Windows

El Matador

Frogsters Actiontitel führt Sie in die gefährlichsten Gegenden der Welt. Nein, nicht nach St. Pauli oder Kreuzberg, sondern nach Südamerika. Woran denken Sie, wenn Sie den Begriff Kolumbien hören? An die Anden? Den durchgeknallten Fußballspieler Carlos Valderrama? Oder eher an Ex-Formel-1-Rüpel Joan Paplo-Montoya?

Ich bewundere gerne den Fortschritt in Sachen KI, aber ein Gegner, der mir hundertprozentiger Sicherheit jedes Mal einen Todesschuss versetzt, ist mir zuviel. Eine gute KI soll ein Spiel authentisch und fordernd gestalten, nicht frustrieren. Abgesehen von diesen Balance-Problemen haben die Entwickler einiges auf die Beine gestellt: einen launigen Action-Shooter mit ansehnlicher Präsentation und ordentlichem Baller- und Krawall-Faktor. Kein Meilenstein, aber für frustresistente Actionfreunde genau das Richtige.

El Matador nie jest tytułem przełomowym, ale zwykłą strzelanką, która wykorzystała stare, dobre pomysły. Jednak gra wykonana jest niechlujnie (oprócz grafiki). Odstraszają potworne wymagania sprzętowe, a zwłaszcza to, że gra potrafi się przyciąć na naprawdę dobrych maszynach. Razi także, brak opcji multiplayer, na dzisiejsze czasy jest to element nieodłączny. Produkt wzbudzi zachwyt tylko koneserów, ale uprzedzam grę można przejść w kilka godzin.

Faisons simple et direct : El Matador n'est pas révolutionnaire, loin s'en faut. Sa formule est archi classique, linéaire au possible mais le tout est suffisamment bien amené pour qu'on se laisse tenter par ce Max Payne version DEA survoltée. Alors si vous aimez le genre, ne vous privez pas, pour 40 euros, vous aurez une charmante petite distraction.

Das Waffenarsenal stimmt, das Setting stimmt - mit jedem Feuerstoß merke ich, wie cool El Matador hätte werden können. Fetzige Action mit krachenden Explosionen, so muss ein Shooter aussehen. Wenn mich allerdings bei jedem zweiten Gefecht ein Sonntagsschuss der KI-Gegner dahinrafft, dann vergeht mir der Spaß. Das ständige Speichern und Laden drückt nämlich dezent auf den Spielfluß. So wird aus El Matador letzten Endes nur ein passables Spiel für Fans von Bullet-Time.

El Matador is an all-around solid game. Although it does have a few notable issues, most of these do not detract from the experience that much at all. The game looks and sounds amazing. Plus, the accessibility to the game by gamers of all types is a definite positive point. The gameplay is fast, fun and relatively easy to get into. The AI controlled teammates are highly intelligent and help immerse the player into the storyline without adding the complication involved if the player had to control these characters as well by issuing them commands. The storyline in the game is great, and although the game length may seem a little short for the more advanced players, overall it strikes a great balance. Action fans of all types should take a look at this one.

El Matador is a fundamentally a good game, but it's not a particularly special one. It does things mostly right, but it's treading on paths that have been created by the likes of Max Payne and fails to create its own. Still, it's worth a pick up for third-person action fans, and those with a need for more slow-mo action.

A wannabe spiritual successor to the Max Payne series, El Matador spins a convoluted yarn about a DEA hitman named John Corbet sent to Columbia to combat the "narcomafia" and take down the La Valedora drug cartel but really it could mostly be described as "Max Payne Visits Columbia."

Podsumowując. Przygody Victora Corbeta byłyby idealną pozycją dla fanów tego typu gier, gdyby nie tych kilka wad, które możecie wyczytać w moim tekście. Wystarczyłoby też dodać bardziej rozbudowaną fabułę, chociażby namiastkę tej z Max Payne (pod względem jej rozbudowania), a w El Matador grałoby się o wiele przyjmniej. Co nie znaczy, że gra się źle. Poziomy przechodzi się z przyjemnością, wrogowie naprawdę potrafią napsuć trochę krwi, a naszym oczom i uszom dostarczane są naprawdę przyjemne doznania. Niestety, moim zdaniem na więcej niż szóstkę gra nie zasługuje.

Action games from a third-person perspective seem to have gone the way of the buffalo. First-person shooters are starting to rule the PC and console kingdom, with many new ones being released each year. So when El Matador was announced, and it looked like an interesting third-person shooter in the vein of Max Payne, fans of the genre were likely happy to see something like this come along to give them a quick fix. El Matador certainly tries to do a lot of the same things that made games like Max Payne so popular, but ultimately, it fails to deliver on a few key points.

Moeilijk is één ding, maar El Matador gaat fameus over de lijn. Het is leuk om een erg taaie shooter te verslaan, maar bij dit spel is dat gewoon geen optie. Het is te hopen dat El Plastic Realities bij hun volgende spel die lijn wel vindt!

En bref, El Matador se révèle trop classique pour prétendre au titre de jeu de l'année. Jouissif sur certains passages, le jeu est aussi très inégal, très linéaire mais aussi très buggué et un poil court. A 45€, c'est un peu cher pour craquer de suite, aussi je ne saurais que trop vous conseiller d'attendre une version budget.

If you've never played Max Payne 2, and are looking for some (otherwise) unique 3rd person action, with a lame story and decent controls, then give El Matador a try. It's fun for a short while, but its lack of any multiplayer component really detracts from any potential longevity. The game is a huge rip-off of its aforementioned mentor, so if you can look past the fact that other than the story, it's the same game, then by all means, play your hearts out. I still strongly recommend you pass, as three years later, there are far better options out there.

A tough game is one thing, but El Matador tilts the playing field so much that it feels like you're being cheated. While there is nothing in gaming like the satisfaction of beating a really hard shooter, there is a fine line between giving you the chance to earn that feeling of accomplishment and hammering you so relentlessly that continuing to play seems futile. If Plastic Reality ever makes another shooter, let's hope that it discovers where that line is in the future.

El Matador's story, characters, and gameplay add nothing new to the shooter genre. There's nothing here that's stupendously bad, but nothing good that's memorable either.

Unfortunately, the El Matador lacks the style and flair of Max Payne, and is instead little more than a half-baked knock-off of the latter. Not only that, but the game suffers from poorly-implemented AI and a host of other problems. All things considered, El Matador doesn’t do anything that hasn’t been done (and better) in the past several years.

Des lustres qu’on vous en parle, de ce El Matador ! Après une montagne de magnifiques screenshots fournis par l’éditeur et des articles un peu plus lucides fait par nos soins, voici enfin le verdict final sur celui qui voulait détrôner Max Payne…

THERE'S A KNACK to jumping on bandwagons. The first thing to remember is, of course, to jump on a good one. El Matador does this perfectly well, with bullet-time as its wagon of choice. You also have to jump while the bandwagon is hot, or at the very least, still there.