Syberia

                      Reviewed by Sue

When Alex started playing this game, he enthused about it. A
proper graphical adventure, he said - great graphics, good
puzzles. So when I decided to take a week's holiday at home, he
posted it to me so that I had a 'proper' up to date game to play.

Well, I must say I agree wholeheartedly with his assessment. It
looks great and plays brilliantly. So though I haven't yet
finished it, I am trying to do a bit more to it each day.

You play Kate Walker, a New York lawyer who has been sent by her
firm to a small town called Valadilene in the French Alps.  They
want to buy a mechanical toy factory, owned by Anna Voralberg. She
is an elderly lady who inherited the factory from her father. Her
brother Hans, who was the natural heir, had died years previously.
But Kate arrives to find Anna has just died and her funeral is in
progress. To give a hint of things to come in the game, the
funeral procession consists of automatons. These 'toys' are a lot
more complicated than you'd expect.

In order to get into the factory, you'll need to visit her
solicitor, and he'll also give you the surprising news that Hans
Voralberg isn't dead. Evidently he went away and his distraught
father went through a charade with a fake funeral. So there IS an
heir and you'll have to find him in order to effect the sale.

A nice touch is the introduction of a mobile phone which your
character will use to keep in touch with her office, friends
and family. I don't think this approach has been used before.

As you start exploring the town, you come across more and more
automatons. One even prevents you going into see the solicitor.
Whatever you do, don't call them robots! Especially not in front
of Oscar, an automaton who you actually meet in the Voralberg
factory. He needs new feet and you'll have to work out how to
operate the assembly line in the factory in order to make them.

Oscar will help your search for Hans Voralberg because he is the
train driver for a mechanical train. This will take you where you
want to go once you've fulfilled Oscar's criteria such as an
approved train release permit and several items of value.  Soon
you'll arrive at Barrockstadt where you'll discover Hans attended
the university. By now the motor on the train has run down (it's
clockwork and needs winding from time to time) so one of your main
tasks is to get it working again.

This is the stage which I'm currently at. I think there's a fair
way to go before I reach Syberia, but the game is so beautiful,
I'm not in a rush. The scenery is very detailed and atmospheric. I
feel quite guilty when I travel through some screens and don't
take more notice of the work that's gone into them. The figures
move well and the puzzles are well balanced so far. If you want a
good graphic adventure to play, I'd thoroughly recommend Syberia
to you, just as Alex did to me.


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