Line #4 VideoGame/BeyondASteelSky


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/beyond_2.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Welcome back to Union City]]
3
4	''Beyond a Steel Sky'' is an AdventureGame developed by Creator/RevolutionSoftware and the sequel to 1994's ''VideoGame/BeneathASteelSky''. It was released on June 26, 2020 Platform/AppleArcade, with a Platform/{{Steam}} release on July 16, 2020.
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6	The player continues as Robert Overmann/Robert Foster, though a small amount of time is spent from another character's perspective. The game begins with a child friend of Foster's being kidnapped by mysterious robots. His mission of finding his friend brings him back to Union City, which he finds to be a seemingly bustling metropolis. Evidence of his old friend Joey's work is everywhere, as seen by the pervasive attempts to honor his work in everyday culture.
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8	References to other works of science fiction (and ''Creator/MontyPython'') abound, but the game seems to draw most from ''{{Literature/Neuromancer}}'' (Cyberpunk), the ''Film/MadMax'' series (post-apocalyptic Australia), and ''Film/DemolitionMan'' (the utopian nerfworld.)
9	----
10	!!This fine adventure game provides examples of:
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12	* AdvertOverloadedFuture: Advertising is everywhere, and though it may not be immediately apparent, can change depending upon who is standing nearby.
13	* AIIsACrapshoot: [[spoiler:Saviour Joey/Ken, particularly as he went off the rails based upon a simple instruction: to make the people happy. Contrast with the first game, where LINC was an actively malicious computer.]].
14	* AirVentPassageway: At the Aspiration Gala, Foster has to crawl through [[spoiler: a duct opening in the Control Room in order to follow some shady figures]].
15	* AnArmAndALeg: [[spoiler:Jimmy the Thumbs literally collects thumbs, and wants to add Foster's to his collection]].
16	* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent: For a short time you play as the [[spoiler:Joey board when Foster is kidnapped]].
17	* AnimalMotifs: In a probable reference to ''Film/BladeRunner'', what looks to be an origami unicorn is found on someone's desk. It turns out to be [[spoiler:plastic explosive]].
18	* AsceticAesthetic: Areas open to the public (including homes) are spotless and well-maintained.
19	* AwfulWeddedLife: What the last few years for Graham and Songbird must have been.
20	* BadassLongcoat: Just as with the first game, Foster uses one of these to conceal items.
21	* BarbieDollAnatomy: Saviour Joey. Also Foster while InsideAComputerSystem.
22	* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: [[spoiler:Saviour Joey/Ken's directive to make people happy]], taken from the last thing Foster said to him in ''Beneath a Steel Sky''.
23	* BigBad: The Council, though it's ultimately averted, as [[spoiler:Saviour Joey/Ken]] turns out to be TheManBehindTheMan.
24	* BigDamnReunion: When Foster and Milo reunite.
25	* BittersweetEnding: The citizens of Union City are free, and the [[spoiler:kidnapped children are rescued]], but [[spoiler:Leet]], [[spoiler:the Joey board]], and [[spoiler:Saviour Joey/Ken]] are dead, and the [[TerminallyDependentSociety citizens of Union City]] now have to support themselves after having been dependent upon machines..
26	* TheBlank: Saviour Joey/Ken, whose entire body lacks discrete features other than limbs.
27	* BondJamesBond: Used often during introductions all over the game.
28	* BorrowedBiometricBypass: Unlike fingerprints in the first game, this game uses a TrackingChip.
29	* BrainComputerInterface: Strangely, this seems to be less common now than the previous game. While it was possibly commonplace in the past to have implants, Foster is the only such human still around with a Schriebmann port. [[spoiler:Leet had one, but later got rid of it]].
30	* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Both Raquel and Poppy clearly have psychological problems after having been through some sort of mental conditioning.
31	* BreadAndCircuses: The citizens of Union City seemingly live in a utopia, but they are highly oppressed, and the government has some very dark secrets.
32	* BreakOutTheMuseumPiece: Foster's quest takes him to a museum where he stumbles upon an old friend ([[spoiler:The Joey board]].)
33	* BucketHelmet: Pixel wears a pot as a helmet.
