Syberia III

Fans of the series, prepare for a huge disappointment: This sloppy, poorly constructed game undermines itself at every turn. There are so many issues, it's hard to know where to start -- with the thin story, bad pacing, or slipshod puzzles? Or the stiff animation, bad voice-acting, and awful camera? It's a veritable buffet of badness that rewards your patience and tenacity with an unsatisfyingly nonsensical, cliffhanger ending.

The most obvious problem is the interface. Items work differently (or not at all) depending on the situation, and this inconsistency makes using items downright painful. Further, finicky, contrived puzzle design means too often that you know exactly what needs to be done but can't manage to do it. Tasks seem designed to frustrate, with steps set as far apart as possible (which means lots of boring running), requiring objects placed in near-invisible locations. Movement is also frustrating, though the development team tried to deflect responsibility for it by including a pregame message strongly suggesting you use a controller. Though the music is beautiful and some of the environments and models give off a cool Jim Henson-ish kind of vibe, their effects are sabotaged by robotic animation and monotonous voice acting (there seems to be a single man and woman voicing every character in the cast). Again, worst of all, if you get through all the clunkiness and red herrings, you're rewarded with one of the least satisfying cliffhanger endings in adventure-game history. It was 13 years between Syberia II and Syberia III. After this chaotic, discouraging letdown, will anyone wait another 13 for Syberia IV?