Syberia: The World Before
The game is notable first and foremost for being the swan song of the mastermind and creator of the Syberia series, Benoit Sokal. The brilliant Frenchman, famous as an artist, screenwriter and game designer, passed away after a long illness in May 2021. His latest brainchild was being completed without the maestro. But the bulk of the work was done, and the game is fully loaded with his trademark charm.
Game plot
According to the storyline, the game’s protagonist Kate Walker, who finds herself imprisoned, befriends Katusha. The latter shows her a drawing made in the 1930s. The drawing shows a girl who looks a lot like Kate. And the latter, having escaped from her imprisonment, sets out to find out who this mysterious stranger is. And here begins Sokal’s trademark chips, who for the sake of an interesting plot never particularly cared about realism or even the logic of the narrative. Kate goes in search of the mysterious stranger on a motorbike which has stood motionless for about 60 years and turns out to be on the move after Katya has slightly repaired it.
Then the action moves to 1937 and you meet Dana Rose, the girl from the drawing. From this moment she is another one of the heroines of the game. The events connected with her take place in the fictional country Ostertal and its capital Wagene.
Retro styling
The retro part is the best part of Syberia: The World Before. Here gamers can more than make up for what they missed in the third part of Syberia, namely the ingenious Sokalian graphics. Perhaps, saying goodbye to the fans, the master spared as much as possible and showed his great talent in all its glory. Ostertal’s landscapes are simply impossible not to enjoy. Rare computer games can please this beauty and this riot of imagination. Also worth noting is the work of a talented Inon Zuhr. Outstanding composer was written for this game, excellent music was able to enhance the already magical impression of the brilliant works of Sokal.
As for the game’s script, it was, as in all of Sokal’s legacy, considerably inferior in quality to the visuals, for which fans have and will continue to appreciate the brilliant Frenchman. However, there are even funny in its absurdity moments in the script. For one thing, Bigfoot fought in the Second World War as part of a guerrilla unit. The mechanical companion Oscar, known from the previous games, was placed in the body of an armadillo.
As in Sokal’s previous games, Syberia: The World Before script is packed with emotional moments, unexpected turns of events, romance and drama.
Graphics & Storyboard Design
The emotionality combined with superb graphics and music inadvertently lead the player to decide to forgive the screenwriter for a lot of ‘pulled-over’ moments in the narrative.
Also worth noting is the very player-friendly gameplay, in developing which the creators did a very thorough and successful work on the mistakes made in Syberia 3.
