It's rewarding to see how far the genre has come.
To me, Cyberia is a classic. At the time it was released, I had never seen anything like it. I was amazed at the graphics, blown away by the movie quality storyline and dialogue (once again, at the time), and loved the unique gameplay. To me, a kid raised on games like Doom, Streets of Rage, and Sonic the Hedgehog, this was mindblowing. Playing this game today, there are some annoying issues and some gameplay quirks, but I still love it.
When game was originally released, it was critically panned. The game was labeled "style over substance" with universal praise given to the graphics, but much criticism given to the linear gameplay and short length as well as the lack of any replay value. The gameplay is definitely pretty dated and even back in the day, it was very much an acquired taste. I think the game is overall, very....interesting, but that's what makes it a classic to me. It's a really strange game. The gameplay feels empty, but intriguing at the same time. The graphics are still pretty decent, especially for its time, with many foreboding, dark, detailed environments. The storyline is probably the weirdest part of the game. I understand it, but I'm completely confused by it at the same time. One character that you kill earlier in the game, appears later in the game with the same voice, same name, and you kill him yet again. The game offers no explanation to this and many other strange pieces of the storyline.
I'll admit that Cyberia has little to no replay value. There's no multiplayer, no different endings; in fact, not a single gameplay element changes, not even if you change the difficulty level. The enemy accuracy changes, but the enemy placement remains the same. I still think that whether you play the game once or a dozen times, its still a very worthwhile experience. While the shooting segments of the game consist of very mediocre rail shooting sequences, the puzzle segments of the game are very unique and pretty interesting. The storyline twists fit pretty well into the gameplay as well, though there are a few convoluted puzzles.
With Heavy Rain being released, the future of interactive gaming is here. Cyberia, released in 1994, was one of the first interactive games ever released, and it's very rewarding to see how far the genre has come since the early 90's. There's still some great, fun gameplay to be found in Cyberia nearly 20 years after it's released. Though it's quick journey into the past, Cyberia is still a worthwhile journey into the past, even in the future.
(P.S. Another element worth mentioning is the how incredibly trial-and-error the gameplay is. While in most games, this can be very annoying and ridiculously draining, in Cyberia, it is simply hilarious the amount of deaths you can die and how ridiculous the deaths can be. Ex. Slipping on an oil covered floor and YOUR DEAD. Check out this link for the many amazing and hilarious ways you can die in Cyberia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yriFCXi8B2E)