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Syberia II - First Impressions Preview
Derek dela Fuente
19/01/2004
We take a look at the sequel to what was widely acclaimed as one of the finest adventure games ever created...
To a large proportion of gamers this appearing in Vivendiâs new game release schedule for 2004 may come as a surprise. Many may not have even heard of the first Syberia but the tale revolving around Kate Walker's joint adventures with Hans Voralberg is one that has already captured the imagination first time around and is now sure to grab a bigger audience thanks to the resources of Vivendi. Syberia was acclaimed by many as one of the finest and most detailed 3D adventure game for many years and its sequel is sure to convince many skeptical gamers that adventure games, if done well, can be as enjoyable as any other genre of game. We spoke with Benoît Sokal (Artistic Director and Author) the man behind the vision for Syberia II in a detailed conversion.
There is a core team of 8 working on the game, which has now gone well into the second year. When needed other specialist workers are brought in to assist the creators of Syberia and most of them have previously worked together on the first title as well as two other titles - Post Mortem and Road to India â“ all for Microids.
When the concept was devised for the game, Syberia was one big story that the team decided to separate in two different episodes. So Syberia II is the continuation of the story started in the first episode. If you played Syberia, youâve experienced Kate Walkerâs journey across Europe, from West to East. The next chapter will see the trip continue up north with some of the same characters youâve met before and a whole bunch of new characters youâll meet along the journey.
Benoît was eager to summarise the game and bring the storyline up to date.
âIn the first episode of Syberia, Kate Walker, a young New York-based lawyer, has been mandated by the Universal Toy's Company to complete the acquisition of a renowned automaton factory located in a small alpine village named Valadilene. On her arrival, Kate follows the funeral of Anna Voralberg, the owner of the automaton factory with whom she was supposed to conclude the transaction. Thanks to Anna's testament, she learns that this one has an heir, her brother Hans, who has disappeared many years ago.â
âTherefore, Kate decides to go after himâ¦. She pursued Hans from the East to the West through four different worlds: Valadilène, Barrockstadt, the Komkolzgrad, an industrial town with its underground mines, its spatial complex and its never-launched rockets, and finally Aralbad, the seaside resort on the shore of a disappeared sea. Helped by Hansâ last-built automaton, Oscar, she traveled in an automate-train, which drove her through her journeyâ¦â
The old chestnut and debate will always be dragged up when talking to someone who is heavily into adventure game writing and Benoît could be no exception. The PC games market is as big as it ever was but the number of adventure games is still falling. Maybe if there were a huge choice then we would see more hit games. Some have even pointed a finger at the press saying that is their focus on other genres, to the detriment of the adventure game, may have been one reason for its decline.
âThis is a huge debate, one that we decided to stay away from⦠In general, things come in cycles. A few years ago, adventure games were the most popular among the industry and the players. With the quick evolution of the computer technology, the options increased so much that a wide variety of new genres appeared and put adventure games on the block a little bit.â
âWe think the âperformanceâ of the Adventure Genre in the last few years is due to a number of reasons. The birth and expansion of new genres (MMORPGS for example), the online gaming, the dominance of FPS, RTS and action games, the lack of quality stories in some of the released Adventure gamesâ¦â
âOne thing is certain for us: it is so wrong to state that the genre is dead like a lot of media have written in the last few months⦠Syberia proved that wrong. Itâs all about redefining the genre. Whatâs a good adventure game? What are the new opportunities offered by the technology?â
âThe market is big. We think that people who never played any Computer or Video Games would love playing Syberia. Those, plus the hardcore adventure gamers, plus average gamers are representing a huge audience for Syberia and the adventure genre in general.â
âThe adventure genre will be strong when the stories told in the games are strong and captivating.â
From the making of Syberia, creating a plausible character is probably the toughest thing to do when you are building a story, was highlighted by the team. But this isnât only true for games but for books and movies also. The characters are the engines of a storyline. It goes through them, through their emotions, through their actions.
âIf your characters arenât strong, if the player (viewer or reader) canât feel their depth, if he canât witness their evolutionâ¦Then the character isnât plausible and the story doesnât hold the line. As an author you have failed.â
âReal-life people havenât inspired me for Syberia. Kate represents more the 21st century women concept than somebody in particular. I wanted her determined, strong, curious, naïve alsoâ¦â
In terms of gameplay, the team has focused on integrating the puzzles into the storyline. Itâs a challenge they faced in the first game and wanted to make even better with Syberia II. Benoît spoke of the puzzles needed to make sense of the story for too many adventure games have puzzles just thrown in for good measure. In Syberia II you will see a strong storyline featuring interesting puzzles and dilemmas.
Another aspect worked on has been interaction between Kate (the player) and other characters. A more fluid approach in these interactions will enhance the gameplay and the detailed graphics and even finer zoom mode gives even more sense of affinity with the storyline!
On her adventures Kate will once again explore four completely new environments. Romansbourg, The Great North Passage, The Youkol Village and Syberia and each location will have itâs own characteristics and will play a major role in the development of the story. The story is completely linear and leads to a single conclusion and along the way be it humans (enemies), natural catastrophes, mechanical failures will make progression challenging.
Surprisingly a lot of research has been done on mammoths, Siberia, Russia, the ârecentâ history of Western Europe, the automaton technology to ensure good plausibility of the story and the background work on the game has included an immense amount of primary work â“ mounds of drawings which include the environments, buildings, vehicles, but mostly characters. Now, the team has really understood the look and feel of the game so most of the artwork is now made for the creation of the characters.
Benoît touched on the possibility of using a certain element of RPG in an adventure game and his general thoughts on gaming but thought better of it - still originality is always the key. âIf we look at that industry, well, the whole âadventure game as an RPGâ is not too far away. All we need to do is get away from the paradigm of solving problems simply by smashing things up. Letâs say that we had what basically amounted as an adventure game (solve problems, talk to people, etc.) and we did combine it with a decent combat system. Add to this a character that is getting better at doing things and learn new skills as the game progressesâ¦this vision of a hybrid is not too far away.
âThe only thing, in my opinion, that is missing is the ability to deal with any given problem in multiple ways, allowing the player to shape the story as he sees fit. Some âactionâ games already do this to a certain degree. Grand Theft Auto III allows for multiple solutions as well as Hitman II. The only thing is, these games are more focused on combat and not enough on pure problem solving. We just need to open up the design and let the user make his own way, tell his own story, but which will ultimately lead him to the ending you had plannedâ¦â
Moving back to the game where the story and characters are the central theme and ensuring not to give too much away. The whole mechanics of the game from the look to the controls appear to be AI. The interface of Syberia II will be exactly the same as in the first episode, no change at all. It will be a point & click game, playing with the mouse or the keyboard. The interface is mostly an inventory in which you keep the documents and objects you gathered. When needed, these documents are viewable or usable from one or two mouse clicksâ¦
