So is this game a comedy or a drama? The answer is: Yes! Today on Ancient DOS Games, Gemini's taking a look at Beneath a Steel Sky, an inventory-based adventure game originally developed by Revolution Software and published through Virgin Interactive in 1994, though it was one of the first commercial DOS titles to be re-licensed as freeware in the early 2000s. While this game is visually impressive, it has a lot of inconsistencies going on; Nothing too terribly egregious, but enough that you can definitely get tripped up by them all. The tone also fluctuates wildly between being extremely serious and completely off-beat. ------------------------------------------ Additional Information and Corrections: * To grab the game off of GOG, follow this link: https://www.gog.com/game/beneath_a_steel_sky/?pp=91dfde1d6e005e422f64a59776234f1f4c80b5e4 * To go for the download on Steam instead: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1368340/Beneath_a_Steel_Sky/ * Or, if you want a free copy that works in DOSBox, grab it from the RGB Classic Games website here: https://www.classicdosgames.com/game/Beneath_a_Steel_Sky.html * I should point out too that a sequel for this game, Beyond a Steel Sky, debuted less than a year ago in 2020 as of the making of this review, done with full 3D graphics and exploration, so if you want to check that out, follow this link: https://www.gog.com/game/beyond_a_steel_sky/?pp=91dfde1d6e005e422f64a59776234f1f4c80b5e4 * Well that's a first... So to get the sound balanced right in DOSBox, you just have to set sbmixer to false. Normally, games which modify the Sound Blaster mixer levels max them out, but for some reason this game DRAMATICALLY drops the digitized FX volume upon launching all the way down to a mere 12%! o_O * One thing that didn't help trying to pixel-hunt for things in a couple screens in this game is that even though most aspects of the game run at a fairly high framerate, including the mouse cursor, the UI itself only runs at 13 FPS, meaning if you move your mouse cursor over a valid thing, but have already moved the cursor away by the time the UI catches up, you'll completely miss that you were even highlighting anything useful! D: * Curiously, this game NEVER shows its title anywhere in the game itself...? At least, the free release for DOS didn't. :P ------------------------------------------ Pixelmusement Website: http://www.pixelships.com ADG on Pixelmusement: http://www.pixelships.com/adg Alphabetical Index of ADG Episodes: http://www.pixelships.com/adg/index2.html Kris' Patreon Page: https://www.patreon.com/kasick @Pixelmusment on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Pixelmusement