Syberia: The World Before - new entry in the series from Benoit Sokal

[Wirdschowerdn]

@Morgoth Just out of curiosity:
What is it, that you are disagreeing with?
My comparison with Lara Croft from 2013?

I think Kate's resemblance in Syberia 3 is very faithful to the predecessors. She looks nothing like Lara.

 

[Neuromancer]

Here is a not very favourable review on Steam for the Syberia 4 Prologue:

Spoiler

Ah, Syberia...
A much loved point & click adventure game series (I am specifically referring to the first 2 games) that somewhere, somehow, lost its way...
Can the series enjoy a strong comeback after the mediocre 3rd game ?
Let's find out...

The first thing you'll notice after you install the game, is that it's horribly optimized. Sprite animation and screen scrolling can become very slow indeed - especially if you play on a high detail graphics level. (I'd recommend to play on the lowest setting, just to get through this demo as hassle-free as possible).
Despite the awful optimization, the graphics are actually quite nice to look at. The sound / music is also very good.
Control-wise, the mouse driven interface brings games like "The Walking Dead" in mind. Perhaps it could have been more intuitive, or maybe even simpler; it does its job though, without being too obtrusive.

Now, the game's one of two main characters, is an aspiring young pianist, Dana. A couple of minutes into the game, and after Dana's encounter with two nasty fellows, it becomes apparent that the setting and time strongly resembles that of Germany, right before the National-Socialist Party assumed complete control.
Dana and her family are "Vagerans" (the equivalent of Jews?), and the ♥♥♥♥ party are now called... "Brown Shadow". Yes, it's about as corny as it sounds.
Ok, let me just say this: I've been dealing with nazis in computer games since.... oh, I don't know; Castle Wolfenstein, probably. (yes, I'm talking about the original 8-bit game).
After all these years, and after playing many-many WWII-themed games (especially the action & strategy kind), I believe it's pretty much established that the nazis were a much hated bunch... Honestly though, I expected a somewhat more original idea and / or setting, to serve as a basis for this game's scenario.

Ok, now brace yourselves; remember earlier when I said that Dana was one of the main characters ?
Well, there's another one, and unsurprisingly enough, it's Kate Walker, who is now doing hard labor in what seems to be a soviet gulag.
...aaaand then it HITS you; and it hits you HARD. My God ! In the name of sweet Jesus of gaming, WHAT did they DO to Kate ? She looks.... horrible. Well, obviously she was imprisoned & roughed-up, but still... something feels... "off"...
She wears a leather jacket, tight pants, and leather boots; Her head (as well as her cellmate's head) are shaved and their top hair are painted blue. The game's excuse for this transformation is that Kate and Katyusha are the "blue team" workers, so they sport blue markings on their clothes and accordingly painted hair.
It sounds like a pathetic excuse, and indeed it is. It's as if the people behind this travesty, purposefully went full-woke, and tried to make Kate look.... like a lesbian !

Nah ! That couldn't be true.... right ? Why mess with an established character ? Why make her look lesbian ? Just to virtue-signal to SJW mainstream "urinalists" in order to get a positive review ? No, no, they wouldn't do that, absolutely not. After all, she may LOOK like a lesbian but that doesn't mean she's actually lesbian !

....except that SHE IS ! Consider your expectations SUBVERTED !

Oh, yes, indeed, they've actually done it ! Katyusha & Kate call each other "babe" and "love" far too many times to just pretend it's "not true".
This is it, then; Kate is now officially more "stunning & brave" than ever. Mission accomplished, I guess (?)

Later on in the game, Thelma & Louise.... ah, sorry, I mean Kate & Katyusha, find a motorbike that will help them escape from the soviet gulag - if only they just manage to convince their female guard to let them go, by bribing her with a huge ♥♥♥♥... er... "brown shadow" treasure they found in an abandoned train.... (somebody call "The Monuments Men", ASAP !)

....(sigh)....

Sorry, I can't possibly go on.... I'm getting too old for this kind of crap.
Whatever hope I had for a revival of the Syberia series, is now gone....
The technical issues can always be fixed in the final release.... and I could probably also stomach the cliche "bad-nazis-rising-to-power" story, as long as, at least the game's puzzles were innovative & clever....
But the "lesbian Kate" is what finally sealed the game's fate; The disgusting wokeness, the absolute, horrible cringe, is just too much for me to bear...

