Enter the Matrix

"A great game, but with downsides"

Gameplay - 9/10

As soon as you start playing the game, you'll spend at least 5 minutes trying to figure out and get used to the controls. Once you've got that covered, you start running around shooting things, typical shooter. Throughout the game you get tips on how to do new cooler things, eventually you learn how to use focus, which is the ability to slow down time, making it possible to do cool moves, like flipping, walking on walls, etc. There is a wide variety of weapons to choose from, and the enemies consist of police, security guards, and swat at first. Eventually you run into agents, which you usually end up having to run away from. Of course, you run into smith, imagine what that fight is like.

All in all, the gameplay is fresh, surprising you at times with sections that require you to drive cars and such. Bravo.

Sound 10/10

The sound is very unique, and if you were in the other room, you would swear someone were watching a movie. The sounds come straight out of Matrix: Reloaded, and are very clean and clear. You'll also hear some very cool battle music.

Graphics - 7/10

This is the part with the downsides. The textures are very smooth, and well done. The character models need some work though, they are a bit blank, and seem rushed. One thing that I had to laugh at, was the way they run, and climb. This seems like it was done by a 5 year old that was looking for a good laugh. They climb like their life depends on getting to the top, and they run like...put in your own words here.

Once again, the graphics are polished, but the characters do need a bit of work.

Story - 7/10

The storyline to Enter the Matrix is a good one, but you should watch the matrix movies first, so you'll know what's going on. The story is about what Niobe and Ghost were doing in the movie, while we weren't watching. This prevents the movie from completely ruining the game on the player.

For a mainly single player game, the story should be longer, but that can't really be helped since it's a game on a movie, which will only go so long.

Replay Value - 8/10

To completely finish the game, you have to do as Niobe, and as Ghost. Two campaigns which some differences. Some points are the same in both campaigns, but you still get a new game with each character. Like most games, you have difficulty settings, which means you can go back to play a couple times. Also, if you finish the cool hacking session, you unlock multiplayer fighting. So you will play Enter the Matrix more than once.

Rent or Buy? Buy. You should buy this game, because you'll want to buy it after you rent it anyways.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 05/21/03, Updated 05/21/03