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Mata Hari on the 31st? 05 Jan, 2009 / Comments: 5

By Jason


Igor Hardy, the author of the Hal Barwood interview just posted about, wrote in to inform me that GamersGate purports to have Mata Hari available for downloadable purchase on January 31st. The product page for the game suggests a price of $39.99.
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5 Comments

  • Ascovel on 05 Jan, 2009, 00:45…
    Thanks, I didn't even realize this information was worth a separate news. This particular release date has been on GamersGate at least a month already, but they were pretty good with dates (and updating them)before, so I'd say there are considerable chances it truly is the 31st.
  • Norimaki on 05 Jan, 2009, 22:25…
    I just wanted to leave a quick note about the game. I've played through the German version (it's been out here for about a month now), and everyone looking forward to it should do so with just a little bit of caution. German reviews of the game have been rather harsh, and most of the big adventure gaming fansites downright destroyed it in their reviews. That's because they expected the game to be a second Fate of Atlantis - which it is not! But it's something that I found myself enjoying quite a bit nonetheless.
    It has a much more casual feel to it. You can play it in several short sessions, and still play an entire episode, because the puzzles are extremely easy to solve. The game usually "locks you up" in two or three rooms and you get to explore those rooms a bit. No superfluous hot spots here, it's all in the graphics this time. You usually find your way out of the situation in no time, and that's a good thing if you have intervals of two or three days when you don't get to play the game because you're busy with real life. You never, ever get stuck in this game. On the flip-side though, this makes it feel like a rather "watered-down" experience if you're expecting the second coming of Fate of Atlantis.
    Just try to enjoy it. There are some mild innovations to be found in it, and I really think Noah and Hal deserve some credit for experimenting with the genre and pushing it towards an almost "casual" style of accesibility. It's by no means a perfect game, but it's one that can be enjoyed, if you don't need it to be Fate of Atlantis 2.
  • QueZTone on 06 Jan, 2009, 14:58…
    is it as atmospheric as Siberia 1/2 or Broken Sword 2 (paris scenes)?
  • Norimaki on 06 Jan, 2009, 17:29…
    There's a lot of travelling in the game, and you get to see a lot of different places - but you don't really get a feeling for the locations you visit. That's one point I would definitely call a flaw - it doesn't do much with its locations. They're more or less functional.

    There are a few things that work in terms of atmosphere. For example, the game starts out with a social gathering of the most important cultural figures of Paris. You don't do any puzzle solving inside the ball room, but you have to walk around and speak to the different guests to make a name for yourself. You pick up different conversational "items" by talking to everyone and ultimately need to convince someone to give you the opportunity for a dancing "gig".

    But yeah, it definitely could use a bit more atmospheric depth. There are some missed opportunities in the game design, but it's an interesting game to play nonetheless.
  • Ascovel on 05 Jan, 2009, 22:45…
    That's encouraging. I have nothing against a bit lighter take on adventure gaming as long as it is creative.