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Beneath a Steel Sky

Data4

Arcane
Joined
Sep 11, 2005
Messages
5,529
Location
Over there.
I was browsing through GOG and found the free download, so I tagged it. Before I go through the downloading process, any thoughts on the game? I've read it's Bladerunner meets Fritz Lang's Metropolis with a dash of Douglas Adams style humor.
 

visions

Arcane
Joined
Jun 10, 2007
Messages
1,801
Location
here
There are definitely thematic parallels with Blade Runner, but the overall atmosphere is much more lighthearted.

Puzzles are not very hard, although sometimes (in two instances, for me) what you need to use may be hard to distinguish from the surrounding background, which can be frustrating (at least it was for me, since it led me to think that I must have had missed something important earlier, not realizing that the solution is actually very simple and right in front of me and I simply hadn't visually distinguished it from the background).

Visuals are quite good, as are the writing and humour, I particularly liked the main character's banter with his robot sidekick (especially the robot's lines). The game is quite short.

I do think that the story and the way the game tackles its themes have been somewhat overrated though, as the implementation and how these themes are presented seemed quite barebones to me, it didn't feel like really establishing a vision of dark and dystopian future, which would really pull me in, unlike Blade Runner.

Still, overall an enjoyable game.
 

Fens

Ford of the Llies
Joined
Nov 3, 2009
Messages
1,899
Location
pitcairn
very enjoyable game... unless you're with peta

as for the atmosphere: the original came with a short comic, which set the tone... i think the gog version has it too... worked rather well imo
 

Einhander

Novice
Joined
Feb 18, 2011
Messages
44
Excellent game..Great setting and great story..One of the true great adventures :)
 

empi

Augur
Joined
Mar 7, 2010
Messages
452
BASS is a pretty damn cool little adventure game, definitely worth a play through.
 
Joined
Apr 2, 2010
Messages
7,428
Location
Villainville
MCA
I just suggested this game to a romantic interest whose gaming experience is limited to shit flash games and wanted to play something different, like "a real game".

I showed her screenshots and a gameplay video. Her reaction: "but the graphics are so bad!".

...
..
.

I wanted to beat her. I wanted to beat her really bad. Cocksucker.
 

Mystary!

Arcane
Joined
Oct 12, 2006
Messages
2,633
Location
Holmia
I dont remember any actual "puzzles", everything seemed very obvious and felt more like chores to make the story progress. And anotherthing that bothered me was getting eaten alive without warining when stepping into a certain part of a tunnel. Otherwise I loved it, felt sad about that android.
 

Fowyr

Arcane
Vatnik
Joined
Mar 29, 2009
Messages
7,671
Tried play it a long time ago, but encountered bug right after furnace room. Found now what you need just press scroll lock to proceed.

FFFFUUUUUU

I like it so far. Very humorous game.
 

MRY

Wormwood Studios
Developer
Joined
Aug 15, 2012
Messages
5,703
Location
California
Isn't the Ken reference clearly to the male Barbie doll character? I mean, maybe it's also to Ken Williams, but that seems to be secondary.
 

Lacrymas

Arcane
Joined
Sep 23, 2015
Messages
17,948
Pathfinder: Wrath
I just finished it because I was craving something different. It was pretty good. The city was very interesting thematically and even structurally. It's sandwiched between two... 'horrors', I guess - the poor, rust-covered metal top floor ghetto where most of the D-LINCs live and the fleshy chambers of LINC below the ground. The second and ground floor residents are oblivious to the true going-ons, so disconnected from reality they've become like caricatures of people. This is also reflected in the court room case, it might seem like it's a comedy relief moment, but it shows how frivolously the people treat criminality and the justice system, to the point that it's neither criminality nor justice (or a system). Joey is a cool and well-written robot character and it explores two linked themes very relevant to cyberpunk, personality within a non-organic shell and the transference of consciousness between different bodies. Robert and Joey genuinely care about each other and it's refreshing to see a conventionally masculine character caring about something other than a woman or revenge (if they even care about that).

There's a lot crammed into this short game, Obsidian can learn a thing or two about worldbuilding from it, but it does feel rushed towards the end, a lot of the plot points don't go anywhere, like what the pipes are for, the rivalry with Hobart City, the council, etc. I also kind of didn't like the protagonist all that much, his motivations don't make a lot of sense to me, especially his desire to return to the Gap. He sees the wrongness within Union City, but all he wants to do is leave it behind to go frolic in a featureless desert, even though he's resourceful enough to do something about it. I didn't care for the fridging of Anita, the only other competent character, I don't think the plot or characters are served by that and it didn't produce any more of a drive within Robert to succeed, he was already motivated to do what he can about the current situation. There's a loooooot more that can be said about the themes, characters, the Übermensch subtext (it's basically text, though) of Robert and his father, the severed hand of Joey in the end symbolizing humanity (like severed hands usually do in legends and folklore) and him becoming more human than a lot of the characters, yet distinctly more capable of handling LINC, but I'll leave it at that for now.

I highly recommend the game.
 
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Lacrymas

Arcane
Joined
Sep 23, 2015
Messages
17,948
Pathfinder: Wrath
Reich wasn't an adversary in the conventional sense, especially since he was disposed of early, it was only with his identity and ID card did Robert manage to do what he did. Very interesting things can be interpreted from that.
 

MRY

Wormwood Studios
Developer
Joined
Aug 15, 2012
Messages
5,703
Location
California
I always just put BASS in the genre of British extravagant fascist farce, like Judge Dredd or Warhammer. I’m sure there’s a lot of depth to all of them, but sometimes there’s just surface appeal for its own sake.
 

Lacrymas

Arcane
Joined
Sep 23, 2015
Messages
17,948
Pathfinder: Wrath
I don't see the surface appeal in BASS, though, it's all so very bipolar and mood whiplash-y for that. In Warhammer and Judge Dredd, you can revel in the over-the-top violence and coolness, while BASS is much more subdued, being an adventure game where the protagonist doesn't commit any violence. All the subtext, the interpretive connections and well-thought-out setting are what was flashing before my eyes, not Warhammer style "GLORY TO THE EMPRAH!".
 

MRY

Wormwood Studios
Developer
Joined
Aug 15, 2012
Messages
5,703
Location
California
Isn't there a morbidly obese guy shoveling food into his mouth a la Judge Dredd? :)
 

Lacrymas

Arcane
Joined
Sep 23, 2015
Messages
17,948
Pathfinder: Wrath
No, he doesn't have access to any food when he is D-LINC'd and he doesn't tell you to bring him any food, his only concern was whether his pet cat will starve. He did say he is hungry and might starve to death, but that was a set-up to a joke with Joey, it also serves the people-as-caricatures point I brought up.
 

don_tomaso

Liturgist
Joined
Jan 9, 2006
Messages
283
Note my shameless promo of the codex in the comments of that video. Sometimes you guys really bring something interesting to the world.
 

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