Review: Syberia 2
Posted by: dgoldring on Jan 08 2008 - 1,286 viewsWell, I suppose I owe the kind folks at TetraEdge Games an apology. They were nice enough to provide me with a copy of Syberia 2 nearly a year ago. In that time, I got delayed, switched to a new device, and simply lost track of the game. Well, about a month ago, I hunted down the files (on the SD card which had been in my Dell Axim) and loaded in onto my Sprint Mogul. Time to revisit Kate Walker and find where her adventures will take her next.
Syberia 2 picks up the action exactly where the original game left off. Having found the missing heir, and genius, Hans Voralberg, Kate agrees to help him on the next stage of his journey to find the last of the fabled Syberian mammoths at the heart of a long and forgotten universe. The action picks up with Hans and Kate speeding through the frozen tundra where, inevitably, the train runs out of coal, sending Kate on an adventure which, once again, will become much more than she had bargained.
Like the first game, which I reviewed last year, Syberia 2 is a visually stunning game to watch. The graphics and animation make the game feel much more like a movie with options than a game. Of course, the problem with this approach is that it really requires a strong story. This is where the game runs into a few problems. Rather than a strong independent story, this purpose of this game seems to be essentially tying up the loose ends from the first game. Nonetheless, I did feel they did a good enough job of filling in the back story from the first game, so that once the action gets going, users can enjoy it without having played the first one.
One of my biggest criticisms of the original game was that it was simply too difficult to get the game onto your device. I was disappointed to find that TetraEdge has not improved this process. In order to load the game, you must download the 169 MB file to your computer. Then, using ActiveSync, transfer the files to your device. This can take hours to accomplish. Furthermore, there is no trial, which I felt was a real shame. There is nothing worse than spending hours downloading and installing a game, only to find it is not what you expected (although if you have played the original game then you probably know what to expect). Even once it is loaded, this game will require almost all of the resources your device has to offer. According to the website, it requres up to 230 MB of storage space and 24 MB of program memory. And don’t even think about running it on a square screen device, such as a Treo, as those are not currently supported. I had numerous problems with the game crashing or not running correctly if I dipped below these requirements.
Once loaded onto your device, gameplay proceeds much like the original game. It is designed to be completely controlled through the touch screen, which worked extremely well. Simply tap the screen and you will walk in that direction. You can talk with the people in the game in order to pick up vital clues,and pick up objects which you will need to use later. And make sure you exhaust all of your options when talking and exploring. There were several times I found that I could not advance because there was one dialogue with a character which I had missed. In order to use an item, just click the red arrow to open your inventory and drag the item to the place it is to be used. This minimalist system of control (drag, drop, and tap) really helps simplify what otherwise could have been an extremely complex game.
From the red arrow (items pane), you can also tap the menu to save your game, load a saved game, or simply exit the game.
You can save up to six games at a time.
In the end, Syberia 2 did not offer anything significantly beyond the original game. It felt much more like an attempt to wrap up any loose ends from the first one, or even an extended epilogue, rather than a standalone game. Like many sequels, the graphics may have exceeded the original game, however the storyline was a bit of a disappointment.
Vital Stats:
Name: Syberia 2
Developer: TetraEdge Games
Price: $24.95
Where to Buy: TetraEdge Games
Some of the images used in this review were provided by TetraEdge Games.
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I’ve been looking at TetraEdge games since they look really stunning, but since there is no trial and they’re only available at Handango, I won’t be running any TetraEdge games unfortunately. I’ve got a large gift certificate from the Aximsite store (sorry JAMM, I won it over there) so I’d simply purchase Secrets of Da Vinci or something like that if it was available. But apparently that won’t happen.
If Tetraedge is reading this, please make a trial available. Games like yours, or K-Rally are much more approachable if a trial is available. Of course for such a large game it’s hard to create a trial, but wouldn’t it be worth the time to create a demo that’s not larger than 30 MB and which lets you play a small part of the game?
I agree, SPM. These kinds of games would really benefit from a trial. It could be done, a la Astraware’s Broken Sword, with a seperate file that contains only a small part of the game.
I have been playing Secrets of Da Vinci and I think it could be their best game yet.
Doug
OK. One point of clarification. I just heard from TetraEdge. They told me (and I confirmed) that there is a trial version available for Syberia 2.
You can find the trial at Clickgamer:
http://www.clickgamer.com/moreinfo.htm?pid=8296§ion=PPC
Doug
Thanks for that, good stuff!
I’m stuck though, quite soon in the game. I’ve found a key, but it doesn’t open the gate to go down to the “lower class” people. The girl that spoke about the key is replaced by another character that can’t be tapped (or spoken to) so I can’t give her a present (assuming that the key is the present, I only have the key and my phone).
The robot says I need to find coal, the store manager (Colonel) says that I’ll have to wait some weeks for maintainance.
I feel like I’ve spoken to every person three times with the same responses, but I can’t progress.
Do you still have the game installed, or remember anything about this that might help?
I can’t save my game in the trial so I’ll exit it for now, but it looks quite addicting.
Have you looked at the candy machines in the store yet??
Doug
Hmmm candy machines! I tapped everywhere I could, well so I thought. After your comment I did find it, so I’ll have something new to explore!
Thanks!
Ah I found it. Of course I was thinking I was done with the candy machines after taking the money. (I appeared to have turned the wheel on accident in order to wind the train, I had trouble duplicating that). Now I have both the train wound up, and access to the gate, so I’ll try and make some progress now!
Thanks again!
lol! and then I find out that opening the gate is the last thing you can do in the trial. Contacting TetraEdge now to see if they’re prepared to put up their games on Mobihand…