Techtite's PC Game Reviews!

"Anyone who thinks "based on a video game" is a foregone insult to any movie review these days, must go out and buy Syberia NOW..."

---from the review

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Anyone who thinks "based on a video game" is a foregone insult to any movie review these days, must go out and buy Syberia NOW. This is an adventure game whose story has the imagination and scope of an Oscar-caliber movie, yet is in fact among the very "video games" that myopic movie critics see fit to insult every month. I defy any such movie critic to play Syberia and not admit that its story is more vibrant, more unique, and more imaginative than 90% of the same old cliché flicks Hollywood churns out each year.

The story begins with an unusual funeral procession at a small town in the French Alps. This is clearly no typical funeral procession, since its entire entourage consists of clockwork automatons, made by the clockwork factory of the late Anna Volalberg. A lone human, Kate Walker, pays witness to this procession, which has augmented her "cinchy" job into a very difficult one. She was sent to have Anna sign on the dotted line and sell her floundering toy factory to a prestigious client of Kate's law firm. Trouble is, now that Anna is gone, that ownership lies with her brother Hans, whose whereabouts are unknown. It is your mission to trace his life since leaving this small town, and find him.

I think what really sold me with Syberia is its overall message; what makes us "human," compared to the life-sized windup toys walking up that rain-soaked hill? As Kate's mystery progresses, she gets called on her trusty cellular phone by her friends, relatives, and  colleagues back home, each of whom is either a total dimwit, or too obsessed with their "routine" to truly show any compassion for Kate. Each call seems not as interested in Kate's well being as much as how quickly she can return, so their daily routines can be complete again. This is Kate's life to a "T," whose most frequent phone call is from her boss, demanding her to "do what you're told," as if she were a wind-up toy herself. Will this assignment be a turning point for her? You bet; and that's half the fun.

Of course, kids interested in merely a few big explosions for your buck should not buy this game, which is clearly made for a more mature age group. Instead of jumping over platforms over the lava or shooting everything moving or some other cliché "puzzle", Kate must instead trace the life of Hans, and slowly learn how much of a life this robot-maker has had, compared to her own. Anti-Myst zealots may be slightly miffed that the majority of resulting puzzles involve figuring out how Hans' long-deserted windup contraptions work, though unlike Myst, you're not just blindly pushing buttons. People, mementos and paperwork lead to a much more elaborate story experience, and stronger puzzles as well. What's even better is that Kate is no stranger to talking to herself --er, "You"-- so you rarely are merely clicking on a lever and wondering why nothing is happening. This leads to a few easy puzzles, though also a few so-easy-they're-hard brain twisters, which should be enjoyed by even the most diehard, "classic" adventure gamers.

The ingenuity of using said story to enhance such puzzles is truly impressive. Near the start of the game, Kate is in need of getting an oar for a boat; something she cannot do herself, because the oar is far from shore, muddy, and all wet. This is in fact not a sexist plot thread, though evidence of how rigid Kate's upbringing is upon the start of the game; she's no adventurer, she's a lawyer! In time, Kate learns to break free of her white-collar bonds, and is soon doing everything from taking to the air in a magnificent mechanical dirigible, to searching within an old, abandoned mine. She slowly learns to take a chance in life, and be a bit daring. In turn, the puzzles change as well, as Kate learns to do more daring things. The way she distracts a snooty resort spa lobby clerk, for example, is one of those so-simple-it's-brilliant puzzles that old-time adventure fans will truly enjoy.

Complaints are minor. However, if there is to be a Syberia 2, they do deserve to be said. One, this is one of those faux-3D games which uses 800x600 backdrops, and 3D-accelerated characters in the foreground. While this was acceptable in the days of, say, Alone in the Dark, computers are far more advanced now. Consider the fully-3D game engine of The Watchmaker, which not only offered a "free look," first-person view of each picturesque room of the mansion, though also offered for more frequent cinematography techniques, enhancing the overall story. While the 2D scene of Kate walking into a museum is truly impressive --with mammoth sculptures towering above her on both sides-- one can't help wonder how cool this game would've been with a fully 3D interface. Imagine this scene if we could see it with Kate's "own" eyes. Make it so with Syberia 2...presuming there is to be one.

To say that there needn't be such a sequel is not to say this game isn't one of the best adventure games I've played in years. In fact, it's just the opposite; this is one of those games whose finale is not only perfectly handled and show-stopping; it is fine as it is. While there is indeed a door left slightly ajar for such a sequel, it is clear Kate's destiny finally lies in the right direction, and that is all a gamer truly need to know. There is a certain "left to the imagination" glee in not knowing what will happen next for Kate. It's helping her achieve her own turning point in life, which is half the fun. Imagining for yourself where this turn leads is the other half.

---Techtite