Syberia II

"A solid sequel that can't quite match the original"

Syberia 2 is the sequel to the adventure game Syberia. Syberia is well remembered for its great story, but rather easy puzzles. Syberia 2, as one would expect, continues the story of Kate, the main character from the first game. Just like its predecessor, Syberia 2 is an adventure game and revolves around solving puzzles. Unfortunately, this game does have a few issues.

Graphics
The graphics are pretty nice for a game with such low-end system requirements. Although, a lot of the animations are simple, with the most complicated being the water animations. The game still looks very nice, and the transition between screens and cut scenes are very smooth. You will be spending a lot of time admiring how nice a lot of the scenery looks, just like in the first game.

Sound
The sound of this game is neither good nor bad. Yes the train sounds like a train, and the various animals sound as they should. However, the voices could be better. Kate herself is fine, but the various other voices could be better, especially the one civilized village that you visit. You visit a town that is deep within the Russia wilderness, and most of the people there don't even have a deep Russian accent. On the other hand, it is a traveling village, so it's possible all the inhabitants are very multi-lingual.

Controls
The controls are exactly the same as the first Syberia. You left click the mouse to move your character to the point indicated on your screen, and you double-click to run. When you move the cursor over an object that you can either operate or pick-up, the cursor will change, and then you click to interact. You right-click to bring up the inventory menu where you can interact with the items you picked up, and use your cell phone. Using the cell phone is also straightforward. All you do it select who you want to call and will call that number automatically.

Game play
This game is completely centered on puzzle solving. However, this is where Syberia 2 starts to have some issues. While Syberia had puzzles that were too easy, Syberia 2 has puzzles that are too hard. Yes, its good that most of the puzzles are challenging, however, there are some really supper hard puzzles in this game. This would not be too bad if there were one or two, but there were about six or seven puzzles that were nearly impossible to solve. One of them, I still don't understand how you are supposed to arrive at the solution. On the other hand, veteran adventure gamers will feel more of a challenge playing this game, but beginners will be completely overwhelmed.

Story
As with all adventure games, the story is the main reason to continue on with the game. While Syberia 2 does have a solid story, there are quite a few holes in the plot. First, the back-story of Hans' life leaves us with more questions than we had at the end of the first game. The only thing that we really know that is driving him to “Syberia” is that he loves mammoths. Second, the ending could have been a little better. While it is arguable that it leaves the story open for yet another sequel, and it does tie up a few lose ends, it just does not have the spark, or the intensity of the first ending. Finally, there are a few events in the story that rely quite a bit on extra-ordinary events. The best example is when a plane crashes nearby and just happens to scare off the criminals trying to kill you.

On the other hand, with exception to the few above-mentioned issues, the story is quite good. Fans of the first game will be glad to know that you continue right where you leave off. You end up in a very remote Russian town and have to wind-up the train again. As you would guess, there are a few other issues that arise, and you spend quite a while in this town. You end up being tailed by a pair of criminals that remind me very much of Horace and Jasper from 101 Dalmatians. As with the first game, there are a total of 4 different locations. This remote town is the only place that has any hint of civilization. The next locale, is in-between train stops where the train happens to get stuck, and you navigate through the forest/tundra. Next, you end up at a primitive Eskimo type village, which is actually the “end of the line”. Yes, the train tracks finally come to an end, which is actually pretty sad. This is where you begin to learn a lot about the place called Syberia. You then hop on a boat to finish the long journey. The boat ride itself, as well as the place you end up, makes up the last section of the game.

To sum this game up, it is a continuation of the first game. However, while the first game was seen as too easy, this game is seen as too hard. The problem with this is that since Syberia was on the easy side, and so popular, it attracted a lot of beginner adventure gamers. Syberia 2 is NOT for beginners, while there are harder adventure games out there, this one can get difficult at times. Thankfully, this does not hinder the story any, which is what drove me, and I'm sure many others, to play this game. It is just very unfortunate that the story, and the ending, is a bit of a letdown.

In conclusion, the people who will be most disappointed in this game are the fans of the first game, like myself. Otherwise, it's a solid adventure game, and all adventure gamers owe it to themselves to try this game and its predecessor.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/06/05