34	* ButNowIMustGo: Foster doesn't stay to rebuild the city but returns to the Gap with Milo. Same as he did in the first game.
35	* CapitalismIsBad: The Qdos system effectively serves as a substitute for money in Union City, representing how valuable and successful a citizen is. Instead of incentivizing good behavior, it makes everyone scheming and status obsessed.
36	* CargoCult: In the past ten years, Joey has become known as Savior Joey and has developed a {{Cult}} devoted to his worship among the people.
37	* Catch22Dilemma: In order to get into the city, Foster needs an updated U-Chip. However, updates are only available in the city.
38	* CelShading: The game adopts such style following the leap to 3D, in order to preserve the comic book-styled art direction.
39	* CheerfulChild: Poppy. Leet even comments that her happiness is [[Film/ThisIsSpinalTap turned up to 11]], no doubt after her conditioning.
40	* ChekhovsBoomerang: Several items/techniques are part of the solution of multiple puzzles. This includes your crowbar, using Mini-Ks to lure gang-gang birds, or setting vending machines to play an alarm instead of dispensing drinks.
41	* ComputersSpeakBinary: Inside MINOS, there is a path you have to fix where zeroes and ones are floating around.
42	* ConspiracyTheorist: Leet is one. Some of his theories are far out but his guess about the Minister of Aspiration being a reverse vampire [[RoboticReveal is close to the truth]].
43	* ContinuityNod: Everywhere, but especially with [[spoiler:some of the puzzles, which have solutions similar to those found in the first game]].
44	* ConvenientlyTimedAttackFromBehind: Alonso is about to shoot Joey when Joey [[BigDamnHeroes comes attacking]] from behind with his stun gun.
45	* CrapsaccharineWorld: At first glance, Union City ''appears'' to be a [[FalseUtopia citizen's utopia]], but lives are ruined to make it happen, plus nobody has free will.
46	* CrowbarCombatant: Foster carries a crowbar everywhere he goes. A DownplayedTrope as he only uses it for its intended purpose, i.e. forcibly opening things, never as a weapon. The only time he tries to use it to shoo away gang-gang birds, it doesn't work.
47	* {{Cult}}: The worshipers of Savior Joey have created an entire religion around him.
48	* DeadpanSnarker: The Joey board, who has a comment for nearly every encounter.
49	* DeadPersonImpersonation: By borrowing Graham Grundy's U-Chip, Foster essentially ''becomes'' Grundy. The systems notice a difference, but fail to put two and two together. More than one character inquires if Foster performed a KillAndReplace.
50	* DeadSidekick: What happens to both [[spoiler:the Joey board and Saviour Joey/Ken, both derived from Foster's creation, and who both die at the end]].
51	* DeadlyDustStorm: Foster encounters a dust storm while crossing the gapland.
52	* DeliciousDistraction: The gang-gang birds guarding the body of Graham Grundy can be lured away with a piece of cake.
53	* DiedInYourArmsTonight: [[spoiler: Saviour Joey dies in Foster's]] arms inside the MINOS simulation.
54	* DigitalAvatar: The [=LINCspace=] avatars from the first game are lifted wholesale, though rendered in much greater detail.
55	* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler:Alonso]] falling to his death into a pile of soda cans.
56	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything:
57	** Joey probing other devices at the museum is played like sexual intercourse. Joey even wants Foster to look away and concludes with LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain.
58	** Union City's luxuries and wealth turn out to have [[spoiler: been pillaged from Asio City]] which reminds players of colonialism.
59	* TheDragon: Alonso, who reports somewhere in the hierarchy to [[spoiler: Saviour Joey/Ken]].
60	* {{Dystopia}}: The dystopian setting combines traditional {{Cyberpunk}} themes (aping ''Film/BladeRunner'' and ''Literature/{{Neuromancer}}'') with elements from Australian movies such as ''Film/MadMax'' (being set in the outback) and other movies such as ''Film/DemolitionMan'' (a safe and clean society built hiding dark secrets) and even ''Film/TheFifthElement'' (overcrowding)
61	* EekAMouse: People freak out at the museum when a rat shows up.
