Syberia: Difference between revisions

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[[File:syberia1_1730.jpg|frame|Mammoths feature heavily in this game.]]

 

Kate Walker, a lawyer working for an American toy company, comes to a remote French village of Valadilene to finalize the purchase of the local "toy factory". Very soon, however, she discovers that the owner of the factory, Anna Voralberg, has recently passed away but there is an heir: Anna's long-lost little brother Hans. She also learns that the factory didn't produce "toys"--but instead, "automatons", [[Ridiculously-Human Robots|Ridiculously Human]] [[Clockwork Creature|Clockwork Creatures]] imbued with a [[Soul]] by their inventor... who just happens to be none other than Hans Voralberg himself. Both intrigued by Hans' persona and determined to finish the deal, Kate embarks on a surrealistic journey through all the failed [[Utopia|utopias]] of Europe in pursuit of the elusive craftsman, whose lifetime goal is to reach [[Title Drop|Syberia]], a mysterious island in the Russian Arctic where mammoths are still rumored to exist...

''[[Syberia]]'' (not to be confused with that cold, unfriendly place in Soviet Russia called S'''i'''beria) is a [[Clock Punk]] [[Adventure Game]] duology, developed by Microids, designed by Benoit Sokal, and written by Catherine Peyrot. Originally planned as a single game, it was [[One Game for the Price of Two|split in two]] due to [[Executive Meddling]], with ''Syberia'' being released in 2002 and ''Syberia II'', in 2004. The original game became an epic [[Flame Bait]] immediately after the release: while the hardcore, long-time adventure gamers panned it for a simple story and primitive puzzles, the newer generation (many of them introduced to the genre through ''Syberia'' in the first place) universally admired its artwork and atmosphere, considering it a [[Spiritual Successor]] to ''[[The Longest Journey]]'' classic. When the second game came about, most players who expected a repetition of the ''Syberia'' wonder were disappointed, for the original atmosphere has been lost in development, which many attributed to Sokal's lack of involvement with it.

 

 

* [[Absent-Minded Professor]]: Cornelius Pons, the chief paleontologist of the university in Barrockstadt and an old friend of Hans. He's one of the most polite and good-willing characters you meet in the course of both games.

* [[The Alcoholic]]/[[Drowning My Sorrows]]: The ageing astronaut from the abandoned and neglected Komkolzgrad cosmodrome. He considerably brightens up when you help him fulfill his dream of becoming more than a mere former test pilot. He takes off into low Earth orbit in a pretty cool [[Space Plane]]... launched by a clockwork-powered catapult designed by Hans, no less!

[[Category:Syberia]]

[[Category:Video Game]]