Beneath a Steel Sky

I don’t play a lot of adventure games nowadays. Years ago, I was a big fan of Infocom’s text adventure games. For the most part, point and click graphical adventures never hooked me to the same degree. There were a few notable exceptions, such as Star Trek: 25th Anniversary, Star Trek: Judgment Rites, and some of LucasArts’ games. Another such game I had heard very good things about was Beneath a Steel Sky from Revolution Software. Released in 1994, I knew it was a sci-fi game in a dystopian setting. Other than that, I didn’t know much about it. Thanks to ScummVM, I was able to play this well-regarded classic.

You play Robert Foster, the game’s protagonist. The backstory is presented graphically in a comic book style. Foster is abducted from “The Gap” wasteland and taken to Union City. While there, he has to piece together a mystery involving his father and a powerful computer known as LINC. I expected the game to be a serious and mature sci-fi offering. The overall story and themes did not disappoint. However, I did not expect the game to be so humorous. The light-hearted dialog and comical situations rivaled classic LucasArts titles. It wasn’t the longest game, which was fine with me. Frankly, I no longer have the patience to flail away at overly complex adventure puzzles. Thank God for online hints.

I recommend the game to anyone with even a passing interest in graphical adventures. You can download the computer game as freeware or buy Beneath a Steel Sky: Remastered for iOS.