Syberia

Rating:
Summary: a let down
Review: i was expecting something commensurate with the reviews and awards this game received. i was a bit disappointed. initially the storyline is mysterious and intriguing -it really sucks you in, but instead of developing, it trails off and fizzles. the ending is abrupt and a HUGE anti-climax. its like one of those movies that starts off well but then goes nowhere and just suddenly ends. most of the puzzles (if you want to call them "puzzles") rely on you being on the look out for obscure things to click on -rational and logical thought wont help you very much in this game. the dialogue and the relationships between the characters are corny, bordering on just plain stupid. to be honest, i tried playing the longest journey, and i didnt like that game very much either. The two games are quite similar, so you may want to ignore this review if you have different taste. to its credit though, the game does have stunning backdrops and an impressive soundtrack. for a while it even sucks you in. i didnt really have any technical problems. I ran the game on a laptop, there was some graphics glitches but it was still playable, i think there were some minor sound issues aswell.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent example of 3rd person adventure
Review: For those of you new to the adventure game genre, this is a wonderful place to start. For those of you like myself who are long-time adventure game fans, you're in for a real treat.

A simple glance at the screenshots (see http://www.adventurecompanygames.com/tac/syberia/index.html) will be enough to convince you that the graphics are superb -- and run exceptionally well even on my 4-year-old 450MHz PC. The music is engaging and appropriate. The interface is extraordinarily intuitive; it's one-click easy (like LucasArts' The Dig) but the cursor changes depending on whether you can speak, look at, pick up, or use an item. Every now and then I found myself running the cursor hopelessly across the screen in an attempt to find anything I could interact with, but frankly this is more of a tribute to the game's excellent graphics than a comparison with the days of "pixel-hunting." The inventory remains uncluttered, with a separate division for documents, and Kate (the protagonist) gets rid of objects you'll never need again in a natural way throughout the game. The voice-acting is generally exceptional, although in all fairness I did get tired of several canned phrases ("No need to go down there!") by the end of the game.

One last note on the graphics: I'm used to games like the Monkey Island series where you click on things to look at them and have the protagonist tell you something about the object ("It's a rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle"). At first I was confused when I couldn't "look at" many things on the screen...and then I realized that the graphics are so good, there's just no need. If you don't understand what something does, chances are Kate doesn't either. Finally adventure games have reached this stage!

All this is well and good, but is the game any FUN to play? I gave it 5 stars because of its fun-factor, and in many ways that's due to Syberia's engaging story. The story is as realistic as anything you're likely to see in a game; it starts off very simply, with Kate in a world that you and she both understand, and as the worlds you experience get more complex and the story progresses, you agree that it all makes sense -- never is the rug pulled out from under the story's feet. All this means that you can identify with Kate throughout, and that helps you get further absorbed in this exciting world.

The puzzles are decent -- a little on the easy side (I finished it without a walkthrough, and in all fairness I'm the type that's tempted to cheat two or three times per game when I get really stuck), and with a minimum of running all over the place like a chicken with your head cut off just to solve a single puzzle (there's one exception in the University town, but it's forgivable).

I wish it had been longer -- I didn't time it, but I'm guessing it gave me 10-15 hours of enjoyment -- not exactly "Longest Journey" stuff, but worthy of $'s.

Are you still wondering if you should get it? You should. Trust me. It's worthy of its Adventure Game of the Year status.

Download the demo at: http://download.com.com/3000-7564-10230194.html

Rating:
Summary: Quite possibly the finest game I have ever played.
Review: Syberia is the most clever, thoughtful, and inventive game I have ever played; The Longest Journey comes close in storyline and inventiveness, but it can in no way outdo Syberia's graphics or its reach for an entirely new idea in adventure games. Both The Longest Journey and Syberia feature strong, admirable, complex heroines; but Syberia diverges from the fantasy line and sticks with a realism that is eminently credible, if ever so slightly magical.

Doubtless, there have been heroines in adventure games, but precious few. Kate Walker is a 21st-century young woman, charged by her prestigious New York law firm with the task of facilitating the takeover of an automaton factory in western Europe. She is young, slightly impetuous, eager, and above all newly in charge of herself. She gradually becomes enchanted with the old world story of the Voralberg family and their toy factory.

