A wave of emotion passed over me and I felt puzzled. Is this nausea? Then I realised what I was feeling: nostalgia. I originally played Beneath a Steel Sky played back when I was in my early teens on a Packard Bell PC running Windows 3.1 (for those who don’t know, that’s going back quite a bit) and I loved it. So when I found out that it would be on my spangly new iPhone I was really excited, but I was also wondering how it would work. More importantly, would it stand up today?
Revolution Software released the game originally in 1994. The opening sequence came in the form of a drawn comic book. For the re-mastered director’s cut and on the iPhone this has been made into a speaking comic with the original voice actors doing their thing. The opening sequence sets the main character Robert Foster and his life in ‘The Gap’, a wasteland in a post-apocalyptic world. Dragged away by security guards, he is taken to a dystopian city with huge skyscrapers where the helicopter that you’re arriving in crashes allowing you to escape to the nearest building. This beginning sequence, along with others, is penned by Watchmen artist Dave Giddons and has an old-school comic book feel that already makes you feel those nostalgic stirrings.
This game like many of its time is a point-and-click adventure game, with initial focus upon picking up useful items and combining them with other items and environments to solve puzzles. It also focuses on conversation and choosing dialogue paths that will unlock events and allow you to delve deeper into the story. Beneath a Steel Sky was not only a bigger game than most others of its type, but it also had another feather in its cap as all of the dialogue is fully voice acted. A feat even some modern games have not managed. On the iPhone this means that you are not struggling to read lots of scrolling text on a tiny screen.
The iPhone’s interface (discussed in our Broken Sword review) is used for inventory and interaction with your environment. This implementation feels much easier to control than the game originally was on PC. The hint system is also in place and gives you pointers on where to go without completely giving things away. Unfortunately one thing I had forgotten is that Beneath a Steel Sky requires these hints to get through the game. It occasionally feels like you are just stealing anything that isn’t nailed down and randomly applying objects to the environment at times. This frustration however is tempered by some quick witted dialogue and comedy moments that had me laughing out loud, particularly when animals are involved. You have a constant partner in Joey, your little robot companion who is a cranky, sarcastic source of amusement throughout.
Updates for the iPhone are great including remastered audio files, an email for recommending to your friends with a ‘special’ little message, and an Auto-Twitter facility. The latter posts accolades for you when you reach certain parts of the game, reminiscent of achievements on modern consoles.
For all its highs however, there are a few lows. The game music is a classic midi score that has short clips on repeat and after a while of puzzle solving you want to switch them off. Unlike most iPhone games though you can’t have you own music playing over the top. It feels like they’ve missed a trick by not recording a fresh score when they went back to rerecord the dialogue.
Overall this iPhone game captures this classic title brilliantly. If you’re a fan of point-and-click and have a hankering for some retro gaming then I would highly recommend it. If you frustrate easily or aren’t into this genre then consider yourself forewarned. But pick it up anyway because at £1.79 you can’t really go wrong.
I think of myself as a jack of all trades and a master of none. Im a Musician/gamer/actor/writer/creator-ist >.< "
One Comment
faithful reproduction, took me back to my Amiga days
also grabbed flight of amazon queen, also nice remake, hope they do more 