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Syberia II

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Syberia II is a 2004 graphic adventure game developed and published by MC2-Microïds. As the direct sequel to 2002's Syberia, it is a third-person puzzle-solving game. Although it is stylistically identical, Syberia II improves upon the first game by introducing more realistic character animation. The game includes a recap of the first chapter, so it does not require the player to have experienced the first game.

Syberia II
Developer(s)Microïds Canada[7]
Publisher(s)
Director(s)Benoît Sokal
Designer(s)Stéphane Blais
Programmer(s)Rémi Veilleux
Artist(s)Benoît Sokal
Nicolas Cantin
Writer(s)Benoît Sokal
Composer(s)Inon Zur
SeriesSyberia
EngineVirtools Engine 3.0
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android, Windows Mobile
Release
30 March 2004
  • Microsoft Windows
    Xbox
    PlayStation 2
    Windows Mobile
    Android
    • WW: 26 March 2015[6]
    PlayStation 3
    • PAL: 1 April 2015
    • NA: 5 May 2015
    Xbox 360
    • WW: 13 May 2015
    OS X
    • WW: 17 August 2015
    iOS
    • WW: 15 October 2015
    Nintendo Switch
    • WW: 30 November 2017
Genre(s)Graphic adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Syberia II achieved global sales of 600,000 units by early 2006. The game was received favorably by critics.

Gameplay

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Kate Walker and a Youki

Like its predecessor, Syberia II is a third-person, mouse-driven adventure game in which the player must solve various puzzles and follow certain procedures in order for the linear storyline to proceed. As a pure graphical adventure game, Syberia follows the guidelines first introduced by LucasArts: it is impossible to die or to get stuck at any moment in the game, which allows the user to become fully immersed in Syberia's universe without the fear of making a mistake or the constant need to save the game.

Plot

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The game begins following the events of Syberia with the law firm that American lawyer Kate Walker worked for in New York, calling in a private detective. The firm instructs the detective to locate and find Walker since heading out to oversee a business takeover of an automaton toy factory, who has since abandoned her job, hoping to appease her family in bringing her back home. In the fictional Russian town of Romansburg, Kate provides assistance for eccentric inventor Hans Voralberg, who seeks to find living prehistoric mammoths, and his automaton train engineer Oscar, by prepping his specially crafted clockwork train with coal. Shortly after completing this, Hans falls ill, forcing Kate to seek treatment for him at a nearby monastery perched on a clifftop.

When she learns that the patriarch believes he cannot be cured and decides he should be given spiritual salvation, Kate opts to find a cure for Hans, learning about a friend of his who uncovered information on Youkol medicine. Finding his notebook hidden in the monastery, Kate recreates the medicine and uses it to treat Hans, before being forced to create an escape route for the pair when the patriarch refuses to let them leave. Returning to Romansburg, Kate agrees to take a mechanical part to a local tavern and repair an automaton device he created there for its owner. Upon completing the task, Kate hears the train leaving the station, and learns that two locals, brothers Ivan and Igor, hijacked with the intention of reaching the fabled island of Syberia (inspired by the real-life location of Wrangel Island in Siberia, the last place on earth where mammoths survived), so as to profit from harvesting mammoth ivory. Forced to pursue them, Kate makes use of a railroad gangcar, used for maintenance, which she powers with a friendly Youki - an animal that is part seal, part bear, with dog-like traits.

Kate manages to catch up with the train, only to see that the two men abandoned it after it got stuck at a collapsed bridge, and fled by snowmobile with Hans. Disconnecting the passenger car from the locomotive, Kate, after restoring Oscar to full functions, continues pursuing them. The pair eventually track the thieves to a large statue in front of the railroad tracks. Kate discovers from Igor, who is having second thoughts and wants to return home, that Hans disappeared shortly after the brothers arrived. Confronting Ivan over her friend's location at the base of the statue, Kate is quickly trapped by him on the belief she intends to steal his ivory. Just before he is about to kill her, the ice beneath the statue they are standing on cracks and breaks up, sending Kate plunging underground.

Upon awaking, she finds herself within a hidden underground Youkol village, in which Hans is being treated by a local shaman who reveals he is on his deathbed. After managing to bring the locomotive into the village, Kate acquires the means for the shaman to transport her into Hans' dreams, which recreate the village of Valadilène, and manages to reach him. Although she convinces him to wake up, she finds herself given cryptic words by him before exiting the dream world. When she asks Oscar what these means, the automaton leaves the locomotive to join his creator, whereupon Kate discovers that he was designed with a primitive exo-skeleton/life-support system to provide Hans the means to stay alive and fulfill his dreams. After witnessing Hans being placed within this, Kate learns that to reach Syberia, she must thaw out a Youkol boat within the village, and does so through using the locomotive, discovering Hans designed it for this purpose.

