The Matrix Online

"Unfortunately, no one can be told what The Matrix Online is like...."

...you have to play it for yourself.

Yeah, I know, it's stupid to use such a trite line from the films, but in all honesty, it's true. There's no way for anyone to tell you if you'll really like this game or not until you play it, and even then, your opinion could change if you try it long enough.

It's taken a while to get around to writing this review, since this game is constantly changing so much. I'll try to write it taking into account that patches can come along and dramatically improve or lower the quality of the game.

Gameplay: 8/10 - From what I hear, this game apparently lacks a lot of gameplay compared to most "other" MMORGPs. I can imagine it's true. However, as someone who's stuck to console gaming for most of my life, this game has a tremendous amount of content. New story missions are added every few weeks in addition to the initial criticals, the standards, the contact missions, and the Pandora's Box missions. There are also Exile Hideouts and Archive Constructs to explore to get enhanced items. These things don't sound like much, because they aren't. What really has kept me occupied for the last year has been what makes an MMORPG an MMORPG: interacting with other people. And I don't mean PvP.

Essentially, it comes down to this: if you can find entertainment value from engaging in various activities with other people in the game (i.e. if you can be social in an online environment), this game will not lose your interest. This doesn't mean you have to role-play, though doing so is much encouraged by the community and, for the most part, is well accepted and works excellently in the environment.

I know that's not really "gameplay" by it's literal definition, but really, the game was meant for giving the world of the Matrix into the hands of the fans, not for giving them a new online game with tons of gameplay content.

Story: 9/10 - Arguably the best feature of the game, or at least it was before the dedicated live events team was laid off (one of the things in this review that I hope gets outdated :-). The idea behind the story in The Matrix Online is to present it in a number of different ways: cinematics that can be viewed at any time after they are released, critical story missions that you can complete at your leisure that coincide with the global happenings of the storyline, live events that include interactions with characters from the films played by live human beings, and player-made storylines to fill in the time in between. These are all optional, of course, since the game is designed to fit your needs. Live events, by their nature, are special, one-time occurrences that not everyone gets to be involved with. It's a mixture of luck and work to be involved with them. The critical missions often involve the same characters, but in the form of computer-controlled NPCs that spout off scripted dialogue instead of direct interaction. They provide a decent alternative to live events and do the bulk of the important storytelling. The only downside to them is that everybody gets to do them, so when you really think about it, you're not as special as they make you out to be.

One of the problems with the story is that it's on-going. It doesn't wait for players who take a break from the game or who wait to even start the game. There are ways to catch up, like the cinematics (which everyone can watch at any time, regardless of when you started playing) or the various fan-made websites that include summaries of the storyline thus far. It thus requires a very active role on the part of the player to consume every detail possible about the story, about the affiliations of the characters, and about the mysteries that constantly show up, at least if you really care about being fully immersed in the storyline.

Graphics: 10/10 - I'm giving this category a perfect score for two reasons: the graphics on the highest settings look really amazing, and if your computer can't handle them, you can turn them down a lot and it still runs. So yes, if you're running on less than 512 MB with anything less than a Radeon 9200, the graphics will probably look terrible. But hey, at least it runs.

With the full settings on, though, the world is incredibly detailed: bits of trash, pigeons pecking the ground for food, cars and people passing by on the streets, empty Chinese food containers, half-eaten pizzas, flickering fluorescent lights... it may not be a flawless representation of the Matrix, but it definitely has the right spirit.

Sound: 8/10 - My taste for the music went from "Meh" to "Ugh" to "YEAH!" So I don't trust myself to be an accurate judge of its quality. The music for the outside world doesn't sound recognizable from the films, so it lacks any kind of definite "Matrix-ish" quality. The mission music, however, is mostly straight from the films and it fits perfectly.

The sound effects are flawless to the point that you don't really think about them one way or the other, which is what I like. It's rare that any sound effects in the game bother me (unless they're caught in the sound loop bug). One problem is that the unsilenced gunshots can be very loud, especially if you're playing it at 2 a.m. while your family is sleeping :-P

Play Time / Replayability: 8/10 - Personally, I'd give this category a ten since I've played the game fairly regularly since it launched and I haven't hit the level cap or run out of contact missions. Yes, if you play the game nonstop for a few weeks, you can cruise through all the critical missions and have nothing to do but sit and wait for new critical mission packs and the occasional live event appearance, but if you mix actual gameplay with other social activities or just plain exploration (the City is quite huge), you'll find plenty to do for months. Just don't expect the game to provide you much more than what the Matrix really is: a false simulation of the world for you to occupy yourself with.

Final Recommendation: As I said, it's worth a try. I only suggest that you give it a chance. Play for the full 30-day trial period before making your decision, and don't base your decision on elements that change often (some players sometimes start in the middle of a live event and complain about getting ganked by hostile NPC enemies, while the bored Level 50's are rejoicing at the new content for a change of pace). Try everything, as well: player events, parties, socializing, hardline hunting, exploring, hyper-jumping... there's very little to limit you, except your own expectations and tastes.

I won't say any more, since any complaints about the combat system, game balance, or bugs would be outdated eventually, since the developers are constantly changing the game. Just be prepared for a few "glitches in the system." But hey, at least in this game, you can write them off as just glitches in the code of the Matrix and blame them on the Architect.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/11/06