In the end, Mata Hari's pace and believability slump just a bit too often, and it tends to be rather superficial in its characterization and themes. Still, the game's better qualities redeem it as a decent adventure. The atmosphere is often beautiful. The hidden puzzles and some of dialogue's humor create uncommonly good replay value. You may even appreciate the game more in a second playing-that is, if you overlook its secrets on your first trip through.
If you like mysteries with just a bit of conspiracy in a thoroughly detailed historical setting, Mata Hari is the right adventure for you. It will take you back to one of Europe's most splendid periods, and then catapult you toward the dark times of World War I.
Mata Hari: Betrayal is Only a Kiss Away is an entertaining, classic adventure game based on real-life events. While the character models could have used some extra polish, the graphics and sounds are enough to make you overlook the small issues. You will use Mata's unique bag of tricks to ferret out information, documents, and codes from a lot of people, many of them actual, historical figures.
Guiding Mata up to – and into – World War I before finding one of four possible fates for her makes for a very intriguing, albeit somewhat slow, game. People with a fondness for historical fact, historical fiction, and especially gamers who want a realistic female protagonist would do well to pick this game up.
