Mata Hari (video game)

Mata Hari is an adventure video game. It was released on November 21, 2008 in German-speaking territories.[2] The game was worked on by ex-LucasArts alumni Hal Barwood and Noah Falstein.[3]

Mata Hari
European cover art
Developer(s)Cranberry Production
Publisher(s)
Designer(s)Hal Barwood
Noah Falstein
Programmer(s)Matthias Meyer
Artist(s)Oliver Specht
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
Release
  • GER: November 21, 2008
  • NA: July 2009
  • UK: March 26, 2010[1]
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Plot

Real-life Mata Hari embarks on a fictional adventure in which she becomes a spy and uncovers sensitive military secrets, all in the midst of the outbreak of World War I.[4][5]

Gameplay

Primarily a point and click adventure game, the title also includes various minigames. For instance players have to perform exotic dances in order to earn money. The game allowed players to skip these dance-oriented sections.

Development

The game was developed by Hanover-based studio 4Head Studio/Cranberry Production. DTP Entertainment published the game worldwide on its Anaconda label. A press release on April 26, 2007 listed a release date of Q1 2008 for Germany, Switzerland and Austria.[6][5][7]

The core idea, a spy game with Mata Hari at the turn of the last century, was created by Christopher Kellner and Marc Buro. Buro, a producer at DTP, approached both Barwood and Falstein separately and pitched them a game based on Mata Hari, which after discussing the opportunity, felt was "right up our alley". The duo agreed to collaborate on the project.[8] Barwood and Falstein were the principle designers, and fleshed out the core idea into a full-fledged game. The 4Head Studio team was led by Tobias Severin, Matthias Meyer, and Oliver Specht.[8]

The duo, who both lived in California, were able to discuss the game at a local cafe. However, they also began to have long Skype conversations between California, Hannover and Hamburg. In August 2007, Barwood and Falstein attended a series of meetings in Hannover to review and fine-tune the design.[8]

Critical reception

Adventure Archiv thought that the game was short at a play time of ten hours.[9] Adventure Treff wrote that reading the Wikipedia article of the subject of the game was more exciting than playing the game, and notes the game developers should have read it too prior to making the game.[3] Adventure Corner felt the game's story was littered with plot holes.[10] Game Captain felt the game came across as simple and superficial.[11][12] Adventures Unlimited thought the game fell below expectations.[13] Jeux Video described the title as one that exudes freshness, maturity and remarkable intelligence.[14]

References
  1. "Mamba Q1/2 2010 schedule". Gamesindustry.biz. Gamer Network. December 14, 2009. Archived from the original on April 22, 2020. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  2. "Mata Hari Schedule of Upcoming Releases: Just Adventure - Reviews Walkthroughs and Adventure News!". 2008-11-09. Archived from the original on 2008-11-09. Retrieved 2018-02-24.
  3. "Adventure-Treff - Test: Mata Hari". 2016-03-19. Archived from the original on 2016-03-19. Retrieved 2018-02-24.
  4. "News 27-04-2007 Mata Hari englisch". 2016-03-25. Archived from the original on 2016-03-25. Retrieved 2018-02-24.
  5. "Beautiful and dangerous: Anaconda goes spying with Mata Hari - Press Release: Just Adventure - Reviews Walkthroughs and Adventure News!". 2007-12-27. Archived from the original on 2007-12-27. Retrieved 2018-02-24.
  6. "News 27-04-2007 Mata Hari englisch". 2016-03-25. Archived from the original on 2016-03-25. Retrieved 2018-02-24.
  7. "Experience Mata Hari's exotic dancing - Introducing new "Seduction" gameplay mode added to upcoming classic P&C; adventure game - Press Release: Just Adventure - Reviews Walkthroughs and Adventure News!". 2008-12-10. Archived from the original on 2008-12-10. Retrieved 2018-02-24.
  8. "Adventure-Treff - Interview: Hal Barwood". 2016-04-10. Archived from the original on 2016-04-10. Retrieved 2018-02-24.
  9. "Mata Hari - Review deutsch". 2016-03-25. Archived from the original on 2016-03-25. Retrieved 2018-02-24.
  10. "Adventure Corner - Reviews - Mata Hari". 2008-12-30. Archived from the original on 2008-12-30. Retrieved 2018-02-24.
  11. "Mata Hari | Testbericht / Review (Seite 1) @GameCaptain.de". 2008-12-01. Archived from the original on 2008-12-01. Retrieved 2018-02-24.
  12. "Mata Hari | Testbericht / Review (Fazit) @GameCaptain.de". 2008-12-02. Archived from the original on 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2018-02-24.
  13. . 2009-02-03 https://web.archive.org/web/20090203170155/http://adventuresunlimited.de:80/matahari.htm. Archived from the original on 2009-02-03. Retrieved 2018-02-24. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. "Test de Mata Hari sur PC - 06/05/2009". 2014-07-30. Archived from the original on 2014-07-30. Retrieved 2018-02-24.
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