The Orwell-meets-Douglas-Adams storyline is dripping with black humour, and is a nice change from the self-referential gags of US graphic adventures. The graphics are among the best on the Amiga (and makes you wonder what Space Quest 4 would have been like in the hands of more capable converters). And a good conversion of a PC game, with graphics and gameplay both surviving intact. Not quite Monkey Island brilliant, but still a classic. But you're definitely not going to be uncertain about how you feel about this game.Brilliant, brilliant. You might hate it and quit after just a few minutes. While it's not as funny as it thinks it is, Steel Sky does try to break out of the gloomy cyberpunk genre from time to time. And the visual style works perfectly with the storyline.

The game lets you solve some of its puzzles in multiple ways. That said, there are some redeeming qualities. Focusing on an object to interact with it can be challenging at times and movement is often as jerky as the game's animation. The controls themselves are imperfect as well. Characters will often try to walk through you, walking in place until you move or not facing you during a conversation. And that's jarring when you hear them so frequently. The readings veer from flat to overly emoted, depending on the character, never settling into a realistic tone. That'd be fine if the voice acting were stellar, but in this case, it's not. And speeding past the conversations is spotty. The game's long on exposition and story - and tells it at a slow pace. But if you're coming in with no knowledge of the world and anything less than a devotion to the genre, you might find it lacking. Old school adventure game fans, who don't mind having extensive conversations with characters and challenging puzzles might also find some charm here. Fans of Beyond a Steel Sky's cult hit predecessor - Beneath a Steel Sky - will be thrilled to return to the game's world (and might overlook its flaws because of that). You're unlikely to find a more divisive game than this adventure anytime soon.

Download beyond the steel sky review