Enter the Matrix

"Why Oh Why Didn't I Take The Blue Pill?"

The advertising slogan asked ''What is the Matrix?''. In response to that I would have replied ''What went wrong with the Matrix?''. Even as far back as the first press release, everything looked to be working in favor of Enter The Matrix. Dave Perry and his team at Shiny Entertainment certainly had a reputation for excellence. With genre defining hits such as MDK, Earthworm Jim and Messiah behind them, the Wachowski brothers thought Shiny capable of delivering a gaming experience worthy of the Matrix name. Then as the game's release drew closer, the hype began to build as talk of how this game would revolutionize the 3rd person action genre reached fever pitch. New gameplay elements such as ''focus'' and ''hacking'' were being brandished around as evidence of Enter The Matrix's impending greatness and generally people were happy to be alive. Then one month before the release of this game, something went wrong... gaming magazines everywhere failed to receive their review copies in time to meet their respective deadlines. What was this? Were the Agents at work again, or was this simply a glitch in the Matrix? Unfortunately for us it was no glitch... rather, it seemed to be a series of cascading failures.

I'm going to make the assumption that anyone reading this review has at least a passing familiarity with the story seen in the 3 theatrically released movies. You see, having some background knowledge of those movies is integral to the enjoyment of this game, as Enter The Matrix starts with events that occur between the first and second movie. Interestingly enough, rather than focusing on the established characters of Neo, Morpheus and Trinity, Shiny with the guidance of the Wachowski brothers have opted to tell the story from a second perspective, that of supporting characters, Niobe and Ghost. Each of the 2 main characters has a different path through the game that often intersects with not only the other's journey, but with the events depicted in the 2nd movie. The story ties in well with the established continuity and is sure to be enjoyed by anyone with an interest in the source material.

ETM takes a path similar to that of other licensed games by employing a 3rd person perspective with which to display the action with. For the most part of the game, the player is required to progress from point A to point B while achieving each of the objectives in-between. As progress is made, enemies will inevitably be encountered. There is not a lot of variety to be had, but generally the enemies in question take the form of either regular security guards, the police or the much feared Agents. A well programmed lock-on system would have made both hand to hand and firearm based combat a breeze... but by ''a breeze'' I do not mean any more enjoyable. Somehow Shiny have accomplished the impossible and made fighting within the Matrix seem dull and tedious! Talk about a shock to the system, I honestly didn't think it was possible! For the most part, hand to hand combat is overly repetitive and though there are some nicely designed moves, the majority of them are neither necessary or effective. Surprisingly the series' much fabled ''Bullet-time'' effect has now been renamed ''Focus'' though the results are still very much the same. By holding down a button, the player may slow time in order to better dish out the pain. This effect has been rather well implemented and is perhaps, one of the sole saving graces of this game.

Periodically throughout each character's journey, the player will be required to break from the norm and partake in some vehicular combat. These levels have been very poorly crafted as both the driving physics and shooting elements seem tepid and under-cooked. At one point, the player is literally forced to drive around in circles while avoiding other cars and waiting for a timer to reach zero! What's up with that?! Such situations smack of desperate attempts to prolong a level's life and are extremely disappointing coming from experienced game developers such as Shiny. It's true that variety is the spice of life, but I think I'd like my spice with a little more tang thank you...

Of course, even if you had the desired level of tang, then chances are you wouldn't be able to control your character enough in order to enjoy it. To put it mildly, ETM's controls are completely counter-intuitive. Nothing about it feels smooth or accessible and often the most demanding finger aerobics must be accomplished in order to perform even the simplest of moves. Hold this button to activate your focus reserves, hold down another button to strafe and then fire with a 3rd. It's a nasty set-up that is sure to force your fingers into physiotherapy by the game's end.

Perhaps in order to save time, ETM for the Xbox was ported over from the Playstation 2. This sort of thing happens more often than you would believe, but usually when it occurs developers will take a little extra time to add some system exclusive refinements. This sadly did not occur and what we have here is an injustice to both the power of the Xbox and the style of the Matrix. Textures are both bland and low res while the less said about how often they are repeated in some levels the better. The Villa level was a perfect example of this as the same texture of a painting was displayed on half a dozen different walls! Yikes, what were they thinking?! Further aggravating the situation is the abysmal motion capturing. How can the player be drawn into a game when their character runs like they have a carrot wedged firmly in their nether regions? It's not just running thats been poorly captured either, almost every movement or action the player makes looks artificial and uncomfortable. If hemroids were the problem I would have offered them some cream, but instead I'll settle for slapping Shiny around a little bit more.

By this late stage, one of the biggest compliments I can pay this game would be saying that the combat sound effects are excellent. Gun shots are explosive and reverberate around the room much to the player's satisfaction. Combat effects are about as good as it gets though as the background music tracks are on too tight a loop. They sound great at first and capture the mood of the movie well, but upon hearing the same dramatic rises in tempo for the nth time, the effect begins to wane. With the DVD medium being used, there was always ample space for the full audio tracks to be included, so where are they? If ETM was going to stand a chance of being the great marriage of Hollywood and gaming that it was originally hyped up to be, then a full soundtrack must have surely been on the cards?! With a pre-made soundtrack at their disposal, there is no excuse possible that would get Shiny off the hook for their apparent laziness.

There were so many reasons to expect great things of Enter The Matrix. Exclusively filmed cut scenes, a script written by the same people who created the movies, a US$20,000,000 budget and Shiny helming it all. So where did it all go wrong? I have 2 words for you... ''simultaneous release''. In order to tie in with the release of the 2nd movie, Shiny were given a deadline that even with their best of intentions must have seemed impossible. So much about Enter The Matrix feels rushed and unfinished that one is left wondering what could have been had Shiny been given a further 6 months to develop the title properly. Amidst all the problems however, less discerning gamers may find an enjoyable experience and perhaps in the end, that is a small victory for Dave Perry & co. For the rest of us who believed the hype and know what a good game consists of, Enter The Matrix is a major disappointment.

Pros
----
* Live action cut scenes filmed exclusively for Enter The Matrix
* Bullet time looks nice
* Combat effects sound realistic

Cons
----
* Horrible character animations
* Textures are repeated and look weak and bland
* Driving sections seem tacked on
* Controls are an ergonomic nightmare
* Combat is repetitive
* Bugs, glitches, whatever you want to call them, the Matrix is full of them
* The entire game feels like a work in progress

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 11/04/03