Beneath a Steel Sky

The Good
Beneath a Steel Sky is a very entertaining story about Rob, the character you control, who is kidnapped from his home in the wild outskirts known as the Gap, into the big hostile city in which the game takes place. After staging an escape, Rob must discover why he was brought here and find a way back to the Gap. Like almost all good adventure games, BASS has a great story with a lot of mystery and suspense which will keep you interested right up to a surprise ending. The game also has some good humor mixed in as well. Its not as off the wall as Monkey Island or Grim Fandango(which is good because BASS' story is meant to be a serious) but Rob and his robot Joey add some much appreciated levety to the rather dark story. The artwork and environments for the most part are rather well done(considering the age of the game) and add to the game's dark atmosphere. The simplistic two button control scheme didn't really hinder gameplay. I didn't really like it or dislike it. I guess to newbies of the adventure genre its probably a plus.

The Bad
The music is a different story. There was a few good tracks but I found it corny for the most part and it took away from the edgy mood. While we're on sound here... Am I the only one who noticed that Rob and Joey are the only ones without British or French accents. I guess Virgin Interactive didn't feel the need to "Americanize" all the other characters when bringing the game over to the States. Oh well. My biggest gripe with BASS is its lack of quality puzzles. There are very few puzzles that aren't of the "Use this item with this item" variety. When I did get stuck in this game the solution was often to go to a previously explored area and trigger an event that didn't make much sense. The lack of challenging puzzles will leave veteran adventurers bored and will make the game seem shorter than it is.

The Bottom Line
A good game to try if you've never played an adventure game before. It's certainly not a classic adventure game, but those who have enjoyed LucasArts' adventures will find the same strong story and and witty humor here. I just wish BASS would provide the same depth as far as puzzles go.