Boarding the boat, Kate, Hans and their Youki partner, soon become stuck in an ice floe. When Kate works to free them, the boat is hijacked by Ivan, who intends to leave Kate and continue to Syberia, but finds himself unable to operate the craft. Kate manages to return onboard and forces him off, whereupon he attempts to toss a penguin egg (a fictional North Pole species resembling emperor penguins) in defiance at her actions, only to anger the penguins guarding their nest and causing them to kill him. Eventually Kate and Hans arrive at Syberia, whereupon they manage to use ancient Youkol horns to summon a herd of mammoths. Hans, delighted to meet them, is gladly allowed on their backs and rides off with them, as Kate waves him a tearful goodbye. Meanwhile, the law firm learn from their private detective that despite his best efforts following her, he calls it quits on his job, claiming she has vanished without a trace.

Development

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Syberia II was announced in October 2002, and was initially set for an October 2003 launch date.[8] The game was produced in 13 months using Virtools Dev 3.0 development tools.[9] Benoît Sokal indicated in an interview that at one time the development team was considering to create one single game for the entire Syberia story, but decided not to as it was so large.[10]

In September 2003, Syberia II was delayed to the following year.[11] It reached gold status on March 2, 2004,[12] and was released for computers on March 30 in North America.[13] Its Xbox version launched in the region on October 12 of that year. While Syberia II had been released for the PlayStation 2 in European countries by then, this version was rejected for a North American launch by Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA). GameSpot's Tor Thorsen said that SCEA's decision was made "due to the adventure genre's lukewarm popularity stateside".[14] The company had previously rejected the PlayStation 2 version of Syberia.[15]

Reception

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Sales

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In Germany, Syberia II placed 28th in Media Control's computer game sales rankings for June 2004.[16] According to Edouard Lussan of Microïds, the game achieved sales of 215,000 copies in Europe and the United States combined by that month. Another 100,000 units of its computer version had already been sold in Russia.[17] By late 2005, Syberia II was on pace to reach 600,000 sales overall,[18] a number it had reached by March 2006.[19] Total worldwide sales of the Syberia series surpassed 1 million units by 2008,[20] and rose to 3 million by 2016, before the release of Syberia 3.[21]

Reviews and awards

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Review aggregation website Metacritic reported Syberia II's critical reception as "generally favorable" for its computer release, but summarized that of its Xbox version as "mixed or average".[23][24]

Syberia II was a nominee for GameSpot's 2004 "Best Adventure Game" award, which ultimately went to Myst IV: Revelation.[32] In 2011, Adventure Gamers named Syberia II the 55th-best adventure game ever released.[33]

Legacy

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While Syberia featured a cliffhanger ending, a common complaint among reviewers is that the ending of Syberia II is either too abrupt or too depressing, depending on their understanding of the final scene. Indeed, the game does not provide any clear explanation about what becomes of Kate after she reaches Syberia with Hans. Benoît Sokal had stated in interviews it was at that time unlikely that Syberia III would be made.[10]

On 26 November 2012, Microïds revealed on their Facebook page that Benoît Sokal had officially signed a contract with Anuman to write the story of Syberia III and that official development had started. Additionally the project is to be overseen by Elliot Grassiano, the original founder of Microïds.[34] Sokal left Microïds shortly after the release of Syberia II and founded his own company White Birds Productions to release Paradise, a game that uses a similar style of gameplay as Syberia, but is not directly related. A sequel, Syberia 3, was released in April 2017.

