Enter the Matrix

"Fanboy's dream come true. All others: proceed with caution."

Enter The Matrix. This isn't the game that re-tells the movie. It is a whole new thing written and directed by the Wachowski brothers. It takes place during the second movie, Reloaded. The focus is not on the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar (Neo and company), as are the movies, but on the crew of the hover craft Logos. Niobe, Ghost, and Sparks star in the game. You'll see them play a small part in Reloaded. The game plays on those parts, showing you what they did up to the moment in the movie and what they were doing when off-screen. This game becomes a big part of the Matrix experience and fans should definitely check it out.
This game is rife with problems. Yet, it is also a thing of beauty. It's a two headed freak: one head is the face of Cindy Crawford, the other is the fat mug of Roseanne Barr.
Gameplay- Shiny has managed to take everything that makes your jaw drop in the movie and put it in the game. Unfortunately, they dropped it on its head before putting it in. The controls are retarded. You'll auto-aim on a guy on the floor below you while the one right in front of you shoots at you. Sometimes agents trap you in corners and magically form a barrier you can't get around. Walking with care can be a chore when you character moves like an epileptic. This only adds to the difficulty level. The game is at your average difficulty on Normal (It also has Hard and Easy difficulty settings). You'll probably die a number of times, not nothing insanely difficult. And no puzzles here; this is pretty much a brainless shooter. Strategy is absent as just holding the fire button and running around often works better than strategy. The game has all the cool parts of the movies, but it also adds frustrating parts (Think of the controls and AI as the game's equivalent of Reloaded's storyline). Yet its still mega-cool to play. Whip out Focus mode and time slows. You twist through the air and empty your clip in seconds. You hear bones break as foot connects with jaw. Many of my friends come over and we just play the same level over again. This has the fun of a fighting game. It's cool to run around and beat people up. You can really get the adrenaline pumping in the midst of a massive fire-fight and that makes for some mighty good game play.
Story- ETM takes place basically during the second movie. Instead of just re-telling the movie, it focuses on some of the minor characters and shows what they do during the movie. This adds to the movie. Nothing major, but it helps clear up some points and adds some hints to the final movie, Revolutions. Ghost and Niobe each play their own roles in this, showing a different perspective on their actions. The story is told through cut scenes but mainly FMV. The actors actually filmed the scenes after filming the movie, so expect the same quality storytelling. New characters jump in and small characters make more of an appearance. That's the good part. Here's the bad: a few times, the story does right and shows, for instance, Niobe going through the front door of a building while Ghost goes through the rear. Then they meet up inside. But most of the time they do something psycho, like Niobe will snipe to cover fleeing fellow rebels while Ghost is off diffusing bombs or what-not, but when you play as Ghost, here Ghost snipes. This add much confusion when the game boasts of telling each person's role and then having them perform the exact smae roles. It would only work if we later find out Ghost and Niobe are actually split-personalities of a schizophrenic person. The stroy also doesn't really add much to the overall Matrix line. The best part comes at the very end where it hints at what's to come in #3: Revolutions. All the other parts are like seeing Neo go to the Zion post office or redecorate his Zion home cubicle. Not very vital to the main story.
Graphics/ Sound-Wow. Graphics are average. They look good. I enjoyed looking at them. I had friends over to play and they commented on the good graphics. So I'd say: graphics, thumbs up. Nothing to shake a stick at, but its a girlfriend you'd be willing to show your friends. Sound is awesome. If you have surround sound you'll get sound effects that sound just like the movies. And that's exactly what I wanted. My gripe, though? Occasionaly, during cutscenes, characters talk with an echo. What the hell? You can't tell what there saying at all: Ghosst-Ghosstt-Ghosst-Ghosst-Ghoossst, III''mmmm at-at-att-atat--at the-the-the-the location-cation-cation-tion-tion-tion. How does this happen? It becomes very frustrating when you finally beat a part and get this as a reward. Matrix fanboys like me who must see every part, have to then frickin reset and spend another hour gettin' back to the freakin' part! Very frustrating.
Final Words- The Wachowski brothers wanted this to be an integral part of the Matrix experience and, as I read in a magazine: thus poured their hearts into it. Sheah! Right! Yet, they did get the sought-after effect they set out for: people who see the movies will play this game. It's gonna be: can't have one without the other. Integral part accomplished. Whether this is a good thing or not is up to the individual. This game is the sugar-coated cereal kids love that also happens to have razor blades mixed in. It's wicked fun to get into the thick of things. You'll forget the crappy controls, messed-up storyline, and frequent crahses( did I mention that? Shiny obviously was suprised when their deadline rolled around and tossed out a not-finished game. This game will decide it doesn't want to play anymore and quit. Whether you want to continue or not. And it does so frequently.) and enter Matrix bliss. I admit: I'm a Matrix fanboy sucker, the one who'd stand in line for days to get the deoderant can Neo used while filming, and that part of me LOVED this game just like the mother of an ugly child. I saw past the bad parts and loved the sweet little angel inside. Yet, as a hardcore gamer, I can't help but be very upset with the quality of this game. Story is boring and confusing. Control acts like a blind monkey occasionally, and that damn echo during cutscenes! AAArrrgghhh! The fanboy in me gives this game a 10; the technical gamer gives it a 5. Therefore, which gamer are you? Fanboys will LOVE this game (I admit: in my first draft of this review, fanboy took over and mad sloppy love to this game and gave it a 9. I felt I misinformed and now take a view from both sides. I apologize to all who had to witness such a cruel and disgusting act). They will see passed the woes and get sweet Matrix feelings. Gamers who liked the movies will notice the errors but still have fun with this game. The overall goal of all games is to make a fun game. Shiny, I applaud you, You accomplished this. Overall ETM is a blast to play. So my final word: RENT FIRST!!!! See if it's right for you. At the least, you'll find a fun weekend rental. On average, you'll fall in love. Oh, and did I mention there's an FMV where Jada Pinkett-Smith and Monica Bellucci make out? The 96% of gamers out there who are male will love this. I did.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 05/19/03, Updated 08/11/03