Introduction

Almost every game I receive for reviewing makes me jump like a kid with a new toy, and judging by the height of the jump, there are three categories: cool games I'm happy about reviewing, cool games which nobody has yet that I'm very happy about reviewing, and very cool games which I really wanted and nobody has yet but I do.

If we take into account the fact that I hadn't heard about "El Matador" before receiving it, we can say that the height of the jump was quite high for an unknown game. Maybe it was my gut instinct that gave me a good feeling about the game, and made me really float. Well, let's test then what an old gamers' gut feeling is worth.

 Gang members looking for someone to waste.

The Story

In the game, you play a DEA agent, trying to kill the head of a drug cartel, taking down with him the whole organization, which isn't a simple task. This drug cartel is very wealthy, these people are very well armed, are everywhere and in large quantities.

 Interactive surroundings: concrete pillars fall apart upon being shot.

System requirements

Minimal requirement: a 1.5 GHz CPU, a graphics card with at least 128 Mb of RAM, 512 system RAM, and 2.5 Gb of free HDD space. I played on a system with a 3.0 GHz CPU, and a Radeon 9800 with 512 of RAM. In the game itself there weren't any significant lags, but the loading times of the game are fairly high, and I know, I need more RAM.

 Diverse surrounding: and now the jungle.

Graphics

There's a lot to say about the graphics, the game itself is built with at the highest of technological standards, and it has all the newest graphical options: HDR rendering, texture filtering, and anisotropic filtering up to X16. Another thoughtful option allows one to control blood spatter: a player might decide that all the blood is too much for him, and cancel the blood spatter effect. The graphics in the game are very impressive, character and weapons look realistic, and the game's surroundings give the impression of real surroundings, and overall one might say the graphic designers have done a very thorough job.

The graphic environment gets a special mention too: there's no more fighting around building and houses, or forests. The three chapters I've been given in the preview were totally different from one another, and the environments were very diverse. Now add to all these compliments the effect of bullet trails, and you'll reach the conclusion that I am really pleased graphic-wise.

 Bullet-time effect: such as in "Max Payne".

Sound

On the sound front I have good news as well: the game supports EAX and it allows control over HW mixing. I was very surprised to discover that other then the usual sound options; the game adds the option to control the volume of the background voices and the volume of people's voices: two sound filters which are very cool, and fun to have. On the music in the game I have less good things to say, although it blends well with the action it's not so diverse, and after a few hours of playing the game I felt really brainwashed, and even now after finishing all the chapter I received, I can still hear the music resonate in my head. 

 Nice transitions, in a shipyard this time.

Gameplay

Now, you've got to take into account the fact I've played only the very limited preview of the game: that's three chapters only. Let's go to some questions then, after playing these chapters would I like to keep playing the full game? Yes!!! Undoubtedly, the preview has intrigued me to keep playing the full game. Let's expand on the game a bit more.

"El Matador" is actually an FPS from a third person's view, much like Max Payne, and if we are mentioning Max Payne – this game has the same "bullet time" option where the player warps time and gets an advantage over his opponents, which become very slow. The controls of the game are quite comfortable: all the key bindings are all the standard FPS bindings, and the camera doesn't give the player any "troubles" as in GTA SA and other similar games. On the other hand, I didn't find a comfortable way to change the camera angle, and I played the whole game looking at the back of the player. Not that it bothered me, but I would have liked to peak at the player's lovely face – out of habit perhaps.

The weapons in the game are one of the coolest news: I counted 29 different weapons in 6 categories, all real weapons which was a delight, especially after I discovered that the higher the category of the weapon, the more accurate and deadly it is. So, by dropping the weapons along the game, there's always the joy of receiving a new one, and if you take into account the fact that the full game has about 28 games, you might expect the plan is (and I'm only speculating) to give a new weapon every stage – what fun!

 Mmmmmm… there's nothing to say, I just liked the view.

 Bots

The bots in the game deserve an honorable mention. They didn't make my life easy, which means the hid, jumped in front of me, and fired on automatic; they waited in unexpected places, and ambush me with massive forces. Although to kill a bot you don't have to hit it to many times, the accuracy level of the weapons and the fact that the bots can shoot without braking cover (especially in the jungle stage) did  make my job a bit harder, and forced me to develop a unique stile of fighting in order to survive. If you ask me now, my gut feeling about the game was right all along. This was a very fun game to play.

Difficult puzzles and delays

During the time I played the limited version of the game, I didn't encounter any puzzles as in "Tomb Raider" or "Prey", which is a pity, but still not indicative of the full game. The obvious plus of having a game without puzzles is that its gameplay will be continuous, where you don't get stuck and waist time on figuring out how to pass a door, or find a way to the next stage. On the other hand, who doesn't like to feel smart, after finding how to solve a puzzle, and I hope the full version of the game does have some obstacles that make you think.

 Fighting that gets you underground

Conclusion

All of my compliments about "El Matador" are very rightly deserved. Now, receiving a compliment from me is good, because a compliment is a compliment, and everyone wants one, but now the game will need to justify the compliments it got. During the preview, I took into consideration that the game isn't out yet, and that's why if there were any bugs (and I did get a possible list of bugs) I was very forgiving. When the full game will see the light of day, and I hope to receive it for review, we will be able to tell you how much the game was improved, and to answer the question of all questions: would you play it once more, after finishing it, or did you leave it in the middle after getting frustrated. It is for just that reason that we decided not to give the game a grade, and to wait for the full version.

Graphically, story-wise, gameplay-wise and weapon-wise, "El Matador" surpasses all expectations, and my recommendation is that you stay alert to any news concerning the game, because my gut feeling (and you see it works) is that this game is going to be one of the most talked about game of the upcoming season.

Reviewed and written by Falcon

Translated to English by Roy R