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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.