Anyone who played and enjoyed Syberia One will definetly enjoy this one. Here, I'm going to do my best to summarize the pros and cons of Syberia 2 without making a novel out of it.
PLOT:
The plot, as in the first game, played an essential role in the game. Although it didn't tend to hold my interest as well as the first game did, you did learn a lot about Hans and the rest of the Voralbergs, as well as why Hans is so devoted to finding Syberia. If you liked the "Oh, it's yet ANOTHER train station." thing that was going on in the first game, you won't be disapointed here, although I only recall winding the train once or twice in this game. (!!!)
CHARACTERS:
I always concider characters to be of the utmost importance when it comes to almost any work of fiction, including adventure games. Kate Walker is still as strong-willed as ever, although we don't see the wonderful character change that we did in the original game. At least, not in HER... I must say, however, Hans Voralberg disapointed me. Whenever he wasn't delirious, dying, kidnapped, or simply vanished, he provided little new information, and everything about him seemed rather deadpanned. Oscar's character, in contrast, totally exploded. He went through game one and the beginning of game two with the 'I-am-only-an-automaton. I-am-not-allowed-to-have-an-opinion-in-anything-that-goes-on-around-here.' attitude. However, as the game progressed, Oscar seemed to learn more and more about what it mean to be human, and there were times when he seemed inches away from having his own soul. He used a bigger variety of words and phrases toward the end. And, I hope someone else noticed this too, but his voice became less flat and mechanical as time went on, and, by the end, his voice had character and expression. The character evolution seemed to have gone from Kate to Oscar in this game, and I really enjoyed watching Oscar 'grow up'.
And, of course, lots of new characters are introduced too. A cute little orphaned girl, a peg-legged soldier (the world of Syberia has too many soldiers), and two cookie-cutter villians who actually had motives (unlike Kate), and also a returning character from the first game (totally unexpected!).
For those who have played the first game, we all remember the diolouge notebook. 'Kate', 'Mission', 'Help', 'Hans', etc. You will be quite happy to know, that in this game, once a topic is discussed it will vanish from the list. Probably to save you from hearing a certain conversation sixty million times just because you clicked on 'Help' wondering if there was anything new to say...
The character animations were good, as always. Once, I left Kate standing where she was for almost 5 whole minutes, because, every 10 seconds or so, she'd do something like cough or rub her hands together. Quite an improvement off of other adventure games I've played, in which they'll stand there for 10 whole minutes just breathing. The characters' body language matched what they were saying (most of the time) although I still say that Kate used her hands too much while she was talking. The only criticism I have to make about character animations is one paticular scene. In the 'dream sequence' (those who have played this game will know what I mean), Kate and Hans are having a conversation and, whoever is talking at the moment, the 'camera' will zoom in on their face. If the game creators wanted to do this, they should've focused more on the character animations in this shot: the talking character, although their lips moved, their teeth stayed clenched. That bothered me terribly...
PUZZLES:
The puzzles in this game were less of a 'find the right object to go in the right spot' and more of a variety of stuff. Some puzzles were still 'find the right object'. Some could be solved very easily by some lucky guesswork. Yet others you could fiddle with for hours and still be slamming the keyboard with frustration. There were a few that I had to get Internet help on, and I don't see any way whatsoever that I could've solved the puzzle without it. I personally think that Syberia should've stuck with really easy puzzles, or the really hard ones, instead of flip-flopping back and forth between the two. At the very least, it would've been easier to nail an age recommendation onto it.
SCENERY/PLACES:
As always, the graphics were astounding. Everything from running water to fire looked absoloutly fantastic. And all the little details, too... Kate leaving footprints in the snow, seeing her shadows in the light, seeing her reflection when she walks over a puddle... honestly, walking through screen after screen of the arctic tundra has never been so beautiful.
Note the 'screen after screen' phrase.
