Hotel Review

Beware of stereotypes, they may be hiding something really cool.

Stereotype 1: Say the name, “Big Fish Games” and you could be forgiven for thinking of an endless supply of Hidden Object Games and variations of Jewel Quest. But Hotel is a genuine, bona fide adventure game. It was made by Cateia Games, which is a small company in Croatia (note to Americans: Find Croatia now on the map to earn the fourth shard). I had not heard of them myself, but their web site shows quite a few games. You should go there and check them out.

Stereotype 2: When I first saw the plot for Hotel I rolled my eyes. Beautiful NYPD detective with psychic sensitivities is sent to an old castle in France built by the Knights Templar where she discovers an ancient cult and a mystical artifact which will allow its owner to rule the world. Gee, that’s never been done before…TO DEATH!

But I set my prejudices aside for the moment and started playing. And I found a very nice game.

The first thing you will notice from the screen shots is that the graphics are very nice. I can’t say that they were especially atmospheric, but they are very pretty. Good, professional effort.

The sound was also pretty and attempted to set the mood. No great orchestration, just simple background ambient chords. There were attempts to sound dramatic in places, but for what ever reason I was not particularly moved. But, as I said, it was nice and there was nothing audible which distracted from the game.

There is no voice acting, all dialog is through captions. This worked just fine and I personally prefer this to voices which don’t quite get it.

The puzzles were a combination of logical and inventory and they were all fair. Clues were there to be found and if a hot spot was rather small, it was helped along with a small sparkle. Overall, they were quite enjoyable.

The game play is very good. The interface is point-and-click. The hot spots are generous, but just in case there are two helps. If a spot is particularly small, there is a small star which occasionally blinks over it. There is also a Hint button which highlights all hot spots on the screen.

The game progresses very nicely – it is usually obvious what needs to be done next. There is a bit to explore, but it never overwhelms and you don’t have to cross the entire country time and again on errands. The story, such as it is, unfolds at a good pace.

It is the story line where the game gets a little silly. I won’t get into many details, but there are many plot devices brought into the game which are never developed. For example, the detective is supposed to be sensitive to psychic phenomena. Good, there are games out there based solely on this premise. But her ability allows her to have a couple of lucid dreams at the beginning and that is it. We never see it at work again. The result is a story which feels rushed and trite in several places. However, it does hold your interest and the ending was fine.

The biggest complaint you could bring against Hotel is that it is a bit short – it can be played in ten to fifteen hours. However, it only costs $7. (Webmaster’s note: At Big Fish, $6.99 is the Big Fish Game Club price [PC/Mac]; otherwise, it’s $9.99. The game may also be downloaded at Amazon Digital [PC, US only] for $6.99.)

Putting it all together, you have a very nice, short, game at a very good price. It was fun to play and I would like to see more from Cateia Games.

PC System Requirements:

• Operating system: Windows XP/Vista/Windows 7
• 1 GHZ CPU
• 256 MB RAM
• 350 MB Hard disc space
• Sound: Any Sound Card
• 32 MB 3D video card
• DirectX®9

Mac System Requirements:

• Mac OS X 10.4. or higher
• Intel or PPC

iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad:

• OS 3.0 or later