After about 130 hours: I love it and I will play much more! The primary reason you are going to play this game is the tactical warfare, and it doesn't disappoint. Everything factors in to battles from how you level up your mechwarrior (including your background) to what mechs you take to battle, how you outfit those mechs (armor levels, weapons, equipment, mods), the type of planet you are on (tundra, desert, tropical, etc.), terrain hazards (geothermal, radiation, whirlwinds, etc.) and, of course, your enemies (mechs, vehicles, turrets) and how they are equipped). It's all super fun. Outside of battle you can equip your ship with various upgrades to help you travel faster, heal/repair mechwarriors/mechs faster, raise morale, gain XP faster, etc. There are incidents that occur randomly during travel that, depending on the choices you make, will get you a pro or a con (think FTL). The story isn't great, but it is good and does the job of getting you moving through the universe and battling for upgrades. After you are done with the story the entire universe is open to you allowing you to fly around as a mercenary company and just complete missions which is awesome. Some other random things: the music is great, the graphics are wonderful, the modding community is brilliant with many, many excellent mods that expand on the game. There are negatives. The camera sucks. It gets caught on terrain as you rotate it around pulling it away from your target and at times is difficult to get far back enough or at the right angle. You fight it a lot. The missions (before the Flashpoint expansion) repeat basic modes. There aren't a huge variety of weapons with the Star League weapons seemingly non-existent (which makes sense). It does take some small liberties from traditional Battletech, but nothing significant. Overall, it's a wonderful game that you can lose hundreds of hours in like I have.
From the very start Syberia is a cinematic treat. Its unique characters and gorgeous settings are shown in great detail, rich animation and creative design, and this carries on throughout the entire game. In fact, both get even more elaborate. There are a few annoying animations and the occasional empty areas you are forced to walk through that only serve to connect point A to point B, but they don’t take away from the game that much. The sound effects help bring the world to life and are fitting for each area whether it be beautiful sounds of nature or the mechanical sounds of the city. They help to immerse you in the world that Syberia creates, although there are some volume issues with quiet lines of spoken dialogue or overly loud sound effects but these are few and far between. The music… my word, the music is a treat. Cinematic orchestra swells in and the low woodwind bellows help pull you into this game that only feels like a movie. Of course, the real treat in Syberia is the story. It caught me off guard. What starts as a story about a toy factory turns into one of the most beautiful dramas about heart and humanity that I have seen in a while topping most movies and TV shows I have seen. Even the subplot between our hero and her boyfriend begins to take center stage and melds with the main plot at the end that could bring tears to your eyes. If you love adventure games or great stories in general, you are doing yourself a disservice by not playing Syberia.
