New animated cinematics and improved audio at least help toward that end.įortunately, there are enough laughs to cut through these complaints. Leaving the current original presentation intact should be an option as well, but a 'remastered' version should have boasted more improvements than this. In some cases, it's hard to make out some objects because the screen's size works against the hand-drawn backgrounds.Īn option to play with revised visuals - much like The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition - would have been ideal. Without a touch up to the graphics, they appear muddled and nearly blurry in spots. That Beneath a Steel Sky has touch control quirks is unsurprising, but the minimally enhanced presentation raises alarm. Instead of letting you move to examine an object, the icon blinks and nothing happens. Unfortunately, you often have to reselect icons because the game fails to register your input. You can also move Foster by double-tapping the screen. Holding a finger to the screen highlights objects within the surrounding environment that can be observed or interacted with by tapping associated icons. Touch controls replace the original point-and-click scheme, though the execution is only functional and not fantastic. Having a hint system so easily accessible makes it difficult to get stuck, which in turn allows you to move through the adventure without getting frustrated. Thankfully, in this remastered edition of Beneath a Steel Sky measures have been taken to address both to a respectable degree.Īt any time, hints for solving puzzles and progressing are available from the Pause menu. Fussy puzzles and pixel-precise controls are no longer seen as challenges, but as flaws. The point-and-click formula has evolved in the 15 years since the game's original release. That it so comfortably sits alongside the adventure games of today highlights how far it surpassed many of its contemporaries. While remarkable for its time, Beneath a Steel Sky plays like any other point-and-click adventure. No question about it, the writing is the strength behind this touch-enabled re-release. Jabs from robot sidekick Joey are particularly great, his biting sarcasm creating some of the game's most memorable moments. Conversations are so thoroughly entertaining that you can't help but look forward to speaking to each character you come across. Wit is the weapon of choice in Beneath a Steel Sky, its sharp writing driving what is otherwise an unsurprising adventure game.įoster finds himself in increasingly bizarre situations with larger-than-life characters that are more funny than fearful. Taken from his outback home into the heart of the steel city, Foster desperately seeks for a way out as the artificial intelligence known as LINC mercilessly hunts him down. More could have been done to brush the dust off this ageing title, but it's still a standout game.Īs wastelander Robert Foster, you're taken on a harrowing journey to the futuristic Union City run by a sentient computer system. It's hard enough telling a good joke once, but when more than a decade passes by and that same quip still elicits a chuckle you know you have something solid.īeneath a Steel Sky: Remastered galvanises run-of-the-mill gameplay with hilarious writing that makes this adventure still entertaining 15 years after its original release.
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