Enter the Matrix

"Should've been a fighting game!"

First off, I thought the movies were awesome and I'm pretty sure the trilogy will be remembered for a long time. The movies are (so far) works of art.
Second, I really enjoy good third-person action games. Games like Max Payne, Gungrave, Hitman 2, Bloodrayne, Mark of Kri, Rygar, and yes even Shinobi. This type of game seems to be getting as popular on the 128 bit consoles as shooters were on the 16 bit consoles so there are bound to be some really good ones.
Third, since video games have become a medium of interactive artistic expression, one cannot tolerate sloppy or carelessly produced software.
In light of these points, I would not recommend the expense of time and money Enter the Matrix will require of all those who wish to enter.

GRAPHICS
Speaking of entering. A well crafted game should (to some extent) draw the player into it's well crafted world and so treat the player to an exhilarating experience. The graphics of this game did a pretty good job of keeping me from entering it's matrix. Janky is the word I would use to describe the graphics engine for there is a glaring lack of continuity to everything. If you are wondering what ''janky'' means, well I'm not quite sure, but it's the only word that came to mind as I witnessed my character scramble over a fence like an insect frantically escaping a burning match. The characters are fairly detailed but move rather strangely through an unusually bland-looking world. I never saw anything I wanted to look at and (at times) looked unintentionally funny. For example, Ghost is loading his gun while his hands and head jitter as if he's had too much coffee and is trying to quit smoking. Why this happens during a cut-scene (which usually showcase a game's best graphics) is beyond me. Also, Niobi is s rather beautiful character in the movie, but the game's graphics depict her as someone who ''got beat the face up''. There were even times when the character models opened between limbs showing the inside of their arm or leg, thus ruining the 3D effect. The gameplay graphics are neither better or worse than the cut-scenes, however, the more I looked at them, the more I considered turning the game off. Aside from the glitches, I failed to see any continuity or harmony among the various elements as if no graphical style was decided upon. I think a cell-shaded Animatrix style would have done a world of good for this game since there isn't much detail outside of the characters anyway. Instead we have a potpourri of super-detail, goofy animation, large but bland surroundings, sloppy camera, and some really esquisite full motion video. The little title animations set your imagination up for something grand, but this is anything but grand.

CONTROL
In spite of my misgivings about the game's graphics, I turned my attention to the Crazy Taxi-style arrow and proceeded to button-mash my way though the ''Matrix'' in search of good gameplay.Too bad there is no controller configuration. The Gamecube's controller is usually pleasant to use, but the button layout in this game turned the controller into a mild torture devise. I think jumping though the air and dodging bullets in slo-mo is pretty fun, but the shooting and fighting has no real thrill. What is the green stuff that comes out of your randomly selected targets when your finished with them? I thought the hand-to-hand fighting was somewhat deep at first, but the camera made me just want to mash out a random combo and get it over with. I wish I could've seen how my enemy ended up across the room, but the camera denied me even that little pleasure.Speaking of the camera. Why is the near-useless first person view mapped to the c-stick? Every time I wanted a better look around, I instinctively thumbed the c-stick bringing me to a complete standstill only to stare helplessly at my enemy as he proceeded to gun me down. This ''cute'' feature was so useful, I never intentionally used it. Maybe the camera itself is actually an agent. That would explain alot. There is also a sniper rifle in some areas of the game, but I found that shooting without the scope to be easier. I guess scopes are a program glitch in the Matrix designed to thwart assassins. Overall the gameplay gave me a feeling of urgency to hurry up and get the level over with, which in a way is good because the background graphics, and special effects (fire, water, explosions) are almost offensively cheap looking.The battles would've been better if you were given unlimited focus, unfortunately the ''focus meter'' depletes much quicker than it fills back up. The driving and piloting sections of the game were not really fun either. It would have been nice to have been given the option to leave the vehicle when it became stuck in a building or miraculously balanced upon two or three cop cars. I did, however like controlling ghost in those scenes, because you get to ride shotgun while blasting at enemy and civilian cars with a machine gun, but those levels seem awfully short.

AUDIO
The sound is also an area of inconsistency. The music was great whenever it was there, but wasn't there when it was needed. The sound effects were great, but as with the music, some of the guns made no sound at all. Maybe the Desert Eagle and the fully-auto 9mm had silencers, but how can I tell?

STORY
The film sequences are worth noting and it would be nice if they were included with one of the DVD's that will be released. The STORY is actually pretty good and fits well within the whole Matrix storyline. In fact, the story was engaging enough to motivate me to keep playing just to see what would happen next.

FUN?
I'm not sure what went on during the production of this game, but it's inherent lack of structural integrity can only mean that more time would have been well spent to ensure many a happy gamers. It seems like an unfinished product.

MORE FUN
A friend of mine never played the game, yet he suggested a one on one fighting game would have been better. I tend to agree as long as it was crafted with care and might be the sort of thing to make us forget about another fighting game about to be released. A gamer can dream can't he?

Some people may think that my score is too low, but where much is given, much is required. There was a great amount of creativity given to the making of the films, so there was much to be expected from the game. Gamecube owners can expect much better from their console.

PRESENTATION: 9 (don't judge this one by it's cover)
STORY: 8 (a no-brainer, excellent storytelling)
GRAPHICS: 2 (poorly put together)
SOUND: 6 (what's there is good)
CONTROL: 3 (imprecise and bad button layout)
FUN: 2 (feels tense and tedious)
REPLAY: 1 (maybe with cheat codes, but even then...)

Buy or rent? I bought it since It was not availible for rent at the nearest video store. If you can, definately rent it first. There are some cheat codes that might make things more bearable, but a game like this should be a blast to play without any codes.
Alas, I traded my copy of Enter the Matrix for Boodrayne, but I'll be looking out for a Matrix fighting game.

Reviewer's Score: 2/10, Originally Posted: 06/03/03, Updated 06/03/03