Those admittedly minor polish issues aside,
Beyond a Steel Sky succeeds so well because it balances the importance of creating a contemporary adventure game that looks and sounds sufficiently modern with the need to appeal to fans of the franchise. This sequel consistently references events from its predecessor, brings back supporting characters in surprising ways, and features one particular return to one of the most memorable areas from the original, complete with an updated version of the distinctive background music. I can’t even find words to describe my joy in playing that sequence, returning to a perfectly new version of a place I never thought I’d go back to. I never wanted to leave.
Indeed, that was my general impression playing through this game, which is likely to take 10-12 hours for most players: I didn’t want to leave. I had a story to finish and a review to write but, even though this is a linear game without side quests or a vast open world to explore, I just wanted to keep walking around, looking up at the majestic city surrounding me, reading the comic speech bubbles of NPCs walking past each other, looking at the holo-adverts, and listening to all the d-RYDs making their announcements. And it’s worth taking the extra time, as there are little touches throughout that can easily be missed, such as gaining access to Graham Grundy’s personal terminal and emails, which add all kinds of humorous color and interesting details about his life and personality, none of which are necessary to complete the game. Despite the underlying troubles that make this seeming utopia subtly ominous, it is a beautiful and immersive world, fully realized once again with impressive attention paid to the details. This isn’t a long game by modern AAA game standards, but it’s one I would have been happy to spend double the amount of time in, even though I likely saw and interacted with nearly everything available.
It’s hard to put a numeric score onto something that brings you personal joy, even for someone who’s been writing reviews for two decades. There’s no question that
Beyond a Steel Sky isn’t perfect due to its lack of puzzle diversity and technical polish issues, and while the story is compelling, it doesn’t reach the heights of the first game’s. Yet for a jaded old gamer who holds the original in such high regard, this long-awaited return was largely an overwhelming blast of joy, a delightful second visit to one of the best settings ever created in the genre, at a time in our own world when I most needed something to be joyful about. The sequel balances nostalgia with modern sensibility, reuniting many timeless characters from 1994 with an array of new ones, each unique and flawlessly acted. And even during the most unsettling and even tragic moments, I found myself smiling and wanting to give this game a hug. Your mileage may vary if you have no knowledge of or affection for
Beneath a Steel Sky (though since the game is
free to download, there’s no reason not to check it out), but for everyone else, I can assure you that twenty-six years later, the return to Union City is worth every bit of the wait.
