Syberia II
Now with more mammoths!
Tags: Syberia II Categories: Reviews, Xbox Reviews
Posted by Ludwig on Mar 2nd, 2005
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Syberia II (title page) | 1 | ||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Adventure | No | ||
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When you’re in the painful process of crawling through a sweltering desert, clutching at coarse sand and breathing in arid air as you seek civilization; chances are good that the discovery of an oasis will bring unmitigated delight to your heart. Okay, so it might not be all that impressive in terms of oasis standards, since there’s no gently swaying palm tree and the amount of water means it’s really more like a big puddle. Also, there’s a dirty shoe floating in it. Nevertheless, your burning throat and exhausted muscles will make you look past all these problems and appreciate the liquid sustenance that even a second-rate pond can provide.
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The original Syberia was one such an oasis. Released during a time when decent adventure games had yet again lapsed in status from “periodically released” to “just an obscure myth”, the game’s quality wasn’t entirely viewed in the most objective of lights. It had a majestic atmosphere, laced with melancholy and stunning prerendered environments, but at its core was a somewhat hollow experience. Puzzles were about as challenging as your average cereal box maze and the storyline, whilst oddly intriguing, only started proper just as the game drew to a cliffhanging close. Continuing directly from the events of its predecessor, Syberia II presents the next leg of New York lawyer Kate Walker’s adventure as she accompanies eccentric inventor Hans Voralberg on his search for a mysterious island that holds the world’s last remaining mammoths. The second part of her tumultuous train driven trek is definitely an improvement on the last, though a few old problems are still dragged along for the ride.
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From a visual standpoint, the game boasts some very impressive prerendered environments, both in terms of technical ability and artistic flair. The isolated locales you’ll be given the opportunity to explore are lovingly detailed, with each camera angle carefully chosen and each scene possessing that subtle sense of being alive, as opposed to being a simple static screen. The understated soundtrack is also a strong contributor here when it comes to creating a specific atmosphere. Character models are nicely detailed and blend in very well with the landscapes, though animations are still a little on the stiff side (as is some of the voice acting). The game doesn’t aim to blow you away with bump-mapping or complex pixel shaders, but anyone with an appreciation for beautifully rendered virtual worlds is sure to come away pleased.
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Looking at these fine images is only part of the experience – moving through them is a different matter entirely. While the original PC controls translate very well to the Xbox’s controller and make interacting with objects and characters entirely effortless, there are still several occasions where the “path” through the prerendered backdrops is less than obvious, resulting in numerous instances where Kate finds herself running into an invisible wall or getting her movement impeded by some invisible rock. Not a catastrophic event, but a minor annoyance I’d rather do without. Or perhaps it’s a deeper aspect of the storyline I missed, with the invisible walls representing Kate’s doubts about her decisions in life and her lingering uncertainty about the future… Yeah, probably not.
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The slightly surreal and captivating storyline picks up the pace and overall mammoth count in the sequel, with several new and interesting characters getting introduced, including a pair of conniving villains. The narrative is definitely an improvement over the last game, though it loses none of the odd charm that created so many fans in the first place. Interesting locations and a few surprises await that very group of people, as does a very disappointing ending (again). After painting themselves into a corner, it seems as though the writers simply called it quits and quickly covered up their mess with a tactless fade-to-black. That being said, the journey is more important than the destination, especially in the case of Syberia’s plot which centers on a timeless journey across forgotten lands.
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Naturally, lands couldn’t possibly be classified as “forgotten” if they weren’t liberally littered with puzzles. That’s just how things work in the land of adventure games – if you’re going to visit weird and mysterious places, you’d best be prepared for riddles, enigmas and conundrums…and uncooperative penguins. Whereas the insultingly trivial puzzles present in the first Syberia title were clearly designed by apathetic chimpanzees, the sequel’s mental demands are considerably higher and are often more logical and appropriate for the circumstances. With both object-based and more abstract obstacles standing in their way, longtime adventure gamers will find a nicely devised and varied set of challenges to keep them busy in-between pertinent plot points.
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With an intriguing story, superb art design and a strong collection of puzzles, Syberia II is a well-rounded adventure game, worthy of any genre fan’s attention. In the same instance, however, it’s also a game that’s very difficult to recommend to anyone outside of that particular gaming sphere, doing very little to make itself more accessible to people who are more used to blowing up Nazis from outer space. Syberia II is traditional in every sense, a fact which will obviously appeal to the adventure gamers but won’t change the opinions that others have regarding the point-and-click genre. Keep that in mind should you decide to pick this one up.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
+ Beautifully designed and rendered environments + Solid and more challenging set of puzzles + Intriguing storyline |
7.3 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- Maneuvering your character is troublesome at times - Weak ending (again!) |
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| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| A solid conclusion to Benoit Sokal's Syberia saga. | |
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Tags: Syberia II
Posted by Ludwig on Mar 2nd, 2005 and is filed under Reviews, Xbox Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
