Developed by: Cranberry and DTP Entertainment
Published by: Viva media
ESRB Rated Teen for sexuality, blood, violence and alcohol
Single Player with multiple endings
Pros: Fun adventure style game with good puzzles to solve
Cons: Very sexual
System Requirements
OS: Windows XP/Vista
CPU: 1.6GHz
RAM: 512MB
VIdeo: 128MB DX 9
Hard Drive: 2GB free space Mata Hari: Betrayal Is Only A kiss Away is based on the life of Margaretha Geertruida Zelle who was an exotic dancer and a double agent code name H21. The game begins with Mata just starting out as an exotic dancer and is recruited by Samsonet who wants her to charm and get a corporate seal from a wealthy business man. Mata is later arrested by the French counter espionage officer Georges Ladoux and is offered a choice of spying for them or sitting in jail. France and Germany are gearing up for war, and it seems inevitable. Although her intentions of stopping the war are noble, her methods are far from morally acceptable. She has a reputation of being promiscuous and targeting high ranking officers. She often uses seduction to get help and information from men. Mata Hari is an adventure style game where you talk and explore your surroundings and have to solve various puzzles to progress. Your objectives and accomplishments are stored in a diary. The game play is rather linear and you cannot talk to anyone or go anywhere that\'s not part of the main story line. As you play, you will gain points towards wealth, spy craft, and skill. The game ending is determined on how many points you have accumulated. Spy Craft points are awarded by discovering clues and examining your surroundings thoroughly. Skill points are awarded for completing mini games for tapping phones or evading enemy agents in the train. Wealth points are awarded for doing well on the exotic dancing rhythm game. As time goes on, her dancing outfits get skimpier and if you dance well, the audience will get more exposure. I like how this game gives you the option to skip many of the mini games, but if you skip, you will lose out on the points. The missions themselves will vary and you will find yourself tapping phones, dabbling with chemicals, sneaking into factories, and even impersonating a famous male chemist. When talking with men you can try to seduce them using one of four methods: flattery, dismissing, yielding to, or daring them. Save your game before a mission critical conversation because some conversations go sour if you choose the wrong seduction method. Many missions can be solved without jumping in the sack, but there are some instances where Mata does end up in another gentleman\'s quarters. In those cases you see the two lying in bed and Mata is wearing lingerie. Funny how she seems to wear less when doing her dances. Other appropriateness issues include swearing and drinking. There is a murder that takes place and Mata will be investigating the bloody crime scene. Graphically this game is pretty detailed. There are detailed 2D backgrounds with 3D characters walking around. The indoor and outdoor scenery is very detailed and it\'s not too difficult to find the objects you need to interact with. Some of the NPC\'s are recycled and all the spies look the same. The voice acting is great and it really adds depth to the characters. My only complaint here is that in the jail/sewer scenes the echo is way to over powering and I couldn\'t make out what they were saying. The background music is nice but forgettable. The controls are mostly mouse driven and the interface is pretty easy to use. I found the dancing rhythm game hard to do and often skipped it. I didn\'t mind the other mini games. I like how towards the end you can take trains that bypass the agent spy mini game. Mata Hari is a fun, re-playable adventure game with reasonable puzzles. There are walkthroughs available if you get stuck. I\'m sure many adventure games will enjoy this title. However, I cannot recommend it for its moral issues alone.