Enter the Matrix

I held off on buying this game because I had heard so much about how it sucked that I wasn't about to drop 50 bucks for a bad game. I picked it up the other day because it has become one of those "Playstation 2 Greatest Hits" titles.

Really what it all gets down to is this: This game is fun to play. Above all else, that's the most important thing in any game. The controls, which so many complain about, were really easy to get used to. I really don't understand what everyone was complaining about. The sound was great, and I really enjoyed the added dimension the cut scenes gave to the films. The graphics were weak, I'll admit. But frankly, I'd rather play a fun game with a good story than a beautiful game with no story that bores me to tears. All in all, it's a good game and if you like the Matrix, get it.

Ok, first off I'm going to say that I got this game free, legally I might add. I was able to get a full rebate from Amazon a while back. And I'm also going to say that I'm glad I didn't end up paying for this. The gameplay was pretty bad, the graphics weren't much better, and the AI was absolutely atrocious. In the driving portions, when you weren't driving, you were lucky to get to the end in one piece. Another thing: square tires are bad; zooming in on clearly square tires is worse. Sure, you could do Focus moves, and they were cool, but they were also useless for the most part. You regenerated health fast enough that you could take a few hits while just running around killing everyone with no real negative effects.

That said, the extra footage/plot info was great. I really feel most of the dialogue in this game was better than could be found in the movies. I really wish Sparks and Ghost had been allowed some character development in the actual movies, Sparks in particular. And it was nifty seeing the Trainman reappear in the movie.

In the end, I'd recommend this game to any, at least slightly serious Matrix fan. But if you're looking for a good game, look elsewhere.

I was ecstatic at the idea of a Matrix video game, but I avoided it after most reviews panned. I finally rented and, like everyone else, was disappointed. The game *cannot* stand apart from either The Matrix Reloaded or Final Flight Of The Osiris. The cut scenes read like the deleted scenes from the film, but without any of the connecting scenes from the movie or exposition explaining what's going on, the game has no coherent story or thru-line.

The game play was decent, but the graphics are far behind other games for GameCube, Playstation, or X-Box. The motion capture often left the animated cut scenes feeling stiff. Also, the lack of in-game displays and indicators made it difficult to differential friend from foe and figure out your next objective. The final stage where you pilot the hovercraft through the underground tunnels is the worst of all in terms of graphics and play control. The game ends without any sense of accomplishment or closure, so I was left feeling unsatisfied.

Lets start by getting the negatives out of the way first.

1. The physics of the game are a little off in that the people don't react the solid objects correctly. Sometimes you will kill or incapacitate an enemy their body will be laying halfway inside a wall or laying flat as if they were on the ground but are actually laying on a one inch rail.

2. The sound in a few FMVs has some kind of echo problem that makes it hare to understand what the characters are saying.

3. Occasionally your character will perform a complex fighting move where they grapple with an enemy and knock them out except they don't pull off the first move correctly, i.e. getting a hold of the enemy, and they will perform the entire sequence of fight moves against thin air.

The first problem is understandable considering that MOST video games don't have accurate physics engines. The other two indicate that The Wachowski Brothers wanted it out in time for the release of Reloaded. The game came out 3/11/2003 and the film 3/15/2003.

Now for the good parts.

1. Other than these few problems the game is quite enjoyable and gives you a very in-depth look at the Matrix reality. Unlike most movie tie-in games this actually compliments the films rather than trying to imitate it or be a condensed version.

2. The game's plot line actually interweaves with the film Reloaded giving you a better understanding of the films complexities.

3. The use of focus power, or bullet time as it is also known, makes for some very impressive hand to hand and gun fighting. For those of you unfamiliar with the Matrix concept (if you don't know any thing about the films then why the heck are you reading about the game?) I will give you a prime example of bullet time so that you can understand the magnitude of being able to control this power.

Five minutes into the first Matrix film we see a woman dressed a black, leather biker's outfit with her hands on her head about to be cuffed from behind by a cop, there are three other's who all have guns trained on her as he approaches. Just as he touches her wrist she quickly spins around, breaks his right arm at the elbow and jams the palm of her hand into his face breaking his nose, all within one second. She then jumps 4 feet straight up into the air and time suddenly grinds to a halt. While time is frozen the camera view rotates 180º showing her poised like the Karate Kid ready to perform a crane kick. Time then resumes normal speed. She kicks the cop so hard that he goes flying backward about 10 to 15 feet into a second officer. She, defying the laws of physics, is not moved back at all by the force of her kick and simply lands back where she was. She quickly kicks the wooden chair she was sitting on into the face of a third officer, stunning him and shattering the chair. The fourth officer aims his gun at her and begins to fire. She runs up a wall along the corner of the room, again defying the laws of physics, and then runs back at the fourth officer ducking and weaving until she is in front of him. She then spins the both of them around until she is facing the third officer, now regaining his composure and taking aim, with the fourth officer behind her facing the same way and her hand controlling his gun. She fires a few rounds at the third officer, presumably killing him, and then whips her leg up kicking the fourth officer in the face over her own shoulder, incapacitating the last of her would be captors. This is what bullet time is about.