References

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  1. ^ "What's New?". Eurogamer.net. 2004-05-28. Archived from the original on 2023-04-02. Retrieved 2023-05-03.
  2. ^ Adams, David (2004-03-30). "Syberia II Ships". IGN. Archived from the original on 2023-05-03. Retrieved 2023-05-03.
  3. ^ a b "What's New?". Eurogamer.net. 2004-11-26. Archived from the original on 2023-03-02. Retrieved 2023-05-03.
  4. ^ Adams, David (2004-10-12). "Back in the Cold". IGN. Archived from the original on 2023-05-03. Retrieved 2023-05-03.
  5. ^ "Windows Phone Thoughts: Syberia 2 Released". www.windowsphonethoughts.com. Archived from the original on 2023-03-18. Retrieved 2023-03-18.
  6. ^ Brown, Mark (26 March 2015). "Chilly mammoth-hunting adventure game Syberia 2 lands on Android". www.pocketgamer.com. Archived from the original on 2023-03-18. Retrieved 2023-03-18.
  7. ^ a b "XS Games Signs 'Syberia II' For North America". WorthPlaying. Retrieved 2024-01-08.
  8. ^ Calvert, Justin (October 14, 2002). "Syberia 2 announced". GameSpot. Archived from the original on March 18, 2005. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  9. ^ "Press Releases 2004 - Two years after the release of Syberia, Microïds follows up on its success with the launch of Syberia 2, made once again with Virtools game development tools". Virtools. 2004-03-24. Archived from the original on 2008-07-25. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
  10. ^ a b "Syberia II Benoît Sokal interview". Just Adventure. Archived from the original on 2008-05-14. Retrieved 2008-06-30.
  11. ^ Staff (September 3, 2003). "Syberia II pushed to 2004". GameSpot. Archived from the original on March 5, 2005. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  12. ^ Staff (March 2, 2004). "Syberia II goes gold". GameSpot. Archived from the original on March 5, 2005. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  13. ^ Thorsen, Tor (March 30, 2004). "Syberia II comes in from the cold". GameSpot. Archived from the original on March 22, 2005. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  14. ^ Thorsen, Tor (October 12, 2004). "Syberia II ventures onto Xbox". GameSpot. Archived from the original on December 12, 2004. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  15. ^ Thorsen, Tor (January 16, 2004). "XS publishing Syberia II, PS2 version in doubt". GameSpot. Archived from the original on March 5, 2005. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  16. ^ "Zeitraum: Juni 2004". Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland. 2004. Archived from the original on August 6, 2004.
  17. ^ "Interview with the Developers of Still Life". The Inventory. No. 16. Just Adventure. June 2004. pp. 8–14. Archived from the original on August 13, 2006. Retrieved October 28, 2006.
  18. ^ Carlot, Marc (October 13, 2005). "Les indiscrétions de Stanley Graphic; Benoît Sokal au Paradis". Auracan. Archived from the original on October 29, 2006.
  19. ^ Tamaï, Michi-Hiro (March 4, 2006). "Les nouveaux del'éphé". La Libre (in French). Archived from the original on February 20, 2019.
  20. ^ "Syberia Website" (Press release). GamesIndustry.biz. July 24, 2008. Archived from the original on August 14, 2008.
  21. ^ "E3 2016: Microids and Benoit Sokal Unveil Video of New Features in Syberia 3" (Press release). Paris: Gamasutra. June 9, 2016. Archived from the original on March 23, 2018.
  22. ^ "Syberia II review". GameRankings. Archived from the original on 2013-03-10. Retrieved 2013-03-30.
  23. ^ a b "Syberia II (pc: 2004): Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on July 26, 2007.
  24. ^ a b "Syberia II (xbox: 2004): Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on July 27, 2007.
  25. ^ "Syberia 2 for Switch Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 2018-08-19. Retrieved 2018-07-14.
  26. ^ "Syberia II review". AdventureGamers. Archived from the original on 2013-05-23. Retrieved 2013-03-30.
  27. ^ "Syberia II review". Gamespot. Archived from the original on 2010-06-28. Retrieved 2013-03-30.
  28. ^ Ardai, Charles (May 2004). "Reviews; Syberia II". Computer Gaming World. No. 238. pp. 90, 91.
  29. ^ Osborn, Chuck. "Reviews; Syberia II". PC Gamer US. Archived from the original on October 18, 2006.
  30. ^ "Syberia II review". Gamezone. Archived from the original on 2010-11-20. Retrieved 2013-03-30.
  31. ^ "Syberia II review". IGN. 17 March 2004. Archived from the original on 2012-07-25. Retrieved 2013-03-30.
  32. ^ The GameSpot Editors. "Best and Worst of 2004; Best Adventure Game". GameSpot. Archived from the original on March 8, 2005. Retrieved July 22, 2018. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  33. ^ AG Staff (December 30, 2011). "Top 100 All-Time Adventure Games". Adventure Gamers. Archived from the original on June 4, 2012.
  34. ^ "Microids confirm that production of Syberia III has started". Facebook. 2011-11-26. Archived from the original on 2016-01-18. Retrieved 2012-11-26.
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