![]() While Revolution had earlier games, and is of course best known for its Broken Sword series, it is 1994’s Beneath a Steel Sky that starts a perfect story arc, not only of this tale, but of the huge changes in games publishing across the last two decades. We look at the new title, the journey its predecessor took to cult classic status, and how (appropriately) after almost giving up on the genre in frustration, Revolution found a solution in an unexpected place.īENEATH A STEEL SKY Charles Cecil (left) and Dave Gibbons working on Beneath a Steel Sky. The hacking system is the highlight here, and I'm hoping the puzzle designers force me to use it in increasingly complex, imaginative ways later in the game.Now, 25 years after Beneath a Steel Sky, Revolution and Gibbons have once again collaborated, with the release of Beyond a Steel Sky. If you're a fan of Revolution's particular brand of point-and-click adventures, you'll feel right at home with its gentle humour, steady pace, cast of eccentric characters, and abundance of regional British accents. ![]() I love what I've played so far, even though the early build I was given access to is massively unpolished, with missing animations, bugs, and other anomalies. Foster thinks Grundy was involved in Milo's kidnapping, but I guess I'll have to wait for the final game to find out. However, before I can see what happens next, the demo suddenly ends. The bureaucrat eventually leaves us alone, but I can tell his suspicions have been raised. When I'm asked what my hobby is, she mimics clicking a camera. A cute touch when I'm being grilled is Grundy's wife in the background, miming the correct answers. I mostly manage to convince the official that I'm Grundy, but I slip up a few times. Like the original, Beyond a Steel Sky has a very idiosyncratic, quirky sense of humour. He's a cleaner, he has a heart implant, and he and his wife sleep in separate bedrooms because their relationship is on the rocks. Nosing around in people's personal space is a staple of the adventure genre, and I end up knowing far too much about this dead guy whose identity I stole. It's a detailed space, cluttered with clues about the late Mr. (Image credit: Revolution) (opens in new tab) His wife, clearly scared of the city authorities, urges me to play along. Next thing I know I'm searching his flat for clues about him, so I can convince the official that I'm actually him. Apparently I (well, Graham) have been absent from work for several days, which is apparently a severe crime in this supposed utopia. I end up using Grundy's chip to access his apartment, where I find his wife and a bureaucratic city official waiting. Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons is Beyond a Steel Sky's art director, and the game's colourful toon-shaded visuals do a great job of replicating his distinctive drawing style. ![]() Look down and you can see networks of buildings and streets below the criss-crossed walkways look up and those smokestacks you saw from afar in the desert seem even more massive. It's a dramatic looking place, with a dizzying sense of scale. When you enter, you're treated to a series of establishing shots of the city. Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons is Beyond a Steel Sky's art director Everyone in Union City has one of these, and pretty much everything-from accessing news terminals to opening doors-involves using a hand scanner. Foster is posing as a dead man he found in the Gap named Graham Grundy, whose citizen ID he transfers to a chip in his hand. But in this hands-on preview build, after solving a series of elaborate puzzles, I'm finally able to enter the city itself. In previous demos of the game, Revolution has only shown one area: a freight depot outside the city gates. ![]() But if you have, details like this give the sequel a satisfying sense of continuity. Beyond a Steel Sky is a standalone story, and you can dive straight in without playing the original. If you played Beneath a Steel Sky, you'll know that this is the faceless android body inhabited by Joey, whose arm was torn off in an accident near the end of the game. As you explore you'll see Art Deco statues and murals depicting a one-armed figure.
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