Gameology 2.0

Review Of

Sokal, Benoît. Syberia. Chicago, IL: The Adventure Company, 2002.

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I'd heard of Syberia long before I bought it a week or so ago at the local Target. I'd heard it was a good game worth checking out, and since I'm researching GAGs (along with my partner in inquiry, Mat T.), I picked it up. It was only $10, and the package advertised that JustAdventure.com gave the game 100% and that it'd won "Adventure Game of the Year."

Sweet mother of God! Even such praise as that doesn't do this game justice. I knew that within a few minutes after I'd installed the game--though even the installation graphics were captivating enough to really catch my attention. I knew right away that B. Sokal's game was something really special.

Where to begin? I love everything about Syberia. I guess I can start by saying that it has much in common with The Longest Journey, a game I reviewed earlier. You move your avatar (Kate Walker) around by clicking on the screen. Your mouse pointer will change if you are pointing to a "change room" zone; the rooms are usually just a little larger than the screen. The mouse pointer will also change if it's over an object you can pick up, manipulate, or someone you can talk to. It's generally pretty clear where you should scroll your mouse--especially once you've played for awhile and can anticipate what parts of the graphics are likely to be active. You can't control the camera, whose angle and distance changes sometimes from room to room, but thankfully this is never a problem. Indeed, the developers always choose the absolute best camera angle and position for each room. After suffering through the perspective nightmare that is Cyan's URU, I found the elegant simplicity of Syberia even more enjoyable.

Syberia seems to be the pinnacle of the 90s-style graphical adventure game. The graphics are spectacular; not just "wow," but immersive. What I mean is that when you see a row of houses in Syberia, just looking at them is enough to make you want to know what's in there. Several scenes were so beautiful I would have gladly saved them to my desktop as a background. I have seldom beheld such exquisite graphics in a game.

But it's not the graphics or the interface that really make this game stand out: It's the game world and the very interesting characters you meet. The game is obviously a labor of great love--a love which is contagious. The game takes place in a post-WWII Russia, though I'd describe the setting as more "magical realism" than historically accurate or surreal. What I mean is that the gameworld bears enough semblance to ours to emanate a certain familiarity, but departs enough from it to make it obvious that things are different here. Probably the most obvious example is the artificially intelligent mechanical "automatons" sprinkled throughout the game. What would be justified by "magic" in other games is explained here by mechanical wizardry and engineering genius. It works. At times the game is like being lost in one of those dazzling little mechanical pocket watches whose operation is so intricate we can only marvel.

The characters are also well-drawn. Your avatar carries a cell phone which links her to the "everyday world" far away from the strange villages, factories, and resorts she visits in her quest to find the heir of an old toy factory. She starts off a very insecure and masochistic type. The phone rings; it's her boss abusing her. Then her whiny, selfish boyfriend tries to lay on a guilt trip. She also deals with a mother (who turns out to be a major help to you) and a best friend who betrays her. So, through this virtual cell phone, your avatar is connected to a sort of soap opera drama that all occurs behind the scenes. We never see her mom, boss, boyfriend, or best friend--yet by the end of the game we feel we know them.

We also come to know two other characters--Hans and Anna Voralburg--through the toys they left behind. Gradually, Kate manages to put together the story of what happened to Hans and Anna after a terrible childhood accident. It's quite a beautiful story, and I'm not going to spoil it here.

Gradually, Kate grows more distant from her "real life" and becomes more immersed (as do we) in the alternate reality. She gains confidence and eventually learns to stand up for herself. It's an amazing transformation for both Kate and the player. I know I was belting out a "woo!!" when she finally told one certain jerk where to get off.

The game has its difficult moments, but I only had to consult a hint site once. I was stuck, though the fault was mine (I mistakenly thought I had tried something to solve a puzzle that I hadn't). When I saw the answer, I first said, "I tried that!" Once past that point, I never had to "cheat" again, though I spent at least a half-hour on a few puzzles. The difficulty seemed just right for me--I would get stumped, but when I at last solved the puzzle, I had a "Ohhhhh!" rather than a "How they hell was I supposed to figure that out?" moment. The game is coherent and the puzzles logical.

I really can't say enough nice things about Syberia. It's a spectacular game and definitely one of the best I've played.