Beneath A Steel Sky (Second Review)


Title           Beneath A Steel Sky (Second Review)
Game Type       Adventure
Players         1
HD Installable  Yes
Compatibility   All Amigas
Submission      Marc Buhmann Courtesy of Sean Caszatt

Review
   Beneath a Steel Sky was one of those games that just sits on the shelf,
drawing you towards it. I remember when I first walked into that store in
Edinburgh that had an entire wall covered with Amiga products. Boy was I
in heaven. I saw many games sitting on the shelf I wanted to buy, but only
Beneath a Steel Sky drew me towards it. I picked it off the shelf and
flipped to the back side. The pictures I saw looked fabulous! The
description of the game made me want to buy it even more! Before I knew
what I was doing, I was walking out of the store with a brand new (bought)
game. I felt pity for myself because I had to wait another week and a
half before I could play it.

   When I finally got home and all the "fun" stuff about vacations was
done (unpacking), I sat down at my computer. I opened the box and looked
at those fifteen glorious disks just waiting to be installed on my hard
drive. The first disk installed fine, but when I got to the second disk I
began to worry. It had been installing the second disk for over eight
minutes. I was tempted to boot the computer and start over, but decided to
let it go. Another four minutes passed (twelve minutes all together) and
it finally asked for the third disk. I sighed with relief and continued
installing.

   After an hour and a half of work, the game was finally installed. I
went and used Degrader(tm) to flip to PAL (remember I bought the PAL
version). Then I went and started the game.

   I was amazed at how fast the loading time is. The first thing to the
game is an intro animation which lasts about thirty seconds. It loaded the
first part of the intro in less than ten seconds, and then the second part
in under five. And the animation is SMOOTH! Not like the crap you used to
see from Sierra.

   When I finally started the game, the graphics just pulled me in. It's
amazing what a 32 colored computer can do. And Sierra says that the
Amiga can't handle anything? I say bull*#%! to them. Anyways, the graphics
are done with reds, blacks, and shades in between. It gives you a dark
look to the game which I really enjoy.

   After many days of grueling play, I finally got stuck. Actually I'm
still stuck. Well anyways. The game is difficult, and with a droid who
talks back (Joey... your helpful, medal-brained, side-kick) it adds a
touch of British humor. Some of the puzzles are complicated and are hard
to figure out, others are just common sense.

   The music is your average computer music, but it does have a nice
quality that doesn't disappoint you. The sound effects are good and are in
synch with the actions. No complaints here.

   I've also heard rumors that this is a sequel to Lure of the Temptress.
I haven't been able to get hard core proof of this, but I'm in the process
of trying to find a copy of the game. I'll get the answer out on the nets
sometime later this month.

   By far, this is one of the best 3-D adventure games I've played. The
only other game that is as good that I've seen is Legend of Kyrandia(tm).
If you liked that game, I really think you should check out this game. It
is worth a look at.

LIKES AND DISLIKES

   First the dislikes. I really didn't like waiting twelve minutes for one
disk to load. The only other thing I dislike about the game is that you
have to go through the entire intro animation before you can restore a
game. I feel that they could have made it possible to reload right from
the start. Sorry to say, but Sierra has 'em beat here.

   Now the likes. I liked everything about the game! The graphics, sound,
music, animation, etc... all perfect! Some even beyond perfect! I hope
Revolution Software and Virgin Entertainment are happy with their finished
product. It's kick ass.


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