As she wends her way ever deeper into old Europe and eventually into the former Soviet Union, she discovers not only a decaying world there but a rapidly decaying world back stateside: her good friend and her fiance have an affair while Kate is away on this business trip. Further, Kate's mother is an upper-middle class matriarch who has clearly spent much of her time judging Kate and telling her what to do. Kate's boss is a high-powered, unsympathetic attorney with a very limited set of sensibilities. She sees the effects of globalization in the takeover of the toy factory and the obselescence of the automaton technology in the face of the digital age; similarly, she sees the effects of post-Cold War globalization on the landscape of Eastern Europe. As Kate experiences this history from the ground, she begins also to see her own history from afar--and discovers very gradually that she has positioned herself and been positioned as subordinate to far too many people in her life. It is this realization as much as any business matters that comes to direct the geography of Kate's adventure.

This story is as much about a woman discovering herself and her circumstances as it is an exploration of the post-information, post-Cold War world. Indeed, the details of a woman's journey to recognition of her social and political circumstances is a second-wave feminist story. What makes this story post-second-wave feminist is the way in which it explores the social limits of a woman who has allegedly been "liberated" enough by feminism to hold a position in a powerful law firm. When Kate is released into history, that is, the history of Europe and Russia in relation to both the United States and the globe, she is also released to see her own social condition in relation to those with whom she deals. This is where Syberia pushes the limits of the adventure game: it reaches for what may properly be thought of as the most current social, political, and global concerns, settling not just for the quest story but also in some measure for our story.

I will refrain from reviewing in detail the technical aspects of the game, as they have no doubt been covered in detail by experienced reviewers. I limit myself to discussion of the story because it is a story in which I dwelled happily for many hours of gameplay. It is enough to say that the interface was hardly an interference for me during my journey to Syberia.

Needless to say, I have anxiously awaited Syberia 2, which has apparently been postponed from October 2003 to April of 2004. This delay has been most inauspicious, but I will surely survive the wait. I am aware, however, that Kate becomes Hans Voralberg's "acolyte" in Syberia 2, which gives me some cause for concern. It is not a new story to have a liberated woman eventually return into some kind of orbit around a male figure. This is, in fact, one of the oldest stories ever told, told more often, needless to say, after the second wave of feminism. I fear the creators of Syberia may fall into that inevitable pit of only being able to see so far and no further.

Nevertheless, I will happily play Syberia 2 with the same obsessive fixation as I did the first. I give Syberia 5-plus stars for its superior graphics and artwork, environment, ambience, cut-scenes, interface, storyline and character work, inventiveness, spirit, and vision.

Rating:
Summary: Pre-rendered? Yes, but very good!
Review: This game has the probability of making a great series. The backgrounds and such are the best I haved seen from a pre-rendered and even some non-prerendered games. The animations are a bit lacking in the form of that there aren't that many different things you can do... You can walk, run, pick things up, pull out your cell phone, and open doors. That's pretty much all the animations to the protaganist.

People that loved the Journeyman Project, Buried in Time, or Legacy of Time, will love this title. There is also more information coming up about a sequel already.

This title is a must for all those that love the adventure genre. Just don't be dissapointed when you get bored with the few actions. The backgrounds are still as beutiful as ever.

Rating:
Summary: Love & Hate It
Review: This is my first PC game, and I was impressed on some levels. The scenery and many of the cutscenes are nicely detailed, yet sometimes unneccesary. I did enjoy playing it to some extent, but some of the game really bugs me.

The acting STINKS. There isn't any more inflection in Kate's tone than in the automotons'. The most realistic was Olivia, second to the mother only because they seemed to overdramatize everything in comparison. The worst was the hotel receptionist/manager in Aralbad. He had no more personality than a guard-dog for someone running a hotel. With his "aint's" and "like's" and "whatever", I felt the part was written for a dude with a bad attitude, except for the preoccupation with sports. There were already too many "stuffy old men" characters, and this one's language didn't suit him. The script itself was corny at times with too many "er's" and pauses for effect. I think I may have preferred reading the captions and leaving the personalities to my imagination.