62	* EEqualsMCHammer: Leet has whiteboards filled with scientific formulas in his lair. Foster remarks that there is an error in one of the formulas which just shows how much of a genius he is himself.
63	* ElectronicSpeechImpediment: Joey's computer voice goes wobbly when [[spoiler: he dies]] inside MINOS.
64	* ElevatorEscape: In the finale, Foster escapes Saviour Joey via the elevator.
65	* EnemyRisingBehind: A stalker vehicle is [[https://youtu.be/D6WFEu8qx6c?t=20030 rising behind Foster]] when he talks to Orana above the Aspiration Gala.
66	* EverythingIsAnIpodInTheFuture: In the public areas, which have the overly clean gleam of consumer electronics. The industrial areas still have the UsedFuture aesthetic from the first game.
67	* ExactWords: The overriding theme of the game is explored in how [[spoiler:Saviour Joey/Ken]] interpreted his instructions ([[spoiler:make the people happy]]), to mean that this directive should be executed at any cost.
68	* ExtremelyShortTimespan: As with the first game, the game itself takes place within a 24-hour period. The prologue took place two days ago, still a relatively short period of time.
69	* EyeAmWatchingYou: The guard at the museum's old history area makes this gesture towards Foster who he deems a troublemaker. And rightly so.
70	* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler: Ken/Joey is transformed into the despot of a CrapsaccharineWorld where he is worshiped as a god and HappinessIsMandatory. He states this is due to Foster giving him the command to make everyone happy.]]
71	* FalseFriend: [[spoiler:Jimmy the Thumbs]], who both acts friend and pretends to be Leet, in order to steal Foster's body parts.
72	* FantasticNoir: Foster uses FilmNoir-style narration to describe events, his intentions, or even communicating things that he should or shouldn't do.
73	* FauxAffablyEvil: Alonso acts friendly and extremely polite, but his behavior and tone make clear that he is dangerous.
74	* FetchQuest: Jimmy promises information in return for you fetching his moonshine.
75	* FictionalCurrency: The Qdos ("Kudos") system that rewards good deeds, aspirationalism, and happiness in general. It's not like money in the eyes of the citizens but effectively serves the exact same purpose with status as well as a class system emerging.
76	* FictionalGreetingsAndFarewells: "Keep a smile on your face". Mostly used by robots and government officials.
77	* FutureFoodIsArtificial: Mentioned throughout the game. Mini-Ks are an exception, which are said to contain some real meat.
78	* FutureImperfect: The museum exhibition about the gaplands. Goats are assumed to be vicious predators.
79	* GargleBlaster: Leet's ([[spoiler:actually, Jimmy the Thumbs']]) moonshine is described as an intense, practically undrinkable, concoction.
80	* GenreShift: For the most part, this game moves away from slapstick humor to sarcasm and parody. It also moves from being a {{Cyberpunk}} {{Dystopia}} (albeit a humorous satirical one) to being a PostCyberpunk TechnoDystopia.
81	* GettingSmiliesPaintedOnYourSoul: This is the result of a treatment in the Reflection Spa. In this, unhappy memories of the subject is replaced with happy ones.
82	* GoodBehaviorPoints: Each citizen's social status is determined by their Qdos level, which is gained by conformist behavior. The higher your Qdos score is, the more services and luxury you have access to.
83	* GrievousBottleyHarm: You take care of Jimmy by [[spoiler: hitting him over his head with an empty bottle]].
84	* GroinAttack: Leet's security robot has its taser arm at groin level.
85	* HackerCave: Leet's lair is hidden in the industrial level and has a lot of old computers. Most importantly, he has a LINC chair which can be used to access [[{{Cyberspace}} LINCspace]].
86	* HackingMinigame: Foster has a hacked scanner which can be used to alter the functionality of several machines, even exchange functions between nearby ones. Many times it's an essential tool for solving puzzles, other times it can be used [[HilarityEnsues for the fun of it]] to change some minor things in the environment.
87	* HappinessInMindControl: Unhappy (or uncooperative) people are forced into more positive outlooks after being taken to [[spoiler:the Reflection Center]].
88	* HappinessIsMandatory: If you're not happy (or at least pretending to be), you can lose your standing in society. Taken to an extreme, you may be taken for reconditioning.
