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'Beneath a Steel Sky' finally has a sequel and it's coming to Apple Arcade
One of the most iconic cyberpunk games of the '90s and early-2000s, a point-and-click adventure called Beneath a Steel Sky, is finally getting a follow-up. Beyond a Steel Sky will hit Apple Arcade later this year, coming directly from original creators Charles Cecil and Dave Gibbons. Gibbons is a legendary graphic-novel artist best known for collaborating with Alan Moore on Watchmen, while Cecil is a co-founder of Broken Sword and Beneath a Steel Sky studio, Revolution Software.
Broken Sword 5, Episode 2 out today on Windows, Mac, Linux
The second episode of Revolution Software's classic-styled point-and-click adventure game Broken Sword 5: The Serpent's Curse is out today on Steam, Good Old Games and Get Games, finishing up heroic duo George and Nico's latest globetrotting journey. The first episode of The Serpent's Curse launched late last year for PC and mobile platforms. Broken Sword 5 exceeded its Kickstarter goal in 2012 during a boom period for crowdfunded point-and-click adventure game projects, earning nearly $800,000 in backer pledges. Broken Sword: The Serpent's Curse - Episode 2 is due to hit the PlayStation Vita, iOS and Android devices soon. [Video: Revolution Software]
Broken Sword: The Serpent's Curse Episode 1 out now on iOS
The first episode of the crowdfunded Broken Sword revival is out now on iOS, priced $5/£3. The second episode of The Serpent's Curse, which all platforms are still waiting on, is due to be added "shortly" as an in-app purchase. If you're interested in checking it out, we'd advise doing it soon: The $5 tag for Episode 1 is a promotional one. There's no word what the regular asking price will be, but the full two-episode Steam version is currently going for $25/£19. After raising more than double its $400,000 funding goal, developer Revolution brought the new entry in the long-running point-and-click series to Steam and Vita in 2013. The final episode is coming as a free update on those platforms, and it's due in Q1 2014 i.e. soon. As for the question of a release date for Android; we think the answer has something do with this goat that keeps butting us, but otherwise we're stuck. We'll keep you informed. [Image: Revolution Software]
Broken Sword 5: The Serpent's Curse submitted to Apple
The first episode of two-parter Broken Sword 5: The Serpent's Curse should be available soon on iOS. Developer Revolution Software says it has submitted the final build to Apple and is awaiting approval. Broken Sword 5: The Serpent's Curse made its debut on Steam back in December. The game is available on PC, Mac OSX and Linux; a PS Vita port is also available. The second and final part of Broken Sword 5 will be available in Q1 2014 as a free update to the base game. Broken Sword 5: The Serpent's Curse, the latest in the iconic point-and-click adventure series started in 1996, was financed through Kickstarter, where Revolution managed to secure $771,561 to make the game. Broken Sword 5 follows lawyer George Stobbart and journalist Nico Collard, both of whom find themselves caught up in the theft of a mysterious painting – an art piece that has ties to Spanish fascists in the second World War. Image: Revolution Software
First episode of Broken Sword 5 pointing and clicking on December 4
The first episode of Broken Sword 5: The Serpent's Curse will launch on December 4, developer Revolution Software announced. The point-and-click adventure will arrive on PC, Mac and Linux first with Android and iOS versions following "soon after," though no release date for the mobile games has been set. The game will also come to Vita later this year. Revolution Software earned $771,561 on Kickstarter in September 2012 to fund the next entry in the adventure series, which began in 1996. Broken Sword 5 is split into two episodes, each episode being "a full sized game in its own right," the developer writes. The second episode is due out in January 2014.
Broken Sword: The Serpent's Curse pokes around on PS Vita
Broken Sword: The Serpent's Curse, the fifth entry in the long-running adventure game series, is coming to the PS Vita. "The PS Vita is an ideal device for an adventure game - the combination of the front and rear touch screen, as well as the analog stick and shoulder buttons, gives us so much scope to create a really great user interface," Charles Cecil, Revolution Software co-founder, writes on the PlayStation Blog. Sadly, the majority of his post recounts the series' legacy and doesn't go into any specifics about the PS Vita port. Broken Sword: The Serpent's Curse, due later this year, is also coming to PC, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android. The game was successfully funded through Kickstarter last year, earning $771, 560 – nearly twice its goal of $400,000.
Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror remastered for Android just in time
Revoultion Software's 1997 adventure game Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror is available now – in remastered form – on Google Play for Android devices, just in time for the greatest Mayan plot of all: the end of the world. That's in 10 days, at least according to the fabled, ancient Mayan prophecy. So, you know. Make plans now or something.The Smoking Mirror follows the original Broken Sword: The Director's Cut. Protagonists Nicole Collard and George Stobbart uncover a mysterious stone relic and become entangled in a Mayan conspiracy that ties right into the (fast-approaching) apocalypse."When the original game was released in 1997, December 21, 2012, seemed a long, long time away," says Revolution co-founder Charles Cecil, ahead of the game's Android release. "I'm delighted that Android owners are now able to play the game, but I would urge them to hurry."Revolution saw modern success with its Kickstarter for a new Broken Sword game, dubbed The Serpent's Curse, which raised $800,000 of a requested $400,000 in September.
Broken Sword Kickstarter didn't hit 'Beneath a Steel Sky 2' goal, sequel is a go anyway
Revolution Software asked for $400,000 to Kickstart the fifth installment of its point-and-click-adventure franchise, Broken Sword: The Serpent's Curse. The Kickstarter closed with $771,561, leaving the team more than $800,000 including PayPal donations.The Serpent's Curse included stretch goals after cresting the initial amount, and it hit three of them, but fell short of the $1 million goal that would have greenlit a sequel to Beneath a Steel Sky. Revolution plans to develop Beneath a Steel Sky 2 regardless of the stretch goal misfire, studio co-founder Tony Warriner tells Develop."We're delighted by the recent level of interest in a sequel to Beneath a Steel Sky and are currently discussing design ideas for this project, which we plan to go into development following the release of Broken Sword: The Serpent's Curse," Warriner says. "We're deeply touched that our Steel Sky fans are as enthusiastic today as they were when the original game released in 1994."The Serpent's Curse hit goals to restore the "Director's Cuttings" and include more game content, add exotic locations in North Africa and the Middle East, and add one backer's likeness and name to the game.The Serpent's Curse should be available for PC, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android devices in early 2013.
Beneath a Steel Sky gets sequel if Broken Sword Kickstarter hits $1 million
After hitting its $400,000 target yesterday, the Broken Sword: the Serpent's Curse Kickstarter just went up a notch. Should the fundraiser now reach $1 million then 'Beneath a Steel Sky 2' also gets greenlighted. We're used to bonuses after Kickstarter targets are reached early, but Revolution Software's is a real double whammy.Revolution remastered the 1994 classic three years ago for iOS, but the British developer is desperate to continue the cyberpunk point-and-click adventure. With the Serpent's Curse Kickstarter approaching $0.5 million with half its allowed time to go, a Beneath a Steel Sky sequel is certainly looking plausible.Revolution announced other targeted bonuses after getting funded yesterday. $500,000 worth of donations sees Serpent's Curse come with director's cut goodies, $650,000 brings two extra locations for George and Nico to explore, and $800,000 lets Revolution realise its "wildest ambitions" with the game. That last one is a bit vague, but our eyes were drawn to "the return of the infamous goat."
Broken Sword: The Serpent's Curse Kickstarter funded, curse still going strong
With 16 days to go, Broken Sword: The Serpent's Curse just crept past its Kickstarter target of $400,000. UK studio Revolution Software launched the campaign for the adventure series' fifth entry in August, and in less than half its allowed time The Serpent's Curse is now officially funded. One step closer to breaking that curse, we hope.Revolution also announced recently that the game is coming to Android too ... should you buy in for $25 or more, that is. You could also just buy the game when it arrives on Android, of course, knowing that it's totally headed there.
