El Matador does not even run properly with the desktop shortcut when it is installed. Fortunately i found that the icon which was elsewhere (in my documents i seem to recall) loaded up okay.

The game is a third person max payne clone/rip off, which is difficult and generic. There are so many better games out there, don't waste time checking this out, unless you just want to experience a more obscure game with a genuine challenge.

El Matador is what happens when 1c decides to make Max Payne. It's by no means an amazing game, but it has decent enough controls to be a fun timewaster.

It's similar to Max Payne, with a lame story and decent controls, if you like the genre you can give it a try. It's fun for a while, but its lack of any multiplayer component really detracts from any potential longevity. The game is a huge rip-off of Max Payne, with a different story,not a bad game but not the best around.

Decent Mac Payne style gameplay. I enjoy the setting and the gunplay is pretty good. I'd say it's worth playing if you can pick it up on sale.

El Matador is an enjoyable and challenging "Max Payne" clone, while it's quite distant from the atmosphere and perfection of MP1 and 2, it's a very enjoyable game per se. Level design ranges to abysmally stupid to genius, with some level having very rewarding section. It's a great time waster and you'll enjoy it if you like shooting baddies in the head while going slow-mo, just don't expect Max Payne.

This game lacks a way to take cover, greatly needed in the intense gun battles with multiple enemies. You are left to either strafe to/from cover, or charge into battle. I read that this was a 'tactical' game. Well it isn't. The gameplay is very arcade-like given that it takes a billion bullets to kill you. And tho I haven't played a 'stealth' mission, I can already tell that the gameplay is not designed for duck-and-hide. There isn't even a walk, with no movement speed control how are you supposed to be 'stealthy'? The AI is really plain vanilla, they just kind of take cover and dig in.

An interesting Max Payne clone complete with slo-mo and a kind of 'bullet time'. You play a anti-Narcotics cop sent to South America to take down a cartel. Game play is standard fare and actually quite challenging. Not as smooth as Max Payne even though it's a very close clone on the face of it and this makes it lose a star. Graphically the game has held up well over the years and still looks pretty good. Recommended for fans of Max Payne style shooters.

what a weird game! i like that! while there is alot of stereotypical stuff going on here, the fact that they took the story and went in this direction with it is really a good thing. its pretty nice visually also.

El Matador

Developer: Plastic Reality

Publisher: 2WG Media

Genre: Third Person Shooter

Release: 1/29/06

Platform: PC

I got El Matador from a $20 sale on all 1C games on Gamers Gate. I say this just in case it may affect how I regard the game and how you may regard it's worth. Not much to say other then it is a Eastern European game.

Story:

The story involves you as a DEA agent who is sent to Columbia to take down a drug cartel. That is literally the story. The game does give you back-story on why you are in each location but other then that there is no additional story until the beginning of the final two levels in chapter 6. It's weird as it feels like the game was meant to have a bigger story due to how they introduced the characters in the first three chapters, but then the rest of the chapters don't do that. It feels kind of trolly as it gets you interested but fails to take off. Just imagine the exciting moment of a launch of a shuttle except it never takes off when the announcer says liftoff. It's a shame as the story could have been interesting with all the pieces of characters and settings they had.

Game-play:

El Matador is a third person Max Paine clone that is old school style. It was literally made with the Max Payne 2 engine and has the same weapons. This means there is no hand holding, no recharging health and armor, controls well, responds quick, and it's tough on hard. The game is made up of 7 chapters that are made up of 2-3 levels. You travel to locations and kill all enemies. Along the way you will encounter bosses that can take a lot of damage but are relatively easy since they keep their distance for the most part. It's fun though it does have flaws.

The game is is fair with reasonably placed enemies in the first 4 chapters and in chapter 5. Chapter 4 and the last 2 levels of chapter 6 though are not done well. Chapter 4's is not bad but the way enemies will spawn at certain distances is noticeable and annoying due to the big environment. Chapter 6's problems is that the challenge makes a big jump with everyone throwing grenades, poor enemies placements, death traps, and a ridiculously hard final boss. These problems can be mitigated though using the slow down which recharges by killing enemies. It feels like they kind of became lazy with the last 2 levels and made it hard for the sake of being a hard finale.