The game itself is sufficiently entertaining that if every thing about the matrix were stripped away from it and it were simply an action/adventure/fighting game with no connections to any other product it would still be a decent enough game to stand on it's own. The thing that makes this a good game is that it (like The Animatrix) is more like a compendium to the matrix than an entity unto it self.

All in all I would give this game a. 7.5/10 (10 being excellent, 0 being horrible and 5 being average).

All the reviews I've read say that the game sucks, so why buy it? One reason and one reason only - there's over and hour of DVD quality video in the game. This video isn't just snippets from the three films either. When the Wachowski's shot footage for the video game as they were shooting The Matrix Reloaded and

Do you have to play the video game in order to see the movies. No, just like The Animatrix, you don't have to have played the game in order to enjoy the movie. Yet, there are some very interesting story lines and back stories that you miss if you haven't played it. This content enriches your movie experience. I equate it to watching your favorite television show. Take "Friends" for example. You can sit down and watch any episode of Friends and know what's going on and have a good time watching it. Yet a lot of the enjoyment of the show is the fact that you know about Ross and Rachel's past, or the fact that Monica used to be fat. When you know these back stories, things that happen in current episodes are more enjoyable. "We were on a break!" doesn't mean anything to you if you haven't seen the previous episodes.

The first segment involves going to the post office to collect the package. The second segment involves going to the airport to call all the other captains for the meeting that appears at the start of The Matrix Reloaded. I was very surprised to learn how the captains use the Matrix to leave messages for each other and there is some very funny dialog. While at the airport, you are called upon to save a fellow crew, which greatly expands the level. The third segment involves the meeting of the captains and the subsequent escape after the agents show up. In The Matrix Reloaded, we see Neo fight the agents, but we don't see what happens with the rest of the characters. It's a bit more expanded in the video game. After this third segment, I would recommend that you stop here and watch The Matrix Reloaded. Or at a minimum, watch The Matrix Reloaded, then play the game and then watch The Matrix Revolutions

Throughout the game you're presented with the following elements:

1. Cinematics - through the use of DVD quality video, you see the story unfold with all the main characters from the Matrix Trilogy. They take a few short cuts with the special effects in places, but otherwise it's the same quality of footage as the movies.

2. Animatics - to help transition you from the movie to the game, often times a cinematic with change into an animatic. This simply means that the story unfolds in an animated version using the game engine to render the characters. These cut scenes are just as engaging as the video because they use the actual actor's voices.

3. Game Play - you do actually get to play the game as well. As either Niobe, or Ghost, you navigate your way through the game unfolding the story as you play.

It was no surprise to learn that the game play sucks. As a game, Enter The Matrix is dead on arrival. No matter how powerful your computer is, the game play is going to bog down to a crawl whenever there are a lot of enemies on the screen. The limited ability to save your games is going to cause you to scream more than once. Last but not least, the game play is simply not that engaging. It's very linear and thus you're really only going from point A to point B, press a button, or open a door and the level is over. I'll be honest, as a game, it's a turd.

But that's not the point. The reason for this game is not for you to play it over and over like Quake III, or Medal Of Honor Allied Assault. The purpose for this game is to tell a story. I don't know that a video game is the best medium for telling a story, but I have to give the Wachowski brothers credit for the attempt. To show you that the Brothers simply want you to get to the end, if you get to a point where you can rest, your health will automatically increase. Not just a little at a time, but in 20 seconds you can go from 2% to 100% if you simply stand still (and no one is shooting at you).

Other than the 1 hour of DVD quality video (have I said that enough yet?), the only saving grace is the audio in the game. Dane Davis, the sound designer for the Matrix Trilogies used the exact sounds from the movies. So when you're in bullet time and hearing the guns go off, it's just like you're there. It's weird when the sound effects are the most notable aspects of a game, but they are that good.

The music is also excellent. Don Davis, the composer for the Matrix Trilogies, composed music for the game as well. In addition, there are tracks from Juno Reactor, Chris Vrenna, Fluke, Rob D and others, that add a certain bit of adrenaline to the game play. Great songs to kick butt to.

If you're a die-hard Matrix fan, then I'd recommend buying the game if you can find it on sale. However, you don't have to be a gamer to play this game. Simple button mashing will get you through the game and through all of the stories - which is the point of the whole game anyway. Even if you're not a die-hard fan, the story arcs are good and worth slugging through the game to watch them.