Enter the Matrix

"A very impressive supplement to the series"

After seeing The Matrix Reloaded the twice time, I became quite interested in playing this game. The sequel had lived up to my expectations, and I was wondering if this game, like the movie, would live up to its name. So, on Saturday, I stopped by Blockbuster on the way home and rented a copy. After playing it for a few days now, I can say that I am quite impressed.

The graphics were the first thing that leapt out at me. While some people were complaining of the game being “too dark,” and therefore the graphics were bad, I tend to disagree. If you have a problem with seeing the game, try making a logical choice and actually turning up the brightness of your TV. I was surprised at the level of detail in the character models. It is amazing actually being able to see Niobe’s hairstyle, or the agent’s earpiece, things that normally wouldn’t get transferred into a game model. The animations were surprisingly realistic too. I had read about all of the motion captures that they had to do in order to get this level of precision, and, in my opinion, this really paid off.

Gameplay was another thing that really struck out as being remarkable in the game. Probably the coolest feature in this area is your “focus” meter, which let’s you enter bullet-time. While you are in bullet-time, it slowly drains away, and outside, it slowly recharges. This really makes you have to learn to balance when to be in bullet time, and when to not. Bullet-time, of course, unlocks a huge array of new moves, allowing you to do pretty much anything that a non-Neo character could do in the movie. This includes running up the walls, doing shooting backflips, etc. The only downside to this was that some of the missions were somewhat redundant. I never really got bored, however, so it didn’t really detract from the game too much.

The story is pretty much the same you would expect from a Matrix game. It starts in time a little before where the movie began, and tells all that happened during Reloaded from Niobe and Ghost’s point of view. You, of course, get to see characters from the movie, but I don’t want to give too much away. The beginning of the game starts with a mission to retrieve a package dropped inside the Matrix… and that is only the beginning.

The music wasn’t amazing, but it was adequate. It got kind of repetitive after awhile, but not enough to bother me too much. Some people complained of an “echo” when the characters talked. I never experienced this while playing, but I assume this could be a valid complaint. The voice-acting for the game is great, due to the fact that, because this game was directed by the Wachowski brothers themselves, the real actors were able to contribute their voices. Overall the sound was acceptable, but there is a lot of room for improvement.

Replay Value for the game has it’s limits, but it is a game that can surely be played multiple times. You can play as both Niobe and Ghost, which allows you to play around with two totally different sets of moves. It is the kind of game that you will probably want to come back to every few months, but certainly not one you will spend a whole lot of time on it. It is a game that has its reasons for renting and for buying, I personally have no advice either way. If you are skeptical on the game’s quality, it is worth renting first though.

Perhaps one of the more creative sides of the game is the “Hacking” system. Of course it in no way resembles real hacking, but it is instead a cleverly crafted logic puzzle that you can do to unlock new things in the game. This includes Multiplayer mode, a special “Construct,” (The construct is the Matrix loading program that they use to equip themselves prior to entering the real Matrix) and new weapon spawn points. Also, over the course of hacking you get special messages from movie characters such as Sparks and Trinity. This only scratches the surface of what you can do in hacking mode. This was a fairly original idea, and I think it was very effective. My only complaint was it was really annoying to type with the on-screen keyboard with my PS2 controller. A benefit of the PC version, I guess.

In conclusion, I found this game to be a very worth addition to the Matrix Universe. The Wachowski Brothers have show that they can truly do a good job with a multi-media form storyline, and this game will really set the way for the next Matrix game, the Matrix Online (a MMORPG) set to be released in early 2004. Some people had a problem with this game, but in my opinion this is a game definitely worth checking out, and is a must-buy for the big Matrix fans out there (like me.)

Graphics – 9 | Gameplay – 10 | Story – 8 | Sound – 7 |Replay Value – 7 | Fun Factor – 9

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/21/03, Updated 05/21/03