Description
Kate Walker is a lawyer who has been entrusted by the Universal Toy Company to negotiate the takeover of an old luxury toy and automaton factory. Over the centuries, the factory has been developing clockwork devices, specializing in perpetual mechanical movement. The factory's ambitions, however, are ill-suited to the contemporary economic climate, and the elderly Anna Voralberg, at the helm of the Valadilene factory for more than half a century, has decided to sell up.
It turns out that the takeover might not be as straightforward as expected. The day that Kate Walker arrives, Anna Voralberg is being buried. What is more is that she has left an heir – her brother Hans. But Hans had left the valley at the end of the thirties and never returned, and was actually believed to be dead. However, a letter written by Anna in the days leading up to her death reveals that Hans is well and truly alive and living somewhere in Siberia. Valadilene's elderly notary entrusted to take care of Anna's affairs suggests that Kate find Hans Voralberg as he is now the only person in a position to ratify the sale of the family business.
Syberia is a traditional puzzle-solving adventure. The player navigates a 3D model of the protagonist over pre-rendered backgrounds with fixed camera angles. Puzzles are mostly inventory-based, though some involve manipulating the environment (such as mechanical devices). The interface features a single cursor; only highlighted objects can be interacted with, and there are no verb choice commands.
Alternate Titles
- "赛伯利亚" -- Chinese spelling (simplified)
- "西伯利亞" -- Chinese spelling (traditional)
- "Сибирь" -- Russian spelling
- "Sibir" -- Russian title
- "L'avventura di Kate Walker: Syberia Volume 1" -- Italian DVG title
Part of the Following Groups
User Reviews
The Press Says
| Just Adventure |
Jul 05, 2002 |
A |
100 |
| Peliplaneetta.net |
Oct 23, 2002 |
90 out of 100 |
90 |
| Armchair Empire, The |
Jul 31, 2002 |
8.9 out of 10 |
89 |
| Adventurearchiv |
Jul 28, 2002 |
85 out of 100 |
85 |
| CanadianGamer |
Oct 24, 2002 |
85 out of 100 |
85 |
| Jeuxvideo.com |
May 28, 2002 |
17 out of 20 |
85 |
| PC Zone Benelux |
Aug, 2002 |
81 out of 100 |
81 |
| Withingames |
Aug 06, 2002 |
4 out of 5 |
80 |
| Adventure Classic Gaming |
Feb 04, 2006 |
4 out of 5 |
80 |
| IGN |
Oct 10, 2002 |
7.1 out of 10 |
71 |
Forums
Trivia
Language
The words written on the control panel of the airship in Kolmkozgrad are authentic Russian. However, the name of the hotel in Aralbad is written incorrectly.
Marketing
Some German games magazine editors received a postcard from New York with a handwritten text from someone called Kate who wrote in German, that she had an Austrian uncle, some problems and so on. There was no clue that this was a PR-event for the game
Syberia, even the fake-handwriting was done with some smeared ink.
PlayStation 2 version
Contrary to the Xbox release, the PS2 version did not appear in North America, as
SCEA did not approve the game there.
References
- The rat from Road to India makes a cameo appearance in Syberia. It appears in the basement in Kolmkozgrad, makes exactly the same movements it did in Road to India, and disappears.
- Syberia contains some references to another game by Microids, Amerzone . In Barockstadt you can read and hear a lot about different species of Amerzone's flora and fauna.
Awards
- Computer Games Magazine
- March 2003 (Issue #148) - #10 overall in the "10 Best Games of 2002" list
- Computer Gaming World
- April 2003 (Issue #225) – Adventure Game of the Year
- Gamespot
- 2002 - PC Adventure Game of the Year
- 2002 - Best Artistic Graphics
- Gamespy
- 2002 - PC Adventure Game of the Year
- IGN
- 2002 - Best Adventure Game (Readers' Choice)
Information also contributed by
Felix Knoke,
Jeanne,
PCGamer77 and
Sciere