Broken Sword developer joins comic artist Dave Gibbons for new game
Revolution Software, the team behind Beneath a Steel Sky and Broken Sword, is teaming up with graphic novel artist Dave Gibbons for a new title, Eurogamer reports. Gibbons is responsible for the art and lettering of Alan Moore's Watchmen, and is currently the artist on Marvel's The Secret Service, written by Kick-Ass author Mark Millar.Gibbons and Revolution founder Charles Cecil have collaborated before, with Gibbons contributing to Beneath a Steel Sky and providing art and a digital prequel comic for Broken Sword: Director's Cut. Gibbons says the new game is in an unexplored area that isn't France and isn't catacombs. He'll have story input and direct the look of the whole thing, even if he doesn't do all of the artwork himself."It's going to be something that combines a lot of the things I'm perhaps best known for, which are a design sense and a sense of symbolism and maybe an obsessive attention to background detail," Gibbons says. "It will look like a Dave Gibbons game. There would be no point in Charles collaborating with me if it was going to look like a Joe Blow game." Not to be confused with "a Jon Blow game," of course.
Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars Directors Cut brings point-and-poke adventure to Android
If you're not familiar with the point-and-click classic Broken Sword, then you owe it to yourself to snatch up the Directors Cut of Shadow of the Templars. Originally released in 1996, this title is considered by many to be the pinnacle of genre, one that has fallen out of favor in the age of accelerated 3D graphics and first-person shooters. For $4, in a revamped format with touch-friendly controls, the Revolution Software-produced mystery is a no-brainer. Just don't blame us when your day disappears as you unravel a vast conspiracy involving the Knights Templar, mimes and a terrorist clown (as if you needed more of a reason to hate those things).
Original Broken Sword now included with Director's Cut on GOG
Retro games retailer GOG.com has slapped an added bonus onto the Director's Cut version of Broken Sword: the original, non-HD-ified version of the game, Circle of Blood. This should come as especially welcome news to GOG customer StingingVelvet, who commented in his review of the game, "unfortunately this is not the classic version that you would expect from Good OLD Games." It looks like GOG really has wised up!
Broken Sword 2 being fixed up for iOS release
With over one million copies sold (according to Revolution Software), the remastered iOS Broken Sword was enough of a success to warrant a similar treatment for the sequel. Wait, did we just say an adventure game sold more than a million copies in 2010? Wow! Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror Remastered, due on the App Store this month, features updated graphics, an "interactive digital comic" by artist Dave Gibbons, and an in-game hint system, just like its predecessor. Revolution has also come up with a clever implementation of "cloud" saving to allow you to keep your progress across multiple devices: it uses Dropbox to handle save data. Update: If you don't want to wait, and don't mind playing on computer, you can get the original version of Broken Swords 2 and 3, along with the updated Broken Sword, from GoG for $7.17 right now. That's $7.17 total.%Gallery-109627%
Broken Sword: The Director's Cut now on iPhone
We love the trend of adventure classics that maybe didn't get their due the first time around coming to iPhone, so we're excited to see it continuing this morning with the release of Broken Sword: The Director's Cut to the App Store. Not only does the Revolution Software release feature new art by Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons, it's also around 20 percent longer than the original. But Joystiq, is it possible that all this could be available for just $6.99? Indeed it is, little guy. Indeed it is.
