![]() She also discovers that Hans was a genius inventor responsible for the factory’s signature goods, clock and gear automatons. Thus, Kate has to track down the illusive heir and seal the deal. The owner died, and a surprise heir was revealed in the form of her brother Hans, still alive somewhere out in Siberia. The game followed Kate Walker, an American lawyer representing a law firm assisting in a deal to buy out an old factory in a small French town called Valadilène. With a team of 35 people and a budget of two million euros (!), Syberia came out in the same year as Post Mortem, stemming to break away from the first person style Sokal used in his last game ( Amerzone) to a more traditional third person view. So what makes the series stick out to so many? What does it do that’s so rare? Still, that good will was so strong that these games have been ported all over the place, and it even earned a third game many years later. The series has been applauded for its art direction and surprisingly mature themes (by that, I mean actually mature as it explores themes of age and personal fulfillment and not shoot shoot bang titty curse word), but also flogged for simplistic mechanics. It’s become one of the most treasured and remembered works in Microïds library, though not without a lot of debate attached. If you can get around a decade old port with clunky controls for the sake of a great story and playing a criminally unrecognized gem, great! Unfortunately for all, it does feel like that is quite a lot to overcome when it all comes down to it.Designed by comic artist Benoît Sokal and developed by Microïds, the Syberia series has become an odd little chapter in the history of point and click adventure games. With a third Syberia lurking around the corner, a re-release of the first game seems like a great plan. Also, the tab for the game on the PSN is a little steep at $14.99. While the game itself remains intact, the controls are frustrating and the graphics could really use a paint job. It does date itself with its visuals and controls, but sometimes that’s the appeal of sitting down to re-releases of old gems that you may not have access to otherwise. If you’re looking for a bit of nostalgia, then Syberia is for you. While my enjoyment of the game allowed me to easily endure how ultimately dated such a port brings to the table, I can’t help but feel that there isn’t a big audience willing to do that too. The controls led to more frustrations than anything as it made it difficult to interact with objects at times or, this happened more often, move properly to the next screen which leaves you retracing your steps unnecessarily. On the PS3, they tend to be clunky and tedious and sadly, is quite a detractor from the game. You run around and uncover clues on each screen to help propel you through the story and the controls still handle much like they did upon first release. The controls are also basically the same. While this stands as a testament to how far graphics have come, it also stands as a test of your ability to play previous gen games. With its 3D models on painted backgrounds, it looks much like a game of the past generations of consoles. It is, with a few tweaks, the same game I’ve played before. This version of Syberia is not a remake nor is it remastered. The search to find the heir takes Kate on an incredible continent spanning journey towards the legendary Syberia. This is preventing its sale until Kate can get him to sign off on selling away all of the rights to the factory. The sale immediately hits a hiccup as the owner of the factory has just died and things become complicated even further when Kate discovers that the brother of the factories owner, long believed to be dead, is in fact alive and the heir to the factory. The plot of the game follows Kate Walker, a lawyer tasked with finalizing a sale of a toy factory in the dilapidated town of Valadilène in the French Alps. ![]() While Syberia remains a beloved cult classic, it feels like yet another re-release is beginning to show the more than a decade age of the game. An adventure game that struck a chord with gamers and critics alike and still makes its presence felt even today with a sequel in the works and a re-release for today’s gamers. ![]() Many years ago, before motion capture and console wars and when games actually worked on their release date, there came Syberia. ![]()
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