There is a minor issue of practically all guns are worthless except for the assault rifles due to them being overpowered. Assault rifles have the best range, accuracy, minimal recoil, high damage, use the same ammo, plentiful, and latter you get an assault rifle with a scope that makes the assault rifle perfect. It's a shame that other guns are not useful as their are so many guns to use. The game will take relatively about 20 hours to complete. It's a decent game that I enjoyed playing.

Graphics/Sound:

Graphics are nice and detailed with no real noticeable flaws. It's not going to blow your mind with cinematic looks of the console games of 2006 and beyond but that is fine. It kind of feels refreshing compared to the brown, bloom saturated graphics of today, that feels all the same to me. It looks like a 2005 game that can do wide-screen resolutions. Sounds through the game are good. The voice acting ranges from sounding South American like, to really lame accents though it's rare that they are bad. There is new music in almost every level except the last which reuses the some of the prologues music. The music is nice action movie rock style that gets you into the mood of combat.

Conclusion:

El matador is a decent, solid, Max Payne clone that I had fun playing. The game play is good through most of the game with it only becoming bad in the last two levels. The game really lacks in story but the fun makes up for it. I can't recommend it but you can buy it at Gamers Gate for $10.

El Matador is basically a clone of Max Payne. It's a third-person shooter with jump-diving and bullet-time abilities, a large selection of conventional firearms and a dramatic story of revenge.

So far so good. The game would be pretty good if it weren't for its incompatibilities with modern graphics cards. On my 5870 I'm getting massively corrupted shadows that make the game nigh unplayable. Purchase at your own risk.

The game has a nice old school feel, but falls a bit flat in the execution. The action is extremely fast paced,(Think Id shooter fast)with a large bit of Max Payne thrown in to boot. The game is also extremely challenging. The AI does not miss much,and they will be on top of you the moment they lay eyes on you. It is however hampered by this as at some points the laser beam AI will have a stunning advantage over you due to level layout. It's almost to the point were it felt the developers were using it to pad out the time you spend in game. The game itself is quite short. There's also a slow-mo "bullet-time", but if you played Max Payne you'll be disappointed by its execution. All in all considering I received this in a bundle I feels like it's a nice addition. If I had paid for it directly I'd have been slightly disappointed.

A 3rd person action game that screams Max Payne. Not the best Max payne clone though, bad AI, frustratingly difficult levels, uninspired level design; it's cheap though; you might wanna try a cheap game once in a while.

Max Payne clone with nothing to add to genre. Not a bad game, but there is so many other games that deserved to play. It's like a snack bethween meals. But price/quality ratio is good.

I did not expect much from this game but El Matador is pretty good. I was especially surprised to find it featured bullet time like that found in the Max Payne series which was a nice feature to this game. A nice range of weapons and lots of enemies keep this game entertaining.

Not a bad game, by any means. I did find it pretty difficult and unforgiving though. You die very easily - which means that you have to be extremely careful and save between every few enemies you kill... unless you want to repeat the same bits over and over again, that is. The graphics are very good for a game that was released several years ago and the shooting mechanics are pretty solid as well. If you like third-person shooters and have a good deal of patience you might very well appreciate this title.

Max Payne clone with nothing to add to genre. Not a bad game, but there is so many other games that deserved to play. It's like a snack bethween meals. But price/quality ratio is good.

This is one of those games where despite the flaws you still manage to have fun. And that is what gaming is about, fun. Yes it's buggy, yes you die easily, yes the voice acting at times is horrendous but you still have fun. Controls are excellent, and the mechanics are fun. Very similar to Max Payne you can go into bullet time to eliminate enemies and dive around.

If you are looking for a 3rd person shooter and are willing to overlook some flaws and just shoot, then pick up El-Matador.

This is one of those games that I thought would not be great but I bought it anyway because I think its cheap and it turns out that the game is really great that it even beat the games that are more expensive that this one. If you have played Max Paine before, this is the improved version of it, same game play with better graphics and sound, and a great story. Just like Max Paine, it is a third person shooter and just like Max Paine, it does slow time with great moves whenever your character enters the slow time mode.

The game is on par with current video and audio technology. It can work on HD resolution (1920x1080) with up to 16x AF. The sound is also great as it support 5.1 audio.

I gave this game a 5 out of 5 points and strongly recommends to players that loves action FPS/3rd person shooter games.