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Having now traveled through Syberia a total of six times, I sometimes I feel as though its fictitious towns are my homeland.  What does this say about the charm and appeal of a game that it can be constantly replayed while other adventure games – too numerous to mention – are a chore to play and finish only once?

So when Syberia was recently released at a budget price of only $20 for the Microsoft Xbox, it was time to once again revisit and re-immerse myself in its Northern European locales. 

Now rather than post another review or even another love song to Syberia, we thought it would be more pertinent to instead discuss what is right with the console version and what could be done to improve the console release of not only Syberia, but any adventure game on console if adventure games truly wish to reach a wider audience.

The good news is that Syberia on the Xbox looks better than ever – if that is possible. The console version appears to be a direct port from the pc version, but now instead of viewing a 17” monitor screen, I was enveloped by a 35 “ flat screen and the graphics were enhanced immensely.  There are a few rumblings on Internet game boards of players who have their Xbox system setup with the HD Adapter and component cables and have vertical lines running up the screen and multiple screens of what should only be one screen, but I personally experienced no such problems.

The game itself plays exactly the same as the pc version, with the exception that the analog stick can be used to direct Kate Walker’s movements. Whether this is an improvement or not will depend on your opinion console controllers and analog sticks.

So far the game seems to have had a positive impact on the normally action-orientated console community. There have been the usual bone-head postings by twitch gamers who wonder why Kate Walker never whips out an Uzi and forces information from other characters, but for the most part the public opinion has been similar to this five-star love-fest by Diamond Joe Quimby on the EB World reader reviews:

AN EXCELLENT BUDGET TITLE FOR *INTELLIGENT* PEOPLE

This game is a work of art, and its story is awesome. If you are 12 years old or less you probably wouldn’t like it, or if you prefer to mash buttons in a frenzy whilst multi-colored shapes whiz by you at a fantastic speed. This is designed to played through like a mystery novel or detective adventure. Its VERY worthwhile to complete, and some of the in-game locations are simply breathtaking. For $20 you can’t go wrong, unless that bully beat you up for your lunch money again last week.

So then, if everything is basically the same as the pc version, what is the incentive to purchase the console port? Well, there are some nifty extras included on the Xbox disk.

Of note is a wonderful Syberia trailer, a collection of 2D pictures and their transformation to 3D and a brief biography of the career of Syberia and Amerzone mastermind Benoit Sokal. Best of all though is an in-depth interview with Benoit and other Microid personnel.  The interview is in French and is translated into English at the bottom of the screen. It is a huge positive for the adventure community to have Microids accord Benoit the recognition he is due, much in the same manner that Sierra used to do for their stable of developers.

But, even with these welcome extras, there are still a few additions that could have made this a ‘must-buy’ purchase for anyone who already owns the pc Syberia and is debating whether or not it is worthwhile to also own the console version.

The most noticeable omission is the lack of a preview for the upcoming Syberia 2! Very few console games were probably even aware of the existence of Syberia and those who have now become enchanted with what Just Adventure readers have known for a long time are not aware that a sequel is in development. And even if was only a preview of the pc version it still could have pushed sales and maybe even generated some interest for the sequel to be published on console.

There is also, despite numerous requests, no separate disk to allow the gamer to enjoy the beautiful and haunting music from Syberia.  The recently released Silent Hill 3 included a separate disk of music from the game and used this as a selling-point.

Finally, shame on Microids for quoting Syberia reviews from USA Today and CNN on the back of the game box. Some may consider this self-serving on our part, but what good does it do to feature these quotes – other than it is Microids way of saying, “Look, we received good notices from major news services” – for no one will visit USA Today or CNN and find further information about adventure games. Yet, a quote from an established and well-respected member of the adventure community like Just Adventure or Gameboomers could have generated new adventure recruits as they would have surfed to these unknown urls and discovered that yes, Virginia other adventure games do exist. It is a positive cycle that encourages growth for all concerned.  It all seems to make sense in the most simplistic of reasoning, but I know from past experience that this is what happens when a company craves national recognition and rather than helping the adventure community grow from within, their attempts to capture the console audience whither and die at the vine because potential recruits have no point of reference to embrace their newfound obsession.

But the bottom line is for $20 you can’t go wrong and if you already own the pc version of Syberia and can’t afford or don’t want to spend the extra cash, then refer a friend to buy the console port over the pc version as the adventure genre needs to begin to make a positive impact on the console community.