Skip to main content

Long read: The beauty and drama of video games and their clouds

"It's a little bit hard to work out without knowing the altitude of that dragon..."

If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

Point-and-click adventure sequel Beyond a Steel Sky gets a new story trailer

Coming to Apple Arcade and Steam "soon".

Those eagerly anticipating the release of Beyond a Steel Sky, the long-awaited sequel to beloved 90s point-and-click adventure Beneath a Steel Sky, have been thrown a tiny bone by developer Revolution Software in the form of a brand-new story focussed trailer.

Beneath a Steel Sky reunites designer Charles Cecil and art director Dave Gibbons - the duo responsible for the first game - for another bout of dystopian sci-fi adventure, once again involving original protagonist Robert Foster. This time, Foster plots a course for Union City - a fortified utopia in a war-ravaged world, where "people live happily under the surveillance and control of a benign AI" - in search of an abducted child.

There's a dynamic world to explore, populated by characters whose motivations can be subverted by players according to Revolution, and it all comes together to form an adventure the developer describes as a "dramatic, humorous, cyberpunk thriller, which explores contemporary themes: social control, AI, and total surveillance".

There's a taste of that adventure, alongside a reprise of the original game's comic-book-style cinematics, and some very, um, exuberant, voice acting, in the trailer below.

Watch on YouTube

Beyond a Steel Sky was initially expected launch last year, but saw its release delayed into the "first few months" of 2020 so that Revolution could realise its vision for the game. In a developer update shared in March, the developer noted it was in the midst of full-scale testing and that the game was "not too far from completion".

Revolution hasn't yet offered a revised date for Beyond a Steel Sky's long-awaited launch, but says it should be making its way to Apple Arcade and Steam "soon".

Read this next