Syberia 3 - gamescom Preview

Syberia 3 has been a long time coming. No, really, it has been a very long time. The game was first announced in 2012, where developers Microids revealed that the game would pick up where the previous title in the point-and-click adventure series left off. Kate Walker, the protagonist, has been rescued by the Youkol, a nomadic people she encountered in Syberia 2. Walker takes on the task of helping these nomads back to the “holy steppes”.

In what Microids is billing as the most action-packed edition in the series yet (and the first to be fully rendered in 3D), Syberia 3 will include the musical styles of composer Inon Zur - of Fallout 4 and Dragon Age fame - to bring the game’s Russian outback-inspired environments to life. In the small video that I am shown at gamescom, along with some helpful commentary, I’m told that the story will take some darker twists and involve ingenious puzzling.

Controls seem your standard point-and-click affair, though players will be able to plug in a controller if they fancy controlling Walker directly. Having a fully-3D environment seems to be a key feature of Syberia 3 and I’m shown how you can move between different areas and manipulate objects at will. Microids has certainly pulled out all the stops to really create lived-in settings and scenes - the hospital I am shown is dirty and filled with less-than-reputable characters. There’s something of creator Benoit Sokal’s artistry injected into the new character design, too, ensuring that the series still holds on to his style of storytelling.

Syberia 3 is out on 1st December 2016.