So, heed this warning, dear fellow adventurers: If you want to keep the nice memories of the classic Syberia games (1 & 2) intact, stay far, far away from this new, hellish incarnation !

As stated before, I haven't played the prologue myself, but according to this review it seems, that this game is also joining the "woke" train. And the look of new "Kate" is not a coincidence either...
If this is true, that would be huge decline!

 

[Verylittlefishes]

Here is a not very favourable review on Steam for the Syberia 4 Prologue:

Spoiler

Ah, Syberia...
A much loved point & click adventure game series (I am specifically referring to the first 2 games) that somewhere, somehow, lost its way...
Can the series enjoy a strong comeback after the mediocre 3rd game ?
Let's find out...

The first thing you'll notice after you install the game, is that it's horribly optimized. Sprite animation and screen scrolling can become very slow indeed - especially if you play on a high detail graphics level. (I'd recommend to play on the lowest setting, just to get through this demo as hassle-free as possible).
Despite the awful optimization, the graphics are actually quite nice to look at. The sound / music is also very good.
Control-wise, the mouse driven interface brings games like "The Walking Dead" in mind. Perhaps it could have been more intuitive, or maybe even simpler; it does its job though, without being too obtrusive.

Now, the game's one of two main characters, is an aspiring young pianist, Dana. A couple of minutes into the game, and after Dana's encounter with two nasty fellows, it becomes apparent that the setting and time strongly resembles that of Germany, right before the National-Socialist Party assumed complete control.
Dana and her family are "Vagerans" (the equivalent of Jews?), and the ♥♥♥♥ party are now called... "Brown Shadow". Yes, it's about as corny as it sounds.
Ok, let me just say this: I've been dealing with nazis in computer games since.... oh, I don't know; Castle Wolfenstein, probably. (yes, I'm talking about the original 8-bit game).
After all these years, and after playing many-many WWII-themed games (especially the action & strategy kind), I believe it's pretty much established that the nazis were a much hated bunch... Honestly though, I expected a somewhat more original idea and / or setting, to serve as a basis for this game's scenario.

Ok, now brace yourselves; remember earlier when I said that Dana was one of the main characters ?
Well, there's another one, and unsurprisingly enough, it's Kate Walker, who is now doing hard labor in what seems to be a soviet gulag.
...aaaand then it HITS you; and it hits you HARD. My God ! In the name of sweet Jesus of gaming, WHAT did they DO to Kate ? She looks.... horrible. Well, obviously she was imprisoned & roughed-up, but still... something feels... "off"...
She wears a leather jacket, tight pants, and leather boots; Her head (as well as her cellmate's head) are shaved and their top hair are painted blue. The game's excuse for this transformation is that Kate and Katyusha are the "blue team" workers, so they sport blue markings on their clothes and accordingly painted hair.
It sounds like a pathetic excuse, and indeed it is. It's as if the people behind this travesty, purposefully went full-woke, and tried to make Kate look.... like a lesbian !

Nah ! That couldn't be true.... right ? Why mess with an established character ? Why make her look lesbian ? Just to virtue-signal to SJW mainstream "urinalists" in order to get a positive review ? No, no, they wouldn't do that, absolutely not. After all, she may LOOK like a lesbian but that doesn't mean she's actually lesbian !

....except that SHE IS ! Consider your expectations SUBVERTED !

Oh, yes, indeed, they've actually done it ! Katyusha & Kate call each other "babe" and "love" far too many times to just pretend it's "not true".
This is it, then; Kate is now officially more "stunning & brave" than ever. Mission accomplished, I guess (?)

Later on in the game, Thelma & Louise.... ah, sorry, I mean Kate & Katyusha, find a motorbike that will help them escape from the soviet gulag - if only they just manage to convince their female guard to let them go, by bribing her with a huge ♥♥♥♥... er... "brown shadow" treasure they found in an abandoned train.... (somebody call "The Monuments Men", ASAP !)

....(sigh)....

Sorry, I can't possibly go on.... I'm getting too old for this kind of crap.
Whatever hope I had for a revival of the Syberia series, is now gone....
The technical issues can always be fixed in the final release.... and I could probably also stomach the cliche "bad-nazis-rising-to-power" story, as long as, at least the game's puzzles were innovative & clever....
But the "lesbian Kate" is what finally sealed the game's fate; The disgusting wokeness, the absolute, horrible cringe, is just too much for me to bear...

