When Syberia III was announced, many wondered what a sense it would have to follow a mini-series done both on the plot and on the artistic level. Benoit Sokal, the cartoonist author of the character and artistic director of the series, had been quite clear about it and after the second adventure starring the lawyer Kate Walker, who was inextricably linked to the first,
was dedicated to Paradise and Sinking Island, two graphic adventures of good quality but of little success. Perhaps it is precisely in the difficulties of making the accounts met in the post Syberia that there is the justification of a following that tries all to be appreciated, but often manages to be hated.
Syberia III will be on the levels of the two previous episodes? Find out in our review!
KATE WALKER
Syberia III opens with a Kate Walker fainted in the snow that is saved by the youkol tribe. The lawyer, who is already the protagonist of Hans Voralberg’s dream journey (narrated in the first two episodes), is dying and is taken to a clinic where, when she regains consciousness, she is a prisoner of some shady figures whose ambitions are not clear.
From here begins its journey for freedom first, then to help youkol with the migration of snow ostriches (then it will become something else, but we do not want to anticipate anything).
If we considered Syberia III only from the narrative point of view we would only have to agree that we are facing an excellent title. Sokal has not lost his ability to describe fascinating and richly characterized worlds (for example, the
Youkol market is a small masterpiece) and has directed the entire title with great skill, despite some drops in the quality of the screenplay, in particular with some characters secondary, and despite the obvious technical limits, the latter children of a production certainly not triple A
.Kate Walker is still a credible and fascinating character, tormented but strong and able to get by using her intelligence even in the most complicated situations.Even if we consider the puzzles Syberia III defends itself quite well. Some accuse the game of being too easy, but in truth the difficulty seemed to us in line with that of the first two episodes, which certainly did not become famous to be insurmountable.
Like any self-respecting graphic adventure there are objects to collect and use with other objects. There are also a number of mechanical puzzles: for example, one key must be aligned with a lock by turning wheels, while in another you must manipulate locks to filter the water from a river.
In short, a good story, not difficult but interesting puzzles and a fascinating protagonist, what more could such an enthusiast want? Unfortunately, so far we have described the best of Syberia III,
INTERFACE AND CONTROL SYSTEMS
Syberia III often seems not to know what it wants to be. It was probably designed as a classic point-and-click adventure, but the need to make it playable with a controller led to the creation of a Frankenstein interface that lets you hate from the beginning to the end of the adventure (it took us a little more twelve hours to complete it).
Microids recommends using a controller, but in reality this is not a completely satisfactory solution. But let’s try to explain. The player directly controls Kate Walker with the WASD keys (or with the left analogue stick). The lawyer’s movements are related to the camera that frames the action and change accordingly. So far nothing dramatic, even in the smallest environments the risk
of confusion is always there, especially when the camera decides to do the tantrums slowing down perhaps the change of framing. However, the whole system becomes extremely cumbersome when it turns out that Kate can only see the interactive objects in front of her
and that, if there is more than one, you must select them with small movements or with the rotation of the frame.