I recall one particular puzzle in which I needed to use a canteen of water to do something specific. There were lots of things I could do with the canteen of water, but only one would work. Normally, trial and error would work very well, but, the only problem was, once you tried and failed, you use up all the water in the canteen. So you had to go walking across (I counted) 8 screens of snow and ice in order to refill the canteen, and then go walking the 8 screens back. For those of us without much patience for seeing Kate run around in the snow, it was incredibly frustrating.
OVERALL:
Overall, this game will not disapoint those who are buying it because they fell in love with the first game. Although some of the kinks have been worked out in this one, there are still some that remain. However, I really loved this game: the graphics were astounding; the plot, although it had some weak points, was still very good; the characters were mind-blowing, and everyone's (ok, more like MY) favorite tin man had a bigger role! Anyway, all in all, this game is definitely worth the money. So... what're you waiting for? Go ahead and buy it! |
I've decided to write a double review on Syberia and Syberia II, as both games are actually one and will see the same review twice. Even though each one can be played independent of the other, the entirety of the story is cemented into one. I believe it was Benîot (Ben-wa) Sokal's intentions to do so. Therefore, Syberia II is not a sequel to Syberia, but rather a continuation. To enjoy the full impact of the story both should be played together. Syberia can be approached as a delicious cake with Syberia II as the icing and merges to form a wonderful product fresh from the bakery!
If not done so already, Syberia must be included in the video game hall-of-fame! I'm a senior who enjoys a great game. I've played video games since the mid-Seventies and without a doubt this is one of the most memorable experiences. It can be enjoyed by anyone of any age-group willing to take the time to tinker simply because it belongs into a class by itself. A genre known as adventure-gaming. This should not be confused with role-playing games (RPG). There is no time limit and doesn't require the reflexes of a chipmunk, only the clicking of the mouse and your own freewill.
Adventure-gaming often requires the solving of puzzles. Some puzzles are reasonably easy while others are extremely difficult. There is a reason. Adventure games are meant to be flexible as they can be played in various ways. If a person is gifted at problem-solving they offer a challenge. Those who are not, yet enthusiastic, will spend hours if not days working on a particular puzzle. On the other hand, there are those who prefer to travel with the aid of a walk-through. Whatever the case, there is no right or wrong way to play.
Playing Syberia along with the feeling of accomplishment, is like interacting with a beautiful movie. The game plays with a screen-to-screen action of different perspectives, along with background graphics that are absolutely spectacular! I'm sure there's other notable games out there, but the fact Syberia can still be secured is an indication of its worth and impact that it has. It was stated in an interview with Sokal there would be no Syberia III. I'm not sure this is a wise decision. There's nothing wrong with developing a new game as he did with Paradise, but if you've got a hit going investigate all the possibilities before calling it quits. Not to give anything away, but the ending of Syberia II finds Kate Walker (the main character) traveling by boat. This affords her more freedom to travel anywhere and the name "Syberia" could reflect the adventures of Kate Walker rather than a location.
I found no problem with game-play and things went the way I wanted and expected. Accuracy of the cursor was loosened a little in Syberia II and found myself having to go through the entire list of dialogue with each encounter. There was only one bug which was found in Syberia that became known as the "Barrockstadt" crash. Kate retrieves an egg, descends a ladder and crosses the train and river via a bridge heading back to the university. About halfway across the bridge the game stops and crashes to the desktop. I remedied this by using a different route which led to screenshots not normally planned. The train was crossed through the deck that left me facing the second part of the bridge from a different direction. I avoided passing the door of the station and walked around leading to another screenshot the game didn't expect. This prevented the crash.
Sharon Mann who voiced Kate Walker was a perfect match-up. My favorite line in was, "The thing's s...tuck!"
With the market flooded with action games of war, sword and sorcery adventure games are a pleasant alternative. While the game is designed as a single-player with a point-and-click control, several people can join-in and work together with one person operating the mouse and make it a family affair.
All-in-all, Syberia and Syberia II is a magnificent and unforgettable game! |
Expedited Available
"A well done adventure game!"
"A Satisfying Wrap-Up to Game One"