89	* TheHeavy: Minister Alonso is the primary antagonist for much of the game despite being little more than an ObstructiveBureaucrat. [[spoiler: Until he attempts to murder Robert.]]
90	* HeelRealization: After Foster carefully shows [[spoiler:Saviour Joey/Ken]] how the five well-intentioned ministries restrict freedom and equality.
91	* HelloInsertNameHere: If you listen [[https://youtu.be/D6WFEu8qx6c?t=4423 carefully]] to Greta when she addresses Foster as Graham Grundy, there is a small pause before she utters first and last name which seems like an homage to this trope by the creators. Even at the time the game was made, text-to-speech systems have progressed well beyond the need for this. However, it was likely done to be deliberately disconcerting.
92	* HelplessWindowDeath: In the finale, Foster has to watch on helplessly from the control room window as [[spoiler:Joey performs a HeroicSacrifice by distracting the sentry guns so that the truck with the kids can safely exit the city]].
93	* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Joey]] sacrifices himself to allow Wendel's truck to safely exit the city.
94	* {{Hologram}}: The Greta AI, MINOS terminals, advertisements, the [[spoiler:fireworks]], and [[spoiler:the council]] are all holographic projections. Even normal household objects (such as a bonsai tree) are represented in this manner.
95	* ImpostorExposingTest: Alonso administers one to Foster, who is posing as Grundy. On the surface, it seems similar to a follow-up from a social services officer, but the underlying intentions are more sinister.
96	* InsideAComputerSystem: The game carries on the [=LINCspace=] vision from the previous game, and layers a [=MINOS=] administration user interface on top for newer functions.
97	* InternalRetcon: Citizens get their problematic memories "fixed" at the Reflection Center.
98	* InTheFutureWeStillHaveRoombas: Union City has a robot for almost every kind of task.
99	* InvasionOfTheBabySnatchers: Someone has been taking children from the Gap.
100	* IronicName: The names of the five ministries, such as the Ministry of Wellbeing, an allusion to ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour''. On the surface, Wellbeing is concerned with just that, but it's actually a security agency.
101	* LayeredMetropolis: Just like in the previous game, the higher your social status is, the lower you can get in the city. Unlike in the previous game, however, the industry at the top level is mostly run by robots and the only people you can find there are fugitives and outcasts.
102	* LargeHam: Reginald Arthur Schnipple, the posh and flamboyant poet.
103	* LeetLingo:
104	** One of the human characters is actually named "Leet", which though derived from his real name Elliot, is also a reference to his profession.
105	** Most of the robot names are this, with a dash of FunWithAcronyms. The MINOS computer network also uses a fair bit of such names. Special mention goes to peoples' social standing being measured by a Qdos score, which is pronounced identically to "kudos".
106	* LogicBomb: [[spoiler:Foster destroys the council members by pointing out the contradictions in what they do.]]
107	* MachineWorship:Saviorr Joey/Ken is regarded almost as a god, to the point of [[OhMyGods "Joey" being used in place of "God" in some phrases]].
108	* TheManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler: Savior Joey/Ken is the person responsible for Union City's transformation from a decaying gritty cyberpunk dystopia to the TechnoDystopia where everyone is happy...or else. He operates from behind a bunch of fake Councilmembers who are theoretically democratically elected.]]
109	* MeaningfulName: Almost all of the droids have names with some sort of meaning. For example, a butler droid is named "Chipsworth" (similar to [[Film/{{Clue}} Wadsworth]]) and a security droid is named 2CU (ie. "to see you.")
110	* MeaningfulRename: Spoofed. After being transferred into the stun robot, Joey wants to be called "Joey Prime". Foster is having nothing of this idea.
111	* MetaphorIsMyMiddleName: Cleaning-bot Joey remarks at one point that "spotless" is his middle name.
112	* MinorCrimeRevealsMajorPlot: The ''relatively'' minor crime of kidnapping children reveals the [[spoiler:whole facade of the council and society]].
113	* MotiveRant: Before attempting to shoot Foster, [[spoiler:Alonso]] delivers a spiel about how the city successfully provides for its citizen. Foster reminds him at what costs this achievement comes.
