a more modern take on the adventure game, chasing after the likes of Telltale and Dontnod games and losing a lot of what made Beneath a Steel Sky so successful in the process.

Thankfully, Beneath a Steel Sky chooses to walk a very fine line between the two extremes. The result is a game that's accessible to fans of the original and yet also satisfying to newcomers - it retains its impressive visual style and strong aesthetic, while the storytelling (and gameplay) segments are much more cerebral, taking their time setting up the world and conflict. Those who stick around for the duration will be rewarded with an engaging tale populated by delightful characters in a richly realized setting.