For a NY Lawyer, Kate is prissy, naive and boring. She approaches every situation, even arguing with her fiance, like she's on a valium IV drip. I understand if she's trying to uphold a professional image, but c'mon...you can't always do that in extraordinary situations. She should have started as a hardcore and manipulative b*tch who has it in her to take on this adventure, only to be softened by heartwarming tales of the mysterious "retard" who touches many lives including her own. Instead, she's pretty much a primadonna with not much of a personality. It would have been great for her to totally "lose it" at one point to realize her struggle and actually show the depth in her character development, instead of the "how you've changed" affirmations we're bombarded with to suggest she's any different. We don't really know how shallow she is to begin with unless we judge her by the company she keeps back home.

Even at the very end, I'm not convinced that she made the right decision. Emotionally, where were the blood, sweat and tears she shed from this adventure? She seemed so cold to it all until the last minute change of heart. I just didn't feel the attachment, and felt more like she was running away from her problems than seizing an opportunity. Kate's own thoughts weren't expressed well enough. You never knew what she thought about everything that she just went through, and it was really hard to empathize if you are pretty much annoyed with some of the idiotic resolutions to her problems.

There were times when I really thought we might be getting somewhere interesting only to end the game and realize it was meaningless. Most of what you learn in the game is irrelevant to your goal unless you plan to play Syberia2, I guess. I'm so disappointed about sitting through the Professor's lecture for no reason at all. I'm even more upset about the hoopla Kate put me through just because she couldn't scare away some darn birds.

This game doesn't set you up for a sequel, it's literally half the story. It seems unfair and very upsetting, but can't wait to play part 2.

Rating:
Summary: The best of the best
Review: There is no question as to why this game won the "Adventure Game of the Year" award,among many others.The cut-scenes were breathtaking,the musical scores excellent,and the graphics just beautiful.I've played,I believe,almost every adventure game out there,including old and hard to find ones.This blows them all away.Kate Walker,a career oriented lawyer,must track down Hans Voralberg,the only living heir to the Voralberg Toy co.The whole game is based on her journey into four territoties of France,Germany and Russia,and eventually towards Syberia.Hans is an elusive man throughout the game.Her discoveries of an automaton creation,created by the mentally slow but brilliant Hans Voralberg,is an amazing adventure within itself.The shadows,sights,sounds,just everything about this game peirces the mind and soul.There were times,I was moved to tears...and times of rewarding triumph.Syberia isn't just a game,it's an experience.An experience,that I'll not soon forget....

Rating:
Summary: Syberian dream
Review: This game is almost perfect. The sceenery is the best that I have ever seen. It is almost like living a dream. I can't wait for the next one to come out. Great game for more relaxed people or for people who want to relax, think and enjoy a good mystery.

Rating:
Summary: HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE
Review: I actually bought this game on the suggestions left here by other people who have played it before. I will have to add to the comments of the simply BEAUTIFUL graphics that leap with texture and color and subtlety. And as interactive artwork, I cannot think of anything as sublime as "Syberia".

As for actual game play, however, it has to be the most boring, inane, futile exercise I have ever had the displeasure of experiencing. It is one of those games where you have to touch EVERYTHING on the screen and use EVERYTHING in your arsenal until you finally get the opportunity to move to another screen. And heaven help you if things are not done in sequence, you will be trapped in these luxurious settings forever until you retrace every single one of your steps and repeat them in the correct order.

When I purchased this game, the seller was kind enough to also enclose printed excplicit instructions on game play, which I assume was downloaded from the net someplace. I am grateful for these instructions because without them, I would have never have figured out how to get out of SEVERAL sequences and I'm sure I would have thrown the game out of the window in frustration. There are certain sequences and puzzles I just cannot fathom someone without explicit instructions figuring out.

I have since completed the entire game and am just all in all displeased with the experience. I would have much rather read a National Geographic, it would have worn much less on my patience.

Rating:
Summary: Many technical problems
Review: I have not been able to play most of the game due to tech problems--Have not been able to save games so have always had to restart game. If problems could be worked out it looks like a fairly good game.

Rating:
Summary: Syberia? Yes, I like it
Review: It seems a tale of other times coming out the Collodi's pencil (who wrote Pinocchio)or others writers spreaded with vivid imagination. But it's not all. Drawings and graphics are marvellous, cared in every least detail. Who played Syberia1 is waiting, certainly, anxiously Syberia2.