Enter the Matrix

"Free your mind... and your bullets too."

Just about everyone in America and most likely most parts from around the world should know what the movie ''The Matrix'' is. And everyone should know by now by the hyped up sequel ''The Matrix Reloaded'' has come to theatres everywhere. But what if it didn't just stop at theatres? What if the rabbit hole went deeper than the movies? What if you could actually go into the matirx... plug in your mind and hack in, enjoy the adventure. Well I guess it would be time to ''Enter the Matrix'' then. Yes thats right, now Enter The Matrix has come and sold over a million copies to people everywhere and they are jacking in to help in the struggle to save Zion, the last human city. You can play as one of 2 hackers, Niobe and Ghost and help kick some ass across the digital world.

Story - 9/10

Well in the Matrix, there is nothing short of story, even if at times you may think the story incredibly dull and not entertaining. Basically there's this whole war with the machines going on, and your just another soldier doing your job to save everyone. The story revolves greatly upon the short film ''Final Flight of the Osiris'' and the new blockbuster from the Wachowski Bros. ''The Matrix Reloaded''. In it you may get certain information that the movie may not provide, especially in your talks with the great 'prophet' the Oracle. You meet lots of stars from the movie such as; Morpheus, Agent Jackson, Agent Johson, Trinity, Mr. Smith, The KeyMaker, Soren, Bane, and many many more. At times you can gte to a certain area in the game right before the main characters of the movie get to there, overall its intertwined greatly with the movie and both should be seen to enjoy this games story fully.

Graphics - 6/10

The graphics don't shine much here. Granted, they are nothing bad... but they aren't exactly much good either. The cutscenes are done nicely, with extra movie footage thats isn't in the movie. Unfortunetly the games areas are incrdibly bland and are often very repetitive, though in a wierd way that adds to the falsness that is the matrix... a dream world, an illusion. Character animations aren't bad but some don't look like their movie counterparts (Merovingian especially). Gun animations as Bullets fly through bullet time are great and look perfect, unlike the rest of the mediocore graphics.

Sound - 7/10

Well the voices sound like voices, guns sound like guns. Unfortunetly it is a bit dull and choppy but not too bad in this department. Nothing too bad to report here, and nothing great either. Sound people did an ok job that suffices for its duty.

Music - 4/10

Well I personally hate nu-metal... and well basically the only music in the game is a mix of techno and nu-metal. Now I can understand that if you are into the music then its all great for you. But unfortunely even if you are into the music then you'll be disappointed. The music comes in like say about 3-4 times in the entire game and past the first time, they come up at the worst places. Love it or hate it, the music is definantly lacking and there is no denying it.

Controls - 8/10

Ok, you first start your game on whatever console you got this game for and the first thing your going to want to know is what button does what. Thankfully they have a helpful tip section that grows when the time is needed. The controls may not seem complex at first, but they can get very complex when the time comes. The controls seem fine on the playstation 2 only messing up slightly when your trying to fight multiple enemies. Through playing with the ''focus''
option you can expand your attacks to a seemingly infinite way to bash your enemies heads in, a method that nearly always uncovers a new way to attack. It may take you awhile to figure out everything, but you'll get it down. Driving is a bit tedious, but thats my only complaint pretty much.

Camera - 6/10

The camera is really annoying in this game, especially when fighting hand to hand multiple enemies... even in the slow motion 'focus' mode. Also around corners the camera can get a little screwy which leads to annoying times but nothing major to worry about.

Gameplay - 8/10

Gameplay is executed very well in the game and you'll notice it very fast. A lot of it is very expeansive, ranging from third person shooting, First-Person Sniping, Driving and some other things as well. The worst is by far the driving, they could have seriously used the help of some people who have done largely succesful driving games and racing games in the past. Also in the driving sequences as Ghost you can use a gun with unlimited ammo to get people chasing you off your back, this kind of level is often easy and well... a snore-fest. The most difficult thing is trying to protect people trying to escape the matirx or rescue their friend... you are often made to do this with a sniper rifle and it gets tedious after awhile. Most of the levels are thankfully, straight-forward third person shooting levels, or kung-fu fighting levels... whichever you prefer. The 'focus' mode allows you to further explore your range of attacks and find new ways to attack and has yet to be explored fully... a rather nice add-on if I do say so myself. Another complex feature is the 'hacking' option... a VERY complex feature outside of the game that allows you to unlock certain things and go much deeper than you could ever think possible inside this game. Overall everything is done well.

Difficulty - 7/10

Some of the levels (Protection, driving) are difficult and tedious enough to be repeated a few times before a succesful run, but most of the levels are fairly un-challenging and can be beaten on the first run through. Thankfully you can change the difficulty but this game still remains relatively unchallenging.

Longitivity - 5/10

If anything, this game is short. It could be beaten withing a few days, and certainly within a rental period. Thankfully some of the levels are great and will be repeated numerous times to help enjoy this game again and again even after you beat it... and some levels are character-specific and change with your character... so you should enjoy this game atleast twice before you put it down.

Overall - 7/10

Well this game is nothing revolutionary, though it may very well be the deepest movie-game. Fans of the Matrix will love it, non-fans should stay away... and any action game fan would enjoy this, even if only for a few days. Its a pretty good game, so I recommend atleast giving it a look-through before passing your judgement on it.

Rent or Buy?

Unless your a hardcore fan of shooting games or the Matrix, rent this game... it won't last long. Enjoy it while you can.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/08/03, Updated 06/08/03