Cyberia

Note: This review is based on the original PC CD-ROM version. Cyberia is set in a cyberpunk universe and has a unique mix of the puzzle-adventure and on-rails 3D shooter genres, with separate difficulty settings for both genres that actually matters. The goal of the game is to retrieve a top-secret weapon from the enemy through infiltration and dogfighting. The infiltration segments are very atmospheric although quite cheesy at times. Instead of exposition through dialog, you have to piece out most of the story through your investigation, which is quite refreshing. Controls are awkward since you can only follow predetermined paths and only choose where you want to turn at invisible nodes. Figuring out what you have to do is very rewarding but often unfair. For example, during a firefight, getting in and out of cover is so slow that you have to time yourself perfectly. These issues are rarely frustrating though thanks to the generous checkpoint system - just expect to die and see the Game Over screen a lot. As for the action segments, they are surprisingly innovative for their time. Your aircraft is equipped with a rechargeable shield in addition to its normal damage meter similar to Halo, except that you can't wait for your shield to recharge while under cover since the levels are autoscrollers. This makes dogfighting segments very tense and rewarding. In addition, the sound design and retro-futuristic HUD makes these segments very immersive. To top it off, there are also shooter scenes that don't rely on your aircraft which has slightly-different gameplay and variety. My only complaint here is that there is a very long action sequence at some point in the game with many levels in a row which becomes repetitive. Overall, Cyberia is a mixed bag and certainly not for anybody, but for those that can overlook its issues you will find a unique and enjoyable experience that has never been replicated in any game that I know of except its own sequel.

This game is far from perfect, but it is a gem from my childhood. Controls are not the best, movement is based on a point-to-point system and this can lead to heading the wrong way when in a potentially dangerous situation, but the rail shooter portions of the game are quite entertaining. The mouse-based aiming is responsive and the levels can be quite challenging depending on your difficulty. The story is good, though it leaves something to be desired in the telling. I do hope GoG brings the sequel back as well as they are both needed to tell the whole Cyberia story.

Cyberia is a highly unique game, with fun adventure-style puzzles to solve, exciting flight combat levels, and a continually progressing story that doesn't aim to repeat the same experience twice from start to finish. It's like the game only knows how to go forward, and knows how to do it very well. It also has some very good music, and an awesome end to its adventure. I played this game in its day on a sub-average 486 SX-33, without problems, and my friends played it on their 486 66, and another on their luxurious Pentium 133. None of us encountered any performance problem, and I don't recall ever having technical issues. A below review claiming that PC's from 1989 couldn't run the game is absolutely ridiculous, as the minimum requirement of 486 33mhz didn't exist yet. In 1994, when the game released, a 486 33mhz was not rare, and was sub-average - Pentiums had already been released a year earlier. Unfortunately, the ratings and reviews for Cyberia are going to be somewhat skewed, by the little boys hopping on a GameInformer Super Replay bandwagon that purposely set out to disparage and mock the game by deliberately playing it worse than humanly possible and acting, yes, purely acting as if they weren't the screw ups rather than the game itself. GameInformer did this game a greatly dishonest disservice, and the average rating of 4 stars for this game, despite the irreverent GI noise pollution, is testament that this is actually a great game, both in its original day and still now.

I did a series of this for my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKv847dmrbDOEh7m6ZXS8ATwEtWzYcdGR I remembered both Cyberia and Cyberia 2 fondly from my youth and was anxious to replay them both. It was a mistake. These are not good games. They were technological marvels for the day but they have nonsensical stories, terrible writing and voice acting, obtuse puzzles, tons of instant failure states and some of the worst checkpoint I've ever seen in gaming. This isn't nearly as bad as Cyberia 2 but there still isn't much good here. You're almost guaranteed to need a walkthrough if you don't have hours to waste on retries. Honestly, there are tons of bad games from the dawn of the CD-ROM era but this is among the worst of them. Not worth it.