Unfortunately, we are talking about a decent game and not a mega-hit.

The story goes like this: El Matador is a special agent of the DEA trying to track-down/eliminate a Columbian Drug Cartel.

The story is so bad that I am not going to insist on it. The producers themselves probably registered the voices, or else I cannot imagine why a polished game gets such a "quality" of the speech. Efforts have been made to realize a cinematic atmosphere with some sharp looking cut scenes, spectacular moments and eventually a punch line at the end. The problem is that the main character, when angry that he almost got blown up by a bazooka, is not able to say anything else than ''please excuse me, I have to kill some people''

The game resembles Max Payne so much that someone who has played it before should not have a problem getting used to the controls. Third person perspective, zoom possibility depending on the weapon, slow motion jumps in all four cardinal directions, or complete slow motion.

Weapons are grouped together into different categories depending on the power used and one can use two guns at the same time. The main purpose of the slow motion feature is to slow down the rest of the world while the character maintains his normal mobility. In this case, the Matador is clearly faster on slow motion than his enemies but still not fast enough so that after a few levels, the global bullet time function becomes completely futile. I am insisting on this feature since El Matador is quite difficult to play, the producers insisting on using a sequence of realistic elements that often succeed in frustrating the player. A telling example is the weapon's blowout that would often be completely absurd. After two or three shots, the crosshair is in the bushes, with or without bullet time, making the tracking of the enemies quite complicated.

Basically, I am throwing myself aside in slow motion, I set the target, and I shoot, and realize that three quarters of my loader have gone in the wrong direction. That rather eliminates the majority of weapons from its arsenal, the player being forced to use either the Kalashnikov or the gun-sighting telescope, or even the shotgun. The damage also is treated in a realistic manner. I have to pass through a room with five enemies in it. The slow motion is on but that will not do because the enemies will hit me anyway and I am still slow, and I shoot, and I see that my crosshair is going straight to the ceiling. It is safer to walk in crouch with a Kalashnikov, and shoot to the head without using slow-mo.

Fortunately, the game is also fun enough without slowing down the time, the adversary's AL helping a lot on that score. They are not so smart, but they know how to use the setting for backup, they assume that you are behind a box and start throwing grenades, leaving a good impression.

Most of the in-game graphics are excellent, providing a photorealistic style. High-resolution textures, illumination via HDR, beautiful colors, and a huge view-distance.

El Matador is not irremediably bad; one can see that efforts were made but it did not turn out so well.

Further, I have to mention some issues concerning the technical aspect, several rather unpleasant bugs, and some system demands. The game plays decently until it comes to the quantity of RAM installed. One GB RAM will play the game fluidly but with several interruptions when quick loading and with some problems when quitting the game.

In conclusion, El Matador is a fun experience but it could have been more. As I take it, the main cause why this game does not get more than an eight is the producer's lack of experience, but it remains a fun game and with a bit of luck the 2 nd part will be better.

Recommendable, as long as your expectations are not so high.