So, heed this warning, dear fellow adventurers: If you want to keep the nice memories of the classic Syberia games (1 & 2) intact, stay far, far away from this new, hellish incarnation !

As stated before, I haven't played the prologue myself, but according to this review it seems, that this game is also joining the "woke" train. And the look of new "Kate" is not a coincidence either...
If this is true, that would be huge decline!

tl;dr Kate is now a blue-haired lesbian in GULAG

no joking

 

[Keshik]

That review seems a bit dramatic, heh.

 

[Infinitron]

 

[V_K]

Here is a not very favourable review on Steam for the Syberia 4 Prologue:

Spoiler

Ah, Syberia...
A much loved point & click adventure game series (I am specifically referring to the first 2 games) that somewhere, somehow, lost its way...
Can the series enjoy a strong comeback after the mediocre 3rd game ?
Let's find out...

The first thing you'll notice after you install the game, is that it's horribly optimized. Sprite animation and screen scrolling can become very slow indeed - especially if you play on a high detail graphics level. (I'd recommend to play on the lowest setting, just to get through this demo as hassle-free as possible).
Despite the awful optimization, the graphics are actually quite nice to look at. The sound / music is also very good.
Control-wise, the mouse driven interface brings games like "The Walking Dead" in mind. Perhaps it could have been more intuitive, or maybe even simpler; it does its job though, without being too obtrusive.

Now, the game's one of two main characters, is an aspiring young pianist, Dana. A couple of minutes into the game, and after Dana's encounter with two nasty fellows, it becomes apparent that the setting and time strongly resembles that of Germany, right before the National-Socialist Party assumed complete control.
Dana and her family are "Vagerans" (the equivalent of Jews?), and the ♥♥♥♥ party are now called... "Brown Shadow". Yes, it's about as corny as it sounds.
Ok, let me just say this: I've been dealing with nazis in computer games since.... oh, I don't know; Castle Wolfenstein, probably. (yes, I'm talking about the original 8-bit game).
After all these years, and after playing many-many WWII-themed games (especially the action & strategy kind), I believe it's pretty much established that the nazis were a much hated bunch... Honestly though, I expected a somewhat more original idea and / or setting, to serve as a basis for this game's scenario.

Ok, now brace yourselves; remember earlier when I said that Dana was one of the main characters ?
Well, there's another one, and unsurprisingly enough, it's Kate Walker, who is now doing hard labor in what seems to be a soviet gulag.
...aaaand then it HITS you; and it hits you HARD. My God ! In the name of sweet Jesus of gaming, WHAT did they DO to Kate ? She looks.... horrible. Well, obviously she was imprisoned & roughed-up, but still... something feels... "off"...
She wears a leather jacket, tight pants, and leather boots; Her head (as well as her cellmate's head) are shaved and their top hair are painted blue. The game's excuse for this transformation is that Kate and Katyusha are the "blue team" workers, so they sport blue markings on their clothes and accordingly painted hair.
It sounds like a pathetic excuse, and indeed it is. It's as if the people behind this travesty, purposefully went full-woke, and tried to make Kate look.... like a lesbian !

Nah ! That couldn't be true.... right ? Why mess with an established character ? Why make her look lesbian ? Just to virtue-signal to SJW mainstream "urinalists" in order to get a positive review ? No, no, they wouldn't do that, absolutely not. After all, she may LOOK like a lesbian but that doesn't mean she's actually lesbian !

....except that SHE IS ! Consider your expectations SUBVERTED !

Oh, yes, indeed, they've actually done it ! Katyusha & Kate call each other "babe" and "love" far too many times to just pretend it's "not true".
This is it, then; Kate is now officially more "stunning & brave" than ever. Mission accomplished, I guess (?)

Later on in the game, Thelma & Louise.... ah, sorry, I mean Kate & Katyusha, find a motorbike that will help them escape from the soviet gulag - if only they just manage to convince their female guard to let them go, by bribing her with a huge ♥♥♥♥... er... "brown shadow" treasure they found in an abandoned train.... (somebody call "The Monuments Men", ASAP !)

....(sigh)....

