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Beautiful game, but too many bugs.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 26, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I was so eager to play this game that I'd read so many positive things about, but sadly I was disappointed in the quality of the game. First I'd like to review the postives about the game. The scenery is beautiful without qestion. A lot of time was spent of the graphics and artwork and it shows. Also, the puzzles weren't too difficult. Now some may find that a disappointment, but I actually enjoyed it because I didn't have to rely too much on cheating to solve the game for once.
Now the negatives... there were just too many glich's in the game. The dialogue was just way off and overlapping. Everytime characters spoke to one another, they'd overlap each other making it very confusing and difficult to understand. If you play this game, use the subtitles and follow those while trying to tune out the audio speakers. Also another problem are the graphics. They were way off. For example, Kate (the main character) would be running down the middle of a street or crossing a bridge, would end up walking in front of objects she actually should be walking behind. It's difficult to explain, but after a while it does get irritating. Also there were many times in which half of characters bodies would be missing or Kate would have partially blacked off face (an obvious glich). I kid you not! She actually looked like the phontom of the opera! Now, of course I thought these glich's may be because of my computer, but I'd installed it a couple of times on 2 computers, and at different levels (recommeded and full) and the glich's were on all the games. It may be that I just got a bum copy of the game, I don't know. Another irk I had was the speed. Getting Kate from point A to point B was a slow process. I wish there had been a Zip mode. Sure if I'd double click where I'd like Kate to go she'd run instead of walk, but her run was a slow trot. Also, the plot of the story wasn't too great. Kate's a lawyer who's trying to hunt down an heir to a toy factory in the hopes of getting him to sign over the rights to a company she's representing. However, I realized at the end of the game, throughout the game all I was doing was completing tasks in order to get the train (her main mode of transportation) to work. Not fun. This game had so many possiblities, but sadly they were missed.

Pleasant Pastime

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: January 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is a problem-solving game... it presents a series of challenges and clues. Through exploration, you solve those problems. This game does NOT contain puzzle-screens (like in the Myst series of games).

Especially appreciated: Tricks (by game developers) are not used to make the challenges overly complicated. Example: miniscule mouse-over events that merely frustrate.

The artistry in this game (backgrounds, abient sounds, cut scenes) are stunningly beautiful.

[...]

I'm glad I bought this game and enjoyed playing it.

Second best adventure I've ever played

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: December 09, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I've been playing adventure games since they were text based on a mainframe computer and I really like a good one. When I get a game I like I pass it around to all my friends and family. That is what I did with this game. I have now purchased a second copy because I loanded the original out so often that somehow it never made it back to me. Since Syberia II is due out in a couple of months I wanted to replay the game. I've heard of problems running the game but I know I loaned my copy to 6 - 7 people and non of them reported any problems with the PC version. The interface seemed logical and easy to use.
For me what makes a good game is first and formost plot. It has to have a good story. No matter how good the graphics are if you don't care about the story nothing else seems to matter. As part of the plot it has to have characters I want to know more about and react appropriately to the world they are in. This game has a good plot and good characters.
Next are the puzzles. I prefer puzzles that naturally arise from the game. They did a pretty good job here. With any adventure game you have some picking up everything and trying itmes with others to see if anything happens just because what seemed logical to a programmer might not seem so logical to you or you flat out miss it. At least there aren't any combination lock puzzles where the combination was written on some wall somewhere and you have to use trial and error. Puzzles don't seem to be put in just to lengthen the game.
The one contention most people have with the game is the ending. I'll try not to explain the ending in too much detail because I don't want to spoil it for anyone. The ending does seem to end abruptly and leave you with a sense of "there should be more here" but if you think about the main character (Kate Walker) in the beginning everyone else seemed to be running her life and at the end she takes control herself. The story didn't tie up all the loose ends but you knew Kate would eventually do that.
My favorite adventure game is "Day of the Tentacle"

boring rehash of a ten year old game.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 6 / 18
Date: January 04, 2003
Author: Amazon User

If you've just bought a computer, never played a game before, never heard of the game MYST, and find this game in a dumpster you might just enjoy this ridiculous, boring, overblown, tedious, dimwitted game. Endlessly boring gameplay puncuated by mediocre payoffs with graphics that we've already seen ten years ago. This is what happens when a bunch of graphic artists that understand the subtleties of tic-tac-toe write a game for the masses. If you've already clipped your nails and removed all of your belly-button lint, then you've already had more fun than you'll ever find in this derivative rip off of a classic game that was fun and inventive ten years ago. Waste of time.

Beautiful, but disappointing... and a little boring

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 6
Date: June 17, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I'm an adventure gaming fan, so I was thrilled to hear about Syberia as a worthy entry in the genre, with frequent comparisons to The Longest Journey. I bought it ASAP, not expecting a clone of TLJ by any means, just hoping for a good adventure game.

Well, I have yet to finish Syberia and it's been 9 months. The game is breathtakingly beautiful to look at, and obviously designed with care.

