The Syberia 3 storyline takes place a few weeks after the events of the second installment. Found almost dying by the nomadic people of the Youkols, she wakes up in an unknown hospital room, accompanied by Kurk, a Youkol guide who has lost his leg. The immobilization of this character temporarily blocks his tribe which, for the first time in its history, finds itself threatened by not being able to follow the transhumance of the snow ostriches. Very quickly, Kate will understand that something is wrong in the clinic of the good doctor Zamyatin, who seems to have delegated a little too much power to the authoritarian Olga Efimova. In reality, the latter forcibly retains Kurk and Kate at the request of a mysterious one-eyed man, while a private detective from New York seeks to meet her to bring her back to the country, where justice accuses her of having stolen a contract and to be responsible for the death of Mr Hans Voralberg. If the regulars of the series will immediately take their marks and immediately grasp the situation as well as the regular references to previous episodes, newcomers are likely to be much more circumspect. The universe created by Benoît Sokal is so personal and endearing that it is in any case warmly recommended to have already traveled through the other Syberia before attacking this one. We imagine that this is also the reason that prompted the publisher to offer Syberia 2 for free on Origin in recent weeks. All the same, a small summary of the previous events would not have been too much… On the other hand, Syberia 3 does not forget to propose a setting of the difficulty, in order to be appropriate for the beginners players as with the relentless ones of the games of adventure. The game can thus be traveled in Travel or Adventure mode, the second offering fewer visual indications than the first. Either way, you'll enjoy varied puzzles that never prove to be frustrating or too basic. A crucial point in an adventure game!
FROM ANOTHER AGE
To be a milestone in the genre, a game must also offer an interesting universe. From this point of view, the bet is won. The Youkols, automatons, snow ostriches and other mammoths imagined by Benoît Sokal provide a change of scenery. The designer's graphic touch sublimates certain paintings and reinforces the charisma of most of the characters, who mark the spirits. We can note that the faces are also very detailed, even if the looks remain desperately empty… We then begin to touch the finger on the major pitfall of the game: the technique. If an indisputable graphic leap has been made in thirteen years, Syberia III is still not really up to date technologically. The animations are extremely stiff, some secondary characters remain planted in the background like stakes, invisible walls regularly block Kate's progress, the management of the camera is difficult, the lip synchronization is approximate, and we regularly encounter bugs . Once, it's the camera that starts to frame the dialogue scenes badly, another it's the cursor that disappears from the screen, which singularly complicates the selection of the elements of the interface. But the worst comes from the management of the keyboard/mouse couple. When launching Syberia 3, a message indicates that "the game experience is improved when playing with a controller". If they had been really honest, the developers would have rather indicated: "beware, this PC adventure game is almost unplayable with keyboard and mouse". Thus, the movements of Kate Walker in the sets are made in relation to the positioning of the camera rather than that of the heroine. As a result, when changing the camera angle, the key used to go to the left can for example suddenly become the one to go to the right. A problem of yesteryear, which we thought solved in the world of video games for at least a good ten years.
When launching Syberia 3, a message indicates that "the game experience is improved when playing with a controller". If they had been really honest, the developers would have rather indicated: "beware, this PC adventure game is almost unplayable with keyboard and mouse".
It's no better when it comes to the mouse, which is very clumsily used. When you closely observe an interactive element, the viewing angle can only be changed by bringing the cursor to the edges of the screen, rather than by pressing the right button… which is used to leave the scene! Worse still, when you try to observe an interactive zone, it is almost impossible to activate its description, the opening of the inventory being essential each time. Finally, in some puzzles, the movements of the mouse are modeled on those of a joystick, which the game never tells you. Example at the very beginning of the adventure when Kate has to unscrew a box: the tutorial message displays a mouse icon with the left button highlighted and an up arrow. As a good student, we therefore try to move the mouse upwards while pressing the left button. Nothing is happening. We then try to move the mouse to the left or the right, which results in a quivering of the screw but nothing more. After five minutes of trial and error, you end up understanding that you have to make circles with the mouse in order to succeed in the unscrewing operation. What a good idea to have indicated this by an arrow pointing upwards!
WALKER SYBERIA RANGER
In addition, the game has many dialogue sequences, some of which have the good taste to take the form of multiple-choice questionnaires. In a usual adventure game, the subtitles would be displayed in blocks, and it would be possible to skip each piece of dialogue by clicking on the right mouse button. But not in Syberia III, which forces us to listen to the audio dialogues and displays the subtitles progressively. Knowing that certain characters express themselves extremely slowly and that certain voices are completely missed, it is a double punishment for who is used to reading quickly. This artifice contributes to artificially prolonging the life of the game and adds a small additional shadow to the final table. Because it must be admitted, we expected much better from the new adventures of Kate Walker. If they are still as pleasant on the bottom and that they benefit once again from a high-flying artistic direction, the technical aspect really comes to spoil the party.