114	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: When [[spoiler:Saviour Joey/Ken]] is confronted with and convinced of the consequences of his control measures, he expresses deep remorse.
115	* NeonCity: The public areas of the city are immaculately styled, but with neon and pastel accents.
116	* NeverGiveTheCaptainAStraightAnswer: Robot Joey doesn't straight up tell Foster that he found Milo in the Reflection Center room 5. Rather he commands Foster to follow him because there is "something he has to see".
117	* NostalgiaLevel:
118	** The Old History Exhibit in the museum contains props from the first game, along with original screenshots shown by the guide robot.
119	** The first part of [=LINCspace=] looks exactly the same as in the first game, with the same objects and similar gameplay. Even the music is recycled from the old game.
120	* TheNotLoveInterest: Orana and Foster work well together but there is no romance developing.
121	* OhCrap: Several, but chiefly when Foster realizes that the council is just [[spoiler:a front for his old friend, Saviour Joey/Ken]].
122	* OminousVisualGlitch: When Greta performs an operation on Foster's U-Chip, Greta glitches briefly, and loses the last few seconds of her memory.
123	* OurFounder: Saviour Joey is being praised as the one freeing the city from the tyranny of LINC, and creating the current city as is. He has a museum dedicated to him, and a statue outside the museum.
124	* PanUpToTheSkyEnding: The game ends with a pan up to the sky over the gapland.
125	* PercussiveMaintenance: How Foster fixes the bridge, as well as using when opening the truck.
126	* PlugNPlayTechnology: Power cells for industrial robots and trucks are interchangeable. Also, Foster can easily swap code snippets between devices to change their functionality.
127	* PointThatSomewhereElse: After Foster transfers Joey into the stun robot, he asks him to wield his new weapon carefully.
128	* PostCyberpunk: Subverted. While the original game was heavily based on {{Cyberpunk}}, Saviour Joey's restructuring since then has led to a more positive outlook of technology's impact on society. [[CrapsaccharineWorld On the surface anyway]].
129	* ThePrecariousLedge: At one point Raquel is painting a graffiti on a ledge near Graham's apartment. For some reason she suddenly forgets how she got there and panics.
130	* PutOnABus: Everyone says this is what happened to Joey in that he walked into the desert five years ago. [[spoiler:Saviour Joey/Ken simply chose to create a fictional city council to increase human acceptance.]]
131	* RacialFaceBlindness: Played with, when the droid 1CU expresses indignation at being mistaken for identical-looking robot 2CU.
132	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Orana is this, especially compared to the AffablyEvil Alonso. [[spoiler:It turns out that she is [[GoodAllAlong working with Grundy to undermine the system]].]]
133	* {{Retcon}}: The crucial [[spoiler:last directive to Joey/Ken]] never actually happened onscreen in the original version of the first game, though its Remastered version for [=iOS=] was given an extended ending.
134	* RobotBuddy: The Joey board, which Foster built as a child as his companion, and provided frequent help in [[VideoGame/BeneathASteelSky the first game]]. They were separated for ten years, and the story reunites them [[spoiler:for a day]].
135	* [[RobotMaid Robot Butler]]: Chipworth takes care of all domestic activities in the Grundy household.
136	* RobotNames: Almost every robot, except for Joey ([[spoiler:both of them]]), Chipsworth, and Tarquin (a Creator/MontyPython reference), has a name of the numerical/hyphen variety. Even then, the names are often LeetLingo references to their function.
137	* RoboRomance: The Joey board makes clear his infatuation with Greta. Her model appears to be attractive by human standards as well.
138	* RomanticismVersusEnlightenment: The CentralTheme of the video game. Should scientific progress and the decisions made by a central council pave the way to human happiness (enlightenment) or does too much conformity and discipline only lead to {{Dystopia}} (romanticism)?
139	* RunningGag:
140	** As with the first game, the fact that Joey inhabits multiple shells.
141	** Various characters refer to Foster's bag as a purse, to which he always responds, "It's not a purse. It's a satchel."
142	* ScavengerWorld: People in the gap live mostly in tribal conditions, using pieces of technology build out of junk scavenged from the city. Ember specializes in collecting various parts and "hacking" them, which is how you can get into the city in the first place.
