The most important features however are analytical tools that let Joey investigate an object that Robert Foster shows it and inform him of its properties. Joey is a surprisingly advanced AI, being capable of discovering and making use of the features to be found in its latest body. In fact, one of the first few puzzles in the game requires the player to find a new shell for Joey, which in its least physical form is a mere circuit board that contains its personality and memories. Joey is, however, not always operational, due to amusingly perennial mishaps that cause him to lose body after robotic body. He has created a robotic companion, simply named Joey. Of course, this disappointment would only occur for people who get a kick from watching fictional protagonists die.Īlthough there are decisions that can lead to Foster's death and a straight game-over, there are no decisions that can result in a hung game. If there is a disappointment to be had with the risk and occurrence of Robert Foster's death in this game, it is that the game-over screen is generic and does not show the aftermath of Foster's painful deaths. There are indeed different animations for each possible fatal scenario in the game, though few of them are terribly gory (though all of them are painful for Robert Foster). That the player can make a game-save at any time makes this convenient to do. On the other hand, some players may want to get him killed anyway, if only to watch the animations. For example, very large symbols that denote radiation hazards adorn a certain area in the game, so if the player fails to get Foster sufficient protection from radiation before entering the next adjacent area, he dies an agonizing death. There are obvious visual cues and verbal warnings (usually uttered by Foster himself) whenever he enters an area with hazards and dangers, so it is the player's fault if he/she gets Foster killed. (During this game's time, there were unforgiving puzzles in some adventure games, so said harsh lesson would not be a surprise to those who had experienced the adventure games of this era.) The game properly starts when Foster experiences yet another vehicular accident, to which he makes a remark that would allude to the mild wit in the writing of the game.Įventually, he would be caught up in a conspiracy concerning the livelihood of an entire city, as well as revelations about his past.įor players with more sense of curiosity than one of wisdom, the game would impart a very early and harsh lesson on the need to think carefully about Robert Foster's well-being. This does happen, together with a tragedy/atrocity. However, this ended one day when his mentor and adoptive parent received an ominous vision of Robert Foster being forcibly taken away from his home to a place with the titular description. Foster grew up in the Gap, under the tutelage and protection of human tribals who eke out a living in the hostile wastelands. On the other hand, the very title of the game would have generated expectations that the game would be completely set in (supposedly) civilized regions of the game's sci-fi world.Īnyway, the game's introduction sequence tells the tale of Robert Foster, an orphan and the only survivor of a certain vehicular accident. However, there is only the former, which makes for a wasted opportunity. With this backstory, one would have expected that the game might have both urban and wild environments. The price of true freedom is a life in the dangerous wastelands, known in-universe as "The Gap" for the chasms and canyons that run through them. These issues detract from the game's story, which is a shame, as it was one of the better stories to be had in computer games at the time.īeneath a Steel Sky takes places in a fictional future, when corporations rule in relatively safe cities where individual freedoms are heavily curtailed. The spiritual predecessor of Beneath a Steel Sky, Lure of the Temptress, was once such attempt, with its use of an engine that seemingly has NPCs going about daily routines.īeneath a Steel Sky attempts to build on its predecessor by making better use of the Virtual Theatre game engine, but it also unwittingly highlighted issues that the game engine has and which unfortunately affects gameplay too. By Gelugon_baat | Review Date: May 16, 2013ĭuring this game's time, there was a lot of competition in the adventure game genre (which was then strong) to create stories that are not only riveting but also believable.
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