Broken Sword: Director's Cut going to iPhone too
Today, Revolution Software -- the team behind Beneath a Steel Sky and its recent (and tremendous) iPhone remake -- announced Broken Sword: The Director's Cut will be remastered for iPhone and iPod Touch devices and released within the next month. Like the (already available) Nintendo DS and Wii versions of the remake, Broken Sword: The Director's Cut for iPhone sports an updated look, Dave Gibbons (Watchmen) art and a redefined control scheme, thrusting the fourteen-year-old adventure game into the modern screen-tapping era. In February 2009, Revolution Software founder Charles Cecil teased more classic remakes could potentially be explored if projects at the time saw commercial success. Considering how solid its first iPhone effort was, we're hoping this is the start of re-introducing gamers to the entire Broken Sword legacy. Now if someone would only remake the Gabriel Knight series, we'd sleep better at night. %Gallery-82905%
Beneath a Steel Sky Remastered nears 20K sold; Revolution expects 100K lifetime sales
The modern jazzification (totally not a made-up word) of retro adventure title Beneath a Steel Sky has been a fairly lucrative move on Revolution Software's part, as managing director Charles Cecil says (via GI.biz) iPhone remake Beneath a Steel Sky Remastered is on track to sell 20,000 copies in its first month -- and that's not including the first week of the month, as it wasn't available in the App store until October 8. But it's just a stepping stone to greater financial success, Cecil says. He anticipates the game will sell around 70,000 copies in its first year of release, eventually peaking at 100,000 copies sold in its lifetime. Cecil credits the Apple model (cheap, easy to use and easier to purchase content than it is to pirate) and Revolution's ability to exploit its own games "in a way that you could never do at a mainstream publisher." He also says that daily sacrifices to the almighty Lord Kromdor certainly didn't hurt.* *Yes, we made up that last one, silly. Revolution worships Cthulhu, duh!
Beneath a Steel Sky is now Inside the iPhone App Store
If you've just completed The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition on your iPhone and are eager for more prettied-up vintage adventure gaming, may we submit for your consideration Revolution Software's Beneath a Steel Sky Remastered? Actually, there's no need for us to, because it's already been submitted ... to the App Store. All right, that was a pretty awkward way to say it, but the point is that you can buy the game now for $4.99, a slightly higher price than the $2-3 designer Charles Cecil expected to charge. But still, a world in which you can buy a classic adventure game for five bucks and play it anywhere is quite a bit nicer than, say, the cyberpunk dystopia predicted by the game itself.Beneath a Steel Sky: Remastered ($4.99):
Broken Sword creator designed Disney's Christmas Carol game
Unlike Dante's Inferno, there's a very good chance that the new game based on (Robert Zemeckis's upcoming movie version of) Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol won't make us want to go back in time and apologize to the original work's author on behalf of the industry we love so much. The main reason: it's designed by Revolution Software's Charles Cecil, best known for his work on Broken Sword. Cecil's experience with smart adventure games means that this new game is unlikely to turn Ebenezer Scrooge into a musclebound avenger who tears apart the ghosts invading his home. "The approach I took was to place the player as the hand of fate," Cecil told Develop about the Sumo Digital-developed game, "guiding a very willful protagonist down the road to redemption, and he doesn't want to down that road at all. Players have to interact with people and the environment to make that happen, and it tells the story in really different way. I'm very happy with it." We never thought we'd find a licensed Disney game about Christmas so interesting! Another different way this story is being told: with Cecil's own narration. He did some placeholder voice work, and "the Americans" insisted that it remain in the final game. Though Cecil didn't specify platforms, a game based on A Christmas Carol is set to come out on DS on November 3, just before the November 3 release of the film.
Beneath a Steel Sky remastered for iPhone
We are in the midst of a full-blown adventure game renaissance, thanks to the sudden proliferation of new adventure games and the (long-awaited) rediscovery by publishers of their own back catalogs. The latest adventure game to be brought back is Revolution Software's Beneath a Steel Sky, which may be best known these days for the fact that it's available for free and works with ScummVM.The new version, Beneath a Steel Sky Remastered, won't be free and won't run in ScummVM, but it will have the advantage of running on iPhone. The update will include new content like fully-animated cutscenes from Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons. Creator Charles Cecil expects to charge around $2 or $3 for the title."Yes, you can jailbreak your phone and play the game for free," he told Eurogamer. "But if you like the game and like the kind of games we make, then pay us a little bit of money and, if it's a big enough success, we can reinvest the funds. We can start to look at a potential BASS sequel."According to the announcement, the iPhone version will be out this fall. Revolution Pocket has plans for other mobile platforms, including Android, PSP Go, and DSiWare.
