A Review: Beneath A Steel Sky, DOS 1994

Beneath a Steel Sky, or BaSS, is a point-and-click adventure game developed by the British company Revolution Software and published by Virgin Interactive in 1994 for both MS-DOS and Amiga home computers. It was made freeware, and its code was open-sourced in 2003. It still maintains a loyal fan base today. Set in a dystopian cyberpunk future, the player must guide Robert Foster through a society he knows nothing about in an attempt to avenge the killing of the Aboriginal group who had taken him in as a boy. Gradually, the player reveals a deep and intricate plot being orchestrated by society's rich and powerful and must find a way to stop them. The game was originally titled Underworld and had a fairly different plot before Charles Cecil, the games development director, decided to involve comic-book artist Dave Gibbons.  

I found this game on an abandonware website listed as an action adventure, and based purely on the screenshots, I decided to give it a go, and boy, oh boy, am I happy that I did, as I think that this game is brilliant. I found the plot and writing to be fantastic, and I loved the deep and intricate story that is told, with strong, well-rounded characters that had believable links and interactions between them. This game does a great job of hiding just how much is on offer and is really worth a playthrough, in my opinion. I loved the script and writing between Robert and his companion, Joey. The one-liners and comebacks that you get throughout the game were awesome, in my opinion, and really helped to round out the two characters relationship. There are some superb moments between the other characters and the player too, with great comedy and chemistry portrayed. I loved how this game brings you in like an old grandfather and spins you the yarn of the story; it really is a step up from the average game in this genre. The inclusion of in-game hints and guides is also a welcome component of play. It really helps when a developer knows that the game they are making needs to give out a helping hand but not patronise the player. I enjoyed the various puzzles and found them to be well integrated into the story overall. They didn't stick out like obvious tacked-on afterthoughts to try and artificially inflate the game's length, like some titles I could name. The pop culture references were also very good, and I found myself giggling at the jokes, puns, and pokes at the real world. It was nice that this game didn't take itself that seriously either, and despite some of the heavy topics, it remained able to point and laugh at itself. It was very clear from my playthrough that this game was loved and cared for by those that worked on it, and that they wanted to produce something that was truly great. 

The graphics for this game are also amazing, and when you consider that everything was hand-drawn before being put into the game, it really shows you the level of effort and work that went into BaSS. The level of detail and depth given to even the most trivial of rooms speaks volumes about the dedication that the team at Revolution Software had. From the scrap droids in the service bay area to the city backdrops when you moved around, everything is of such high calibre that it really shows you how a game could look with the right amount of effort put in. This is something that I find sorely missing from a lot of modern games. The shading, shadows, and colour palette used look amazing, and give so much depth to the visuals, and really help to immerse you in the world of the game. Robert and Joey never seem to stick out like overlays on a static background, in my opinion, which must have been an incredible headache for the game artists to work around. Animations and cinematics are smooth and clean, and the way in which characters move and walk looks organic and natural. The locations and environments are richly detailed and really help to pull the player into the world that was created even more. BaSS just looked amazing to me and showed me what a good game looks like.  

Overall, I loved this game, and after completing it, I now see it as a gold standard that other games of this genre need to meet.

8/10 – A Good Game! 

Signed Off – Leonardo – PSJ