Sorry, I can't possibly go on.... I'm getting too old for this kind of crap.
Whatever hope I had for a revival of the Syberia series, is now gone....
The technical issues can always be fixed in the final release.... and I could probably also stomach the cliche "bad-nazis-rising-to-power" story, as long as, at least the game's puzzles were innovative & clever....
But the "lesbian Kate" is what finally sealed the game's fate; The disgusting wokeness, the absolute, horrible cringe, is just too much for me to bear...

So, heed this warning, dear fellow adventurers: If you want to keep the nice memories of the classic Syberia games (1 & 2) intact, stay far, far away from this new, hellish incarnation !

As stated before, I haven't played the prologue myself, but according to this review it seems, that this game is also joining the "woke" train. And the look of new "Kate" is not a coincidence either...
If this is true, that would be huge decline!

tl;dr Kate is now a blue-haired lesbian in GULAG

no joking

Oh the horror. The end of times must be nigh.

 

[Infinitron]

 

[Farewell into the night]

I've never played Syberia games. Are they scary / creepy? They kinda look that way from the screenshots.

 

[Ludwig von Eisenthal]

I've never played Syberia games. Are they scary / creepy? They kinda look that way from the screenshots.

I only played Syberia 1 and 2 myself but these two are not at all creepy but very imaginative, beautiful, aesthetically unique games with a very special, calm, almost melancholic atmosphere. Both are very memorable, personally I prefer part 1.

 

[Maxie]

Both are also a horrible drag with you backtracking endlessly so that the novelty of nice art wears off

 

[Ludwig von Eisenthal]

Both are also a horrible drag with you backtracking endlessly so that the novelty of nice art wears off

Interesting, for me that was more the case for part 2, that's also a reason why I prefer part 1.

 

[Jenkem]

Maxie hates every adventure game despite claiming to be a fan. Ignore.

 

[Infinitron]

 

[Farewell into the night]

Nice music. I hear some Rachmaninoff in it.

 

[asfasdf]

So Kate Walker is now that ugly weirdo?

 

[Neuromancer]

Unfortunately, yes...

 

[Infinitron]

Coming to GOG: https://af.gog.com/game/syberia_the_world_before?as=1649904300
https://af.gog.com/game/syberia_the_world_before_prologue?as=1649904300

 

[Infinitron]

Coming December 10th.

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

Woohoo! Kate got her head architecture back!

 

[WallaceChambers]

I figured this would inevitably happen after the prologue's prison break sequence, but I wonder if the fan-backlash against the redesign had any influence. Doubtful the more I think about it, but I'd be curious to know.

 

[Boleskine]

Of course this made me think of Syberia...

https://www.reviewgeek.com/98064/sc...try-and-resurrect-the-woolly-mammoth-but-why/

Scientists Get $15 Million to Try and Resurrect the Woolly Mammoth, but Why?

The majestic woolly mammoth disappeared over 4,000 years ago, but if a set of scientists get their way, they’re going to bring it back. Geneticists, led by Harvard Medical School’s George Church, aim to bring the woolly mammoth back to life similar to something out of a Jurassic Park movie.

The plan received a significant boost this week, too, as the scientists received nearly $15 million in funding for the project. However, that news and this idea also generated a fierce ethical debate. And for all the Jeff Goldblum fans out there, this quote comes to mind, “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think about if they should.”

To be clear, the company doesn’t plan on doing some DNA-clone experiment and instead wants to create a “cold-resistant elephant with all of the core biological traits of the woolly mammoth.” Basically, an African Elephant and Wooly Mammoth hybrid that looks identical to the creatures that roamed the Earth 4,000 years ago. Giant tusks and all.

The scientists believe their work could help reverse the effects of climate change and global warming, not to mention help advance studies in genetic engineering.

A lab-grown wooly mammoth calf could end up walking the Earth in the next six years if this startup gets its way and manages to succeed. This is big news, and we’ll have to wait and see what happens. In closing, the project hopes to “de-extinct” other species and eventually create an inventory of genetic material from endangered species.

 

[Keshik]

 

[Keshik]

Guessing it still runs like a sloth.

 

[Straight elf]

Here is a not very favourable review on Steam for the Syberia 4 Prologue:

Spoiler

Ah, Syberia...
A much loved point & click adventure game series (I am specifically referring to the first 2 games) that somewhere, somehow, lost its way...
Can the series enjoy a strong comeback after the mediocre 3rd game ?
Let's find out...

