Syberia II
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Preview Syberia II Developer: Microids Canada |
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Don’t tell my wife, but I think I’m in love. I mean, have you seen this screenshot of Kate Walker? Ouch. Oh, if I only were twenty years younger…and a computer generated image.
Sigh.Anyhow, thanks to the generosity of Microids, we had the extreme pleasure to play a short, one-puzzle demo from Syberia II. As stated in our ‘Best Adventure Sequel Award,’ “it so far seems to be more of the same, but this is a quality ‘sameness’ that outshines the competition.” In other words, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ (are you reading this Ragnar?).
The demo begins with the slinky Kate Walker standing in the lounge car of the familiar wind-up locomotive from Syberia.
Through the lounge car and into the bedroom – where we previously discovered a handless Oscar – the diminutive Hans Voralberg now sits at a miniature workshop making necessary automaton repairs. The always inquisitive Kate, she is a lawyer after all, asks Hans not only when they will be leaving for Syberia, but also questions Hans as to if Syberia even exists!
Hans replies in the affirmative, but informs Kate that a few tasks must be completed before they leave, one of which is to complete a repair promised to Cirkos, the cabaret owner. Hans then gives Kate a mechanical heart.
Kate exits the train and follows the platform to the left where a staircase leads to the structures underneath the elevated train platform. About a bit of exploring, Kate enters the gloomy cabaret. On a stage to the far right are four stationary automaton horses. Cirkos explains that the mechanical dancing horses are in need of repair and Kate offers to restore the cabaret’s entertainment.
The mechanical heart fits nicely into the mechanism at the base of the horse’s metallic hoofs and after rearranging the connecting pipes (I won’t spoil the actual solution), the horses spring to life. At this point a cut-scene takes over and the look of pure, unbridled joy on Kate’s face as she watches the horses is infectious. As the horses wind down, there is a large, earthquake-like rumbling that shakes the entire cabaret and Kate rushes outside to see….
My disappointment as the brief, but enchanting, demo ended way too soon. The screenshots below though, taken from actual gameplay, are proof as to the magnetism of this game’s graphics:
This short demo alone has so many, wonderful and unique images that you want to plant a big, sloppy kiss on developer Benoit Sokal (jeez, I’m starting to sound like Ray). Silky snowflakes softly drift from a seemingly endless supply above and whiten the metallic landscape; as Kate exits the locomotive to search for a cabaret, a solitary factory worker can be spied below shuffling across the train-yard; the cabaret patrons have a sorrowful, ‘drink our sorrows away’ look etched into their faces. It is honestly art masquerading as a game.
The musical score by Dimitri Bodiansky and Nick Varley is again enthralling and deviates just enough from the original to be considered a logical extension. For the record, in all the years I’ve been playing adventure games, Syberia was the first and only time I have requested a score of the game music and was disappointed when Microids informed me that there were no plans to release such a compilation.
Syberia II is currently scheduled for a late 2003 release and Microids has yet to officially announce their North American publisher. In the meantime, we have even more screenshots and character images for you to feast your eyes on as each sunrise brings us one more day closer to the most anticipated sequel in the annals of adventure gaming.
