Beneath A Steel Sky: Remastered

[ThunderPeel2001]

So I played through this classic again recently, and finished it today. It's still a great game, with an interesting and absorbing world, as well as perfect characters. I still love it... but man! I forgot how unintuitive the puzzles were! Thankfully the "Remastered" version came with built in hints, but there's a few times when there are bizarre leaps of logic.

Actually, to be more accurate, the puzzles themselves were quite good, but often the player wasn't given enough information to make them aware of what they were supposed to do. The first puzzle I had problems with was the power station -- Apparently you were supposed to know that the elevators had just had their power turned off (rather than say, being shut down by the security software). So if you find the right switch, and turn them on again, you're good to go. Except you're never told that. You just find yourself fumbling around a power station, not really sure what you're supposed to be doing.

Also, there were times when you were given a random object with an unclear use. This is usually when you start the "go from room to room and try it on everything" procedure that adventure gamers are so used to -- except the map of BASS only grows. And late on you end up having to trundle right back to the beginning... It's pretty annoying.

After also playing "Time Gentlemen Please" recently (although I haven't finished that yet), I've decided that all adventure games of a certain size require a map that you can use to instantaneously teleport between locations. Also, a character shouldn't walk to a point in a room just to deliver a description of what something looks like. Yes, I know it's more realistic if they do, but it's very tedious watching them wander about just to say, "It's a door with no handles". (Both of these things were fixed in Time Gentlemen Please, I should point out!)

Still, great world and characters. I'd love to see more of it. I still don't know why there's not been a sequel, especially since they could probably Kickstarter the shit out of one. The new "Remastered" version came with a tacked on ending which took the "Brazil" inspiration to the limit...

  Reveal hidden contents

Was the whole thing a twisted dream?

At least that's what it appeared to be saying (it was very unclear what was going on), but it did hint at a sequel.

The only other change to this "Remastered" version was the opening. It's still the same footage from the Dave Gibbons comic as before, but this time it's slightly more animated. Definitely an improvement, although it did jar at times when completely static faces that were supposed to be talking, just "blinked".

So yeah... games.

[brkl]

Apparently the Remastered intro has different music as well, which is bullshit. Also, this isn't a strategy game.

[Colourful Stuff]

I decided I didn't really want to carry on playing the original when I found a peace of puzzle critical gum that looked like a single pink pixel.

[ThunderPeel2001]

That's the only time they do that, and in the Remastered version things that you can interact with are highlighted.

[Colourful Stuff]

Maybe worth checking out then. I enjoyed the setting and voice acting. The Fosters joke in the intro cinematic made me chuckle.

[toblix]

If I was a mod, I would've moved this thread out of here.

After waiting for too long for this to come out for the iPad, I just played it in ScummVM instead. One of my favourite games – it has it all.

[brkl]

Yeah, I love this game. Obviously it's not as clean as Lucasarts games of the time, but the atmosphere is really fantastic. It really succeeds in telling a story in the world like HL2 for instance.

[TheLastBaron]

  On 8/19/2012 at 1:31 PM, ThunderPeel2001 said:

That's the only time they do that, and in the Remastered version things that you can interact with are highlighted.

Wait so instead of pixel hunting, their solution is to just make everything highlighted so you never need to look for anything? Or am I misunderstanding?

[brkl]

It's common in modern adventure games. If you want to look for things, there are hidden object games to scratch that itch.

[ThunderPeel2001]

  On 8/19/2012 at 7:12 PM, toblix said:

If I was a mod, I would've moved this thread out of here.

So would I.

[Colourful Stuff]

I'm giving the ScummVM version a second go on my Nexus 7 and having a much better time. A much smarter adventure game than I originally gave it credit for.

Prescient

Beautiful