The first thing you'll notice after you install the game, is that it's horribly optimized. Sprite animation and screen scrolling can become very slow indeed - especially if you play on a high detail graphics level. (I'd recommend to play on the lowest setting, just to get through this demo as hassle-free as possible).
Despite the awful optimization, the graphics are actually quite nice to look at. The sound / music is also very good.
Control-wise, the mouse driven interface brings games like "The Walking Dead" in mind. Perhaps it could have been more intuitive, or maybe even simpler; it does its job though, without being too obtrusive.

Now, the game's one of two main characters, is an aspiring young pianist, Dana. A couple of minutes into the game, and after Dana's encounter with two nasty fellows, it becomes apparent that the setting and time strongly resembles that of Germany, right before the National-Socialist Party assumed complete control.
Dana and her family are "Vagerans" (the equivalent of Jews?), and the ♥♥♥♥ party are now called... "Brown Shadow". Yes, it's about as corny as it sounds.
Ok, let me just say this: I've been dealing with nazis in computer games since.... oh, I don't know; Castle Wolfenstein, probably. (yes, I'm talking about the original 8-bit game).
After all these years, and after playing many-many WWII-themed games (especially the action & strategy kind), I believe it's pretty much established that the nazis were a much hated bunch... Honestly though, I expected a somewhat more original idea and / or setting, to serve as a basis for this game's scenario.

Ok, now brace yourselves; remember earlier when I said that Dana was one of the main characters ?
Well, there's another one, and unsurprisingly enough, it's Kate Walker, who is now doing hard labor in what seems to be a soviet gulag.
...aaaand then it HITS you; and it hits you HARD. My God ! In the name of sweet Jesus of gaming, WHAT did they DO to Kate ? She looks.... horrible. Well, obviously she was imprisoned & roughed-up, but still... something feels... "off"...
She wears a leather jacket, tight pants, and leather boots; Her head (as well as her cellmate's head) are shaved and their top hair are painted blue. The game's excuse for this transformation is that Kate and Katyusha are the "blue team" workers, so they sport blue markings on their clothes and accordingly painted hair.
It sounds like a pathetic excuse, and indeed it is. It's as if the people behind this travesty, purposefully went full-woke, and tried to make Kate look.... like a lesbian !

Nah ! That couldn't be true.... right ? Why mess with an established character ? Why make her look lesbian ? Just to virtue-signal to SJW mainstream "urinalists" in order to get a positive review ? No, no, they wouldn't do that, absolutely not. After all, she may LOOK like a lesbian but that doesn't mean she's actually lesbian !

....except that SHE IS ! Consider your expectations SUBVERTED !

Oh, yes, indeed, they've actually done it ! Katyusha & Kate call each other "babe" and "love" far too many times to just pretend it's "not true".
This is it, then; Kate is now officially more "stunning & brave" than ever. Mission accomplished, I guess (?)

Later on in the game, Thelma & Louise.... ah, sorry, I mean Kate & Katyusha, find a motorbike that will help them escape from the soviet gulag - if only they just manage to convince their female guard to let them go, by bribing her with a huge ♥♥♥♥... er... "brown shadow" treasure they found in an abandoned train.... (somebody call "The Monuments Men", ASAP !)

....(sigh)....

Sorry, I can't possibly go on.... I'm getting too old for this kind of crap.
Whatever hope I had for a revival of the Syberia series, is now gone....
The technical issues can always be fixed in the final release.... and I could probably also stomach the cliche "bad-nazis-rising-to-power" story, as long as, at least the game's puzzles were innovative & clever....
But the "lesbian Kate" is what finally sealed the game's fate; The disgusting wokeness, the absolute, horrible cringe, is just too much for me to bear...

So, heed this warning, dear fellow adventurers: If you want to keep the nice memories of the classic Syberia games (1 & 2) intact, stay far, far away from this new, hellish incarnation !

As stated before, I haven't played the prologue myself, but according to this review it seems, that this game is also joining the "woke" train. And the look of new "Kate" is not a coincidence either...
If this is true, that would be huge decline!

But how is she a lesbian? It's been a while since I played the original 2 Syberia games but I am pretty sure she had a boyfriend at some point.

 

[V_K]

I am pretty sure she had a boyfriend at some point.

She had an asshole boyfriend in the first game whom she left without second thoughts. "Becoming a lesbian" after such experience is a pretty typical trajectory for closeted bisexual women.