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.