Syberia for Xbox Reviews by Gamers

Syberia is the kind of game that tries to be Myst, but more accessible. Unfortunately, while the game has more personality than classic puzzle adventures, it doesn't have the puzzles or adventure. That is a problem. The story revolves around a legal-type named Kate Walker who is overseeing the takeover of a toy company that specializes in automatons. She comes to Valadilene where she learns her seemingly easy task will be much more complicated, forcing her to travel to a bunch of places to track down Hans Voralberg so he can sign the company over. Syberia has some good things going for it, primarily the visuals. Each screen looks like a lush painting, making the world seem vivid and alive. It also has people and machines, making the world feel alive. Problem is none of them are particularly interesting. Kate seems like she just wants to go home most of the time and her biggest conversations come from people nagging her on the cell phone, oblivious that she's in a foreign country and thus unable to deal with their petty problems. The backgrounds, while beautiful, are static and maneuvering through them might seem awkward. Kate herself has this "Tomb Raider" twitch action going on while she walks. And there will be a lot of walking while you listen to the one footstep sound. Oh sure, Kate can run, but it's more of a brisk jog. The puzzles are pretty much jogging to one place to pick something up so you can jog somewhere else and grab another item, etc. Between every screen, there's a pause where everything stops. This isn't Halo, the game engine should be able to handle scene changes. You even need to hit the action button so you can walk up some stairs, which is just annoying. Overall, the game just seemed slow and boring. It's sort of nice that someone tried making a game without combat, shooting or platforming, but even as an interactive novel, this game falls short. If you want a puzzle adventure game, I would suggest people try Dreamfall, which is very engaging.