But as lovely as the game is to look at, the story is kind of plodding, the voice acting is (frankly) terrible, and the game just has no personality. The player is given little chance to explore environments or make choices -- you simply have to point and click your way through every (often very derivative) puzzle to get to the next point.

One of the things I loved about "Longest Journey," as well as "Sanitarium," "Grim Fandango" "Myst 3" and the "Monkey Island Series," was the sense that we got the chance to contribute to the story or character's choices and personality. Characters like April and Guybrush really sparkle simply because the game doesn't just want to get you from A to Z, but to help you explore a world and feel part of it. So there are those little extras, like clicking on an object or a character just to enjoy the protagonist's responses to it ("I'm not picking that up!") and to learn about the character. There's nothing like this in Syberia.

I wish I'd liked it more, and do hope to finish the game someday (I got about 2/3 through before finally giving up in boredom). But it's ironic that the story is about automatons -- the character of Kate is almost as flat and uninteresting.

Excellent example of 3rd person adventure

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: December 18, 2003
Author: Amazon User

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

Enjoyable adventure game--five stars review

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: May 10, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I just finished this game and I'm sorry I let it sit on my desk unplayed for so long. I saved it for a "rainy day" and must admit that the several evenings that I immersed myself in this software were very enjoyable.

As previous reviewers have noted, this is an adventure game of the Myst variety--lots of sumptuous graphics and a plot that keeps you moving forward until the end. This software is not the "kill everything that moves" type of adventure game that is so popular nowadays, but it is something you can give to a pre-teen and not worry about any gross violence, language, or suggestive material. It's just clean fun. I'd also compare this software to the Longest Journey, which is my favorite adventure game to date. There is a lot of dialogue between your character and others, and the logic puzzles aren't too strenuous in nature (Remember Riven and some of those killer puzzles...ugh...first time I went to a walkthough). The puzzles in Syberia are sequential in nature for the most part and very down-to-earth. For example, you find items as you progress, and apply those items to various tasks you have to undertake to move forward in the game. Can't get through a door? That means you haven't completed other portions of the sequence or found the right item to help you open the door. Nothing too far-fetched or annoyingly hard to figure out.

As for the character movement complaint from a previous reviewer, my solution suggestion would be to have your character "run" from place to place...a simple double-click of the mouse and she moves faster between frames. I enjoyed the wonderful Art Nouveau architecture/furniture theme used for the first village sequence--wish I could afford that in my own life(sigh). I even started rummaging around on the Internet for more information about automatons (producing them seems to be a lost art, but they really do exist in many forms, if you have the money to spend on them). The sequences were varied and different enough to keep your attention throughout--I looked forward to exploring each new "place" that Kate progressed to. Overall the sound was appropriate and the music isn't irritating--something that has bugged me about adventure games in the past. I had some "fuzziness" in the sound during the game, but that had to do with my older computer and its sorry audio equipment. Even with my overall slower computer, the graphics and movements were flawless--you shouldn't have a problem enjoying the game even if you don't have the newest super-sonic speed hardware out there.

Overall, a very enjoyable experience and I recommend it to others who enjoy this gaming genre. I'm looking forward to starting the sequel, Syberia 2, this weekend!

Nice graphics, okay gameplay

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: October 03, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I think the previous reviews have said it all, but it couldn't hurt to hear it from another person. The graphics are very nice in this game. The muted palette and European setting make for some very beautiful backdrops.

Remove that element, however, and you're left with only an average adventure game. In the current state of adventure games, though, you have to take what you can get. With the mechanical element present in this game, the "puzzle potential" was very high, but it just doesn't live up to what it could have been. Most puzzles can be solved by located an item on the same screen or an adjacent screen, and little thought it required.

The story is interesting enough, but I'm not sure how much replayability you're looking at with this one. I'd certainly recommend this game to any adventure game fan that feels left out in the PC gaming world in the last 5 years. Thinking about it just makes me miss the Curse of Monkey Island all the more.

A good interactive movie, Kate Walker

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: January 20, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I hate "find the pixel" type adventure games, where if you don't see the key hidden in the background, you're stuck forever. I encountered this thrice in the game (once in the notary's office, once on the factory platform, and once at the cosmodrome), but online walkthrus helped me out.

This is an absolutely gorgeous flick. I went into this game expecting it to be more of an interactive movie than an adventure game, and I wasn't disappointed. Sure, the premise is a bit thin (but think of all the billable hours her firm's getting!), but once you decide to suspend disbelief and just immerse yourself in the world, it's very entertaining, for about ten hours.

But, Kate Walker, you'll discover, Kate Walker, that your robot engineer becomes really irritating, Kate Walker, really quickly, Kate Walker.

It's definitely a good pickup for $10 or less. I encountered no technical issues on my two-year-old laptop, except that the intense graphics drained the battery in about 45 minutes.

Oy!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 4 / 11
Date: September 09, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Siberia is one of the most dissapointing games me and my mom have ever played before. Although the graphics were ok, they story seemed to have not been worked on properly and thoroughly. There are puzzles everywhere, and many of them you have to do for no entire reason. If you ever want to try this game, make sure that you have the patience to finish it.

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