Ludography
81/100
Players323 ratings
77/100
Critics5 reviews

Where to get it

Syberia cover

2002 · Microïds Canada · Point-and-click adventure · Puzzle

Syberia

Join Kate Walker as she travels to remote locations and time periods in this timeless voyage to discover her true destiny.

Released
9 August 2002
Platforms
AndroidLinuxNintendo DSNintendo SwitchPlayStation 2PlayStation 3WindowsXboxXbox 360iOSmacOS
Genres
Point-and-click adventurePuzzleAdventure
Developers
Microïds Canada
Publishers
1C CompanyAnuman InteractiveBig Fish GamesMC2-MicroïdsMeridian4MicroidsMicroïdsNamco Bandai Games Europe S.A.S.The Adventure Company
Modes
Single-player
Perspective
Side view
Themes
DramaMystery
Engine
Virtools Engine

About

Syberia is a franchise of graphic adventure games created by Belgian comic artist and video game developer Benoît Sokal. Set within an alternate universe designed by Sokal and introduced in the 1999 video game Amerzone, the series is currently developed and published by French video game company Microids. The central focus of the franchise, beginning with the eponymous 2002 video game, follows the experiences of Kate Walker, an American adventurer who originally worked as a lawyer in a prominent New York City law firm. In each installment, Walker travels to various fictional locations in continental Europe and former Soviet states during the 2000s, where she encounters fantastical creatures as well as highly advanced automatons powered by intricate clockwork mechanisms.

The first Syberia centers on Walker's efforts to locate and deal with the eccentric inventor Hans Voralberg on behalf of her firm to secure the purchase of his family's factory. By the events of Syberia II, Walker abandons her assignment and accompanies Voralberg in his search for the legendary island of Syberia, which is said to be home to the last surviving mammoths of the world. The franchise features a cast of secondary characters, including Oscar, one of Voralberg's sentient automatons, and Dana Roze, an aspiring pianist introduced in the 2022 video game Syberia: The World Before. Members of a nomadic tribal people indigenous to the geographical area of Siberia known as the Youkols also play an important role in the lore and setting of the series, which combines realistic and surrealistic elements for its tone.

›Story

Kate Walker, a young ambitious lawyer from New York, is handed what seems a fairly straight forward assignment - a quick stopover to handle the sale of an old automaton factory hidden in the alpine valleys, then straight back home to the US. Little did she imagine when embarking on this task that her life would be turned upside down.

On her expedition across Europe, traveling from Western Europe to the far reaches of Eastern Russia, she encounters a host of incredible characters and locations in her attempt to track down Hans, the genius inventor - the final key to unlock the mystery of Syberia. Her voyage across land and time throws all she values into question, while the deal she sets out to sign turns into a pact with destiny.

Keywords

  • robots
  • steampunk
  • female protagonist
  • graphic adventure
  • steam
  • steam trading cards
  • digital distribution
  • single-player only
  • damsel in distress
  • xbox one backwards compatibility
  • gamersgate
  • airship

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Development

The Syberia universe was created and designed by Belgian comic artist and video game developer Benoît Sokal. Each installment in the series has been developed and published by Microids. The development team originally considered developing a single game for Syberia, but decided to develop two separate titles due to the large scope of the project as envisioned by Sokal.

Reception

Amerzone was a surprise commercial success. Following its release in France in March 1999, it sold 10,000 units by early May. By June 1999, GameSpot UK concluded that Amerzone had become a "big hit in France". The game generated lifetime sales of 1.5 million copies by 2013.

The first two Syberia titles have been successful commercially and critically. The first Syberia surpassed 225,000 units in sales by February 2003, and had achieved nearly 350,000 global sales across its console and computer versions by September 2003. In France, the Agence française pour le jeu vidéo reported that Syberia's computer release had sold 50,000 units by September 2003. According to Michel Bams of Sokal's White Birds Productions, it reached "nearly 500,000 copies" in global sales that February, a number it surpassed by late 2005, according to Ubisoft.

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
Windows9 August 2002Europe · North America 1 September 2002 · Japan 4 September 2003
PlayStation 228 March 2003Europe
Xbox6 June 2003Europe · North America 23 July 2003
Android20 December 2013Worldwide
macOS27 February 2014Worldwide
PlayStation 32 December 2014North America · Europe 3 December 2014
Xbox 3603 December 2014Worldwide
iOS4 December 2014Worldwide
Nintendo Switch20 October 2017North America · Europe 20 October 2017 · New Zealand 20 October 2017 · Japan 20 December 2018
Linux5 December 2023Worldwide

Editions and related releases

Included in
Syberia 1 & 2Syberia CollectionSyberia: 20th Anniversary BundleSyberia Trilogy
Ported as
Syberia
Remade as
Syberia VR
Remastered as
Syberia: Remastered

Games like this

Collections3 collections

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.