[Review] Mail Mole confirms its release date on consoles and PC

[WilkerCSBD]

The game stars a postman mole, who will have to deliver his letters in a 3D platformer title.
Sam Porter Bridges allowed us to become couriers in the post-apocalyptic world of Death Stranding, Hideo Kojima's most recent work. More carefree is the universe created by the Spanish studio Talpa Games, which offers us a fun 3D platform in which we will handle a postman mole. The title, which will go on sale on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC (backward compatible on Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and PS5), already has a confirmed release date: it will be next March 4 when we can enjoy the video game .

Mail Mole is defined as a 3D platform in which there is no place for emails. After a general blackout, the only way to solve the problem is traditional mail. Molty, the postman mole, will have to overcome numerous challenges to reach the most remote mailboxes in Carrotland. Among the scenarios and obstacles that we will find will be the floating docks, the quicksand, dangerous sharp spikes and bottomless wells. Without electricity, the distribution is even more complicated.

30 platforming levels
According to the press release, the world of Carrotland is full of surprises to discover, whether on the quiet beaches of Coconut Island or on the cold crags of Yeti Ridge. Whatever the dangers, Molty must deliver his letters, face the mysterious Mecha Topos, and find the many collectibles scattered around the world. In total, more than 30 levels full of secrets and adventures. In addition to making deliveries, Molty will have to collect carrots and other objects.

Mail Mole is the First Feature of Talpa Games, a development studio sprouted from the university that has partnered with Undercoders, responsible for titles such as Conga Master and SuperEpic: The Entertainment War. Inspired by the classics of the genre, the developers will try to reach a wide audience of all ages.
 

We chat with Àngel Beltrán, one of the four members of Talpa Games, to tell us how they turned their project into a real video game.
"In a team of four we all do a little of everything," laughs Àngel Beltrán, producer and programmer at Talpa Games, when asked about the internal management of his project, Mail Mole, a tribute to the school of games of three-dimensional platforms. Carrotland, the world where this adventure full of jumps and speed takes place, was not initially going to be a commercial video game, but the final project of a university internship.

Something caught the attention of this project at ENTI (Escola de Noves Tecnologies Interactives; attached to the University of Barcelona); had something different. It may be potential, it may simply be talent. It does not matter too much: they were given an opportunity, one of those that you don't know how many times you can have with just 22-23 years, in an industry without patience and full of intangibles. Talpa Games, before forming as a studio, convinced herself to give it a try. What were they going to lose?

Albert Nieves in design and programming tasks; Roger Sala in design and programming; Òscar Masferrer in art and, finally, Àngel as a producer and also a programmer, because there was a lot to program and very little budget involved. Both share a general hobby, videogames, but also a particular hobby, three-dimensional platforms. With everything learned since childhood, courage and desire, Mail Mole has gone from being an academic wish to become a sponsored by the Catalan publisher Undercoders (SuperEpic, Conga Master). From having among its objectives see the light on Steam and Nintendo Switch to also doing it on Xbox and PS4.

Mail Mole | Talpa games
After playing it at the Steam Game Festival and being pleasantly convinced by the quality of its execution, we interviewed Àngel to tell us how it all started and the reason for the creative decisions that make up Carrotland.

How Talpa Games was born

"The project began as a university project at the University of Barcelona, as part of the projects course when we were in third grade," he begins by telling MeriStation. “It is an annual subject in which the idea is to live a little, on a small scale, which is a development to gain experience. It was there that we started with the idea of the platform game that mixes Mario with Splatoon. Let's say that was the internal description for us. That sum ”. It is something that is palpable from the first moment. Both in the perspective of the camera and the movement of the character, who dives underground, he can gain momentum and execute mechanics that directly impact the environment.

“We developed it and we were lucky that David Jaumandreu, from Undercoders, was the mentor for this subject. He helped us during that year, the project took shape and, as we finally won the award for the best game of the course and that there was a very good relationship with David, he suggested we do the fourth-year practices at Undercoders. But instead of to work in projects of the company of his, it was to finish Mail Mole and to publish it originally in Switch and PC ”. And so, in essence, this potential video game was born.

“We worked in his offices in the internship and he played the role of publisher and executive producer. In fact, if it weren't for his help and Undercoders' experience, the project wouldn't have turned out the way it did; It would have been much more complicated ”, he adds.

With the support of JanduSoft, a Barcelona company specialized in publishing and co-producing projects related to the video game, they will also be able to launch it on PS4 and Xbox, not only on PC and Nintendo Switch.