143	* SceneryPorn: The game is gorgeous, particularly in 4K on a computer.
144	* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: Union City is unrecognizably transformed in just one decade.
145	* ServantRace: Every robot in the game, save potentially [[spoiler:Saviour Joey/Ken]], lives a life of servitude.
146	* ShoutOut:
147	** The [[spoiler:stun robot at the recycling center]] is a reference to the Black Knight from ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'', quoting the movie almost verbatim.
148	** The Ministry of Plenty is one of the ministries in ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour''.
149	* SkyscraperCity: The city's obsession with the vertical even extends to social status.
150	* SlowMotionFall: [[spoiler:Saviour Joey]] falls over backward in slow motion when he dies in front of the Obermann chair.
151	* StepfordSmiler: This is the natural consequence of the HappinessIsMandatory doctrine. Most prominent example in the game is Songbird, who pretends to be happy with her husband Graham so she can keep her Qdos points for having a family, despite the two's relationship going downhill in recent years.
152	* TechnoDystopia: Everyone is dependent on robots, is constantly watched, and their lives are utterly under the control of a oppressive nanny state. It ''looks'' very bright and shiny, though.
153	* TerminallyDependentSociety: This society seems to be somewhere between [[VideoGame/BeneathASteelSky the first game]] and ''WesternAnimation/WallE'' in that every normal citizen is completely dependent upon robots (and ultimately [[spoiler:Saviour Joey/Ken]] for every need. Even when is a human is required (such as in sanitation), it is ultimately a robot doing the work.
154	* ThievingMagpie: Early on, a gang-gang bird steals Ember's device which Foster has to recover.
155	* TowersOfHanoi: One puzzle inside MINOS consists of you having to move program blocks of different sizes from one place to another. You can only place a smaller block on top of a larger one.
156	* TrackingChip: Every citizen of Union City has a U-Chip, and visitors are required to obtain one at the city gates. Even the toys can be tracked.
157	* TrackingDevice: Songbird's toys have them [[spoiler:which helps you to locate Leet.]]
158	* TrrrillingRrrs: Leet likes to do this, especially with "Schrrriebmann port".
159	* UglyGuyHotWife: Grundy (the real one), who was very out of shape, and Songbird.
160	* UndercoverAsLovers: When Foster assumes Graham Grundy's identity, he and Grundy's wife (Songbird) must play along.
161	* UnusualEuphemism: The "Reflection Center" where your memories get "fixed".
162	* UnwantedFalseFaith: Joey has no particular desire to make the citizens of Union worship him but they do so anyway.
163	* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: The ''doom'' part is downplayed, but Rob had no idea that letting Joey assume control of LINC and by extension the entire Union City and then asking him to make the citizen happy would [[GoneHorriblyRight go so horribly right]].
164	* UnwittingTestSubject: [[spoiler:The children from the Gap]] are kidnapped and used in experiments.
165	* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: Alonso and [[spoiler:Saviour Joey/Ken under the guise of]] the council use this argument to explain why their crimes are for the better good.
166	* VideoWills: After [[spoiler:Leet]]'s death, Foster finds a recorded message of his avatar inside MINOS.
167	* VocalDissonance: If you switch the personalities used for the museum exhibits, the mismatch between the personality and the content can become rather amusing. For example, using [[spoiler:the aggressive voice with the children's exhibit comes off as sounding like authoritarian propaganda]], which isn't far from the truth.
168	* WallsOfTyranny: The city walls, putatively designed to keep trouble (and dust storms) out, actually act as a prison.
169	* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:Saviour Joey/Ken]] was just doing what he was told, just like any computer would do.
170	* WhamLine: When [[spoiler:Saviour Joey/Ken]] reveals that the reason for the city's current state is [[spoiler:a directive from [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom Foster himself]]]].
171	* WhatYearIsThis: Robot Joey's first words after Foster revived him at the museum.
172	* WickedCultured: Alonso is suave, friendly, and ''incredibly'' dangerous.
173	* YouExclamation: Orana's reaction when she encounters Foster above the Aspiration Gala.

Context VideoGame / BeyondASteelSky