Beneath A Steel Sky

[Doc Comic]

I finally got around to playing Beneath A Steel Sky, and I must admit that this game simply blew me away.  The plot, the gameplay, everything about it just left me in awe.  I like the plot so much that I'm toying with the idea of developing a screenplay based on the game.  It was genuinely unique in every way, and add in Dave "Watchmen" Gibbon's art design and direction as well as the fact that it's LEGALLY free, it's a must-play game.  I stayed up until 7 AM playing it, and I finally had to force myself to let go of the mouse.  Go and download it now at www.scummvm.com if you haven't done so already.

[Mr Jake]

and the crappy voice acting is funny at times
BUT some TIMES the random CAPS can GET annoying.

[Toefur]

I didn't think the plot was all that impressive, actually. And very predictable. Great game though.

[sedriss]

Thats what I always say! BaSS is awesome!

[Iliya]

Just finnished "Beneath A Steel Sky". I tottally agree with Doc Comic. The game is awesome! Joey is great Grapchis are super! Voice acting is very good. I don't understand Mr Jake about the voice acting. Anyone who likes classic good old adventures should play "Beneath A Steel Sky".

[markbilly]

MY FAVOURITE ADVENTURE OF ALL TIME - and the reason why I'm now making a few of my own!

[Wersus]

I guess now your mom understands why you like those visits to the graveyard so much...

[Baron]

Thats what I always say! BaSS is awesome!

BaSS is "Beneath a Steel Sky"?!?  All these years I thought people around here were just really fond of fish....

[theo]

I'm sure I would have loved bass if I had played it some time during the "golden age" along with the early monkey island games etc but I never actually got the chance to do so. I remember playing it a tiny bit back then however, just small fractions at my friends house, and I remember thinking it was really cool.

This is why I was disappointed when I finally got the chance to play through the full game just a couple of months ago. Don't hate me now but here is my unbiased non nostalgic view of things: I found the story rather flat, nothing was pushing me along. Also the main character didn't make a single impression on me. The world promises a lot but never really goes beyond being a bunch of small living quarters and a couple factory rooms, from an exploratory perspective, a truly dissatisfying experience. Hardly the intriguing, sprawling dystopian world I was hoping for.

To be fair though, I'm certain looking at things through nostalgic eyes has colored my view of many games I love, say for an example, fate of atlantis. Had I not had the chance to play foa until this very day, who knows what I would have thought of it? Most likely I'd think the puzzles were rather poorly designed and the plot introduced in a somewhat haphazard manner. (Note, I'm not picking at foa, I love foa. I am merely making an example.)

What I'm trying to say is that many of the "golden era" adventure games had flaws, big ones. We have merely chosen not to remember them. So I guess I should stop picking at BASS.  

Besides, seeing its free now I must admit the game is worth the price tag and it's certainly well worth spending a couple of hours on. So if you haven't played it, make sure to do so! I can certainly see why many people love the game, it does have a lot going for it once you keep your expectations in check.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Steel Sky was a rather samey play experience, it's true.  I thought the finale was one of the more mature finales found in the early games and somewhat made up for the basic, room to room structure of the game imo.  Also, Joey and his various upgrades were a cool addition to the basic puzzle formula for the time.

[theo]

Yeah, the joey upgrade thing was a cool puzzle-device! I'd love to see more of that. It's cool how he could stay in character and still change in so many ways. Probably all due to his honestly quite well written sidekick humor.

As for the ending, yes, for the time I can imagine the ending felt refreshingly "grown up". Now however... I dunno, I wasn't impressed. I'd rather say it felt a bit lacking and didn't really wrap things up as well as I would have wished.

[Igor Hardy]

While BASS is not among my strict favorites from the "golden age" I consider it a top class adventure and a lot of fun. I don't mind that it doesn't offer such a huge number of places.

However, a thing I found really disappointing in it is that when I reached the lowest level, after barely a few scenes the game suddenly ended in a way I found much too simplistic and cliched. In my opinion the final segment, while still good, doesn't live up to the game's beginning and middle. On a related note, the game does feel too short, like if Revolution had to limit their initial plans considerably, even modify the plot.

[Iliya]

Game ending is always disappointing when you like the game.

[markbilly]

I didn't play it in the golden age and I still love it! I only got round to playing it about 6 years ago...

[Chicky]

Gotta love that BASS feels like a medium length AGS game. I remember first playing it on a friends farm, he had cows and guns but it always came back to BASS.

Also despite the iPhone port being surprisingly easy to play, the 'remastered' cutscenes totally ruin it.

[EdLoen]

This had been on my To-Play list for a while, but it wasn't until i made my netbook a Linux machine with Ubuntu earlier this year that I did.   It would have been the first retail (even at one time) adventure game I'd have beaten without a walkthrough if it wasn't for

Spoiler

needing to use the credit card on the 1-pixel line between the shed doors and not the door, or lock hotspots there of.

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