Enter the Matrix

"Warning—Strictly for the Matrix Fans: May Disappoint."

I would first like to mention that some of my friends are fanatics of The Matrix movies. A few of them have played ''Enter the Matrix'' as well, and told me that it was a great game. However, I don’t believe that the game is any special or unique from the current games on the market. The game is not necessarily bad, but doesn’t ever leave the player motivated enough to keep playing. At times, the player feels like giving up because the game doesn’t involve the player deeply enough, even after the first stage.

Some of the areas are ridiculously repetitive (nonstop random enemy killing), and the enemies don’t get any smarter and the game doesn’t get any harder as ''Enter the Matrix'' progresses. The martial arts and ''Max-Payne'' reminiscent bullet-dodging are fun for awhile, because there are so many different combinations to experience (You’ll have a lot of fun seeing different ways of incapacitating your enemies). Different commands execute different actions in different situations with different guns. So there is a lot to see. However, by the end of the game, the player will already have seen all the different actions and moves that the game has to offer multiple times, and they will become tiresome to watch. Translation: Before the game ends, most gamers will become bored. If the gamer is experienced, he or she will notice that the game really doesn’t offer anything that hasn’t been done before.

Although the game tries to add different elements into the game, (the driving and the ship stage), these are really poorly made and makes the game even more frustrating. In the driving stage, when playing as Ghost, Niobe takes the wheel of your invincible car. Her objective: crash into every object possible. The only way to complete the stage as Ghost is if you’re lucky enough that Niobe can find her way through to the end of the level. (If you’re Niobe, at least you can drive and avoid stuff.) The stage where you’re controlling the ship’s guns (or driving, if you’re Niobe) seemed like it was going to be interesting initially, but was thrown in and wasn’t really done well at all. (It wasn’t hard, but there didn’t really seem like there was a point). These additions were a good attempt at making the game more varied, but they were poorly designed and become more of a hassle than anything.

The main reason to purchase or play this game is if you are an avid fan of The Matrix series. There are a lot of references to the movies in this game, and a tremendous amount of real movie scenes that are supposed to add more to the movie, but I cannot confirm anything because I didn’t see the Matrix Reloaded at the time of playing this game. The game runs very smoothly, and there aren’t that many bugs that I’ve noticed. As a game, ''Enter the Matrix'' doesn’t really stand out in any area. Although it is not a bad game in any sense, there are many better ones out there. I recommend this for any Matrix fans, because of the movie cut-scenes, but probably not for a choosy gamer looking for an action game. A trip to the rental store is the key here for the console owners. PC gamers should try to see the game in action before they make the purchase. ''Enter the Matrix'' will either disappoint or satisfy, depending on the person playing the game

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 12/28/03