While Revolution Software’s cult-classic adventure game Beneath a Steel Sky originally launched all the way back in 1994, it feels like it’s been just about as long that we’ve been waiting for a sequel. The developers behind the game have hinted at a sequel here and there over the years, but it wasn’t until Revolution was crowdfunding a sequel to one of their other revered adventure game series that it actually became a reality. A Beneath the Steel Sky sequel was one of the stretch goals during the Broken Sword 5 crowdfunding campaign, and although they came up short of that stretch goal, Revolution was encouraged by the enthusiasm the fans showed so they committed to making that sequel happen anyway.
Of course this was all way back in 2012, and there wasn’t a whole lot of news about that sequel in the time since. It wasn’t until Apple debuted their Apple Arcade service that the sequel, titled Beyond a Steel Sky, was actually confirmed and would be debuting on the new service. But when? Nobody really had an answer for that one either, but when a brand new story trailer was revealed earlier this month, it seemed like an indicator that Beyond a Steel Sky was very close to releasing. That turned out to be the case as the game has just gone live in the Apple Arcade section of the App Store alongside this new launch trailer.
Beyond a Steel Sky brings back the two designers of the original, Charles Cecil and David Gibbons, and once again follows the adventures of Robert Foster and his computer companion Joey as they explore Union City on the hunt for a kidnapped child. Obviously there have been a lot of hardware advancements in the world of video games since 1994, and while it eschews the fantastic pixel art of the original game for full 3D visuals, the overall style of Beyond a Steel Sky still captures that cool cyberpunk vibe of the original game. It’s not often you get to dive into a game’s world and experience its story and characters again after a quarter of a century has past, but that’s the opportunity Beneath a Steel Sky fans get with today’s release of Beyond a Steel Sky.
It’s worth pointing out that if you haven’t played the original game before and want to get caught up before diving into the sequel, Beneath a Steel Sky: Remastered ($2.99) is available on iOS and is still an excellent way to experience the game even though it hasn’t been updated for modern iOS device screens. You can also get the desktop version for free over at GOG.com and play it on Mac, Linux, or Windows. If you want to join in on the discussion about its sequel Beyond a Steel Sky, you can do so in the thread in our forums.
