Techtite Game Reviews ---

Enter the Matrix

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Once again, an admirable game will likely get less praise than it deserves, because of overdone hype and in the process, unrealistically high expectations. Take away such hype, and Enter the Matrix is still one of the best hybrids of "interactive movie" and "action/adventure gaming" to come down the turnpike in ages. Unfortunately, controversial pre-reviews for this game --some dating as far back as February-- painted it as a revolution in gaming: a flawless, magnificent masterpiece. Well, its not quite flawless, it's not exactly magnificent, and as for a revolution in gaming, it's about 5 years too late for that. However, it's still a good game...and often fun.

First things first: you do not get to play as Neo. No, not Trinity, either. Nope, not even Morpheus. Yep: major boo-boo there. Remember how the X-Files adventure game had mere cameos of Mulder/Scully, as you played the role of...nobody? Well, while "Niobe" and "Ghost" are not exactly nobody, they're not exactly major characters in the film series, either. While you may be a human rebel --with all the Matrix powers taught to you-- the role you play is clearly limited here. You are not "The One" of destiny...nor even the second or third, for that matter. Bummer.

However, you do get to be a human rebel, "jack in" to the Matrix, and use a whole lot of tricks to defeat your opponents. Holding down the Shift key when fighting activates your ability to "focus," or in other words, bend the Matrix to your will. While some may call this an enhanced version of Max Payne's "bullet time," it is a lot cooler than that. Not only does it slow the action to the point that bullets slowly whiz by; you can also walk on walls while shooting, perform various kung-fu acrobatics, jump clear across rooftops, and punch and dodge with far more accuracy. While you must wait for your "focus" strength to recharge, it replenishes whenever not in use. For the most part, you can play the entire game this way. Cool.

The best news, though, is that the Wachowski Brothers (who wrote and directed the film trilogy) had a hand in making this game, and they've made the ongoing storyline totally "in sync" with the film, Matrix Reloaded. They even allege that the film is not complete without the game, and vice versa. While I wouldn't go that far I would say that there are a lot of battles that are merely alluded to in the film, and if you were at all curious about them, this game lets you see them, and be a part of them as well. That's an amusing story arc for a game/movie tie-in, IMO.

Who are your enemies? That's the best part...and a weakness, as well. Remember when The Oracle made a comment about renegade programs within The Matrix, who are the vampires, werewolves, and ghosts of lore? Well, in Matrix Reloaded, there was only time to see a pair of "ghosts" and that's all. Not so with Enter the Matrix, which wisely makes ex-agent type "ghosts," " vampires" and "werewolves" some of the adversaries you must face. The problem...? That's about it, friends; aside from a few SWAT teams and a few agents, there isn't much diversity in opponents here. At least you get to fight them in "focus" mode, which as I said, is pretty cool. In fact, it's the whole game.

Focus mode in the foreground also helps distract you from the very drab backgrounds. Granted, there is the rare exception, like this magnificently gaudy stairway, as seen in the film's best fight scene. However, most level maps are based on the colorless streets and buildings of The Matrix, which without focus mode might as well be Anywhere, USA. There just isn't any fun to the game maps nor the level designs, here. There is a cool fight with an agent in a plane spiraling out of control, though that's the vast exception to the rule.

It's the little details that work in this game. Many of them I listed in the gray sidebar if you're interested, though I particularly liked the fairness in "game rules." The Matrix is a faux world, right? So, real-world fighting rules do not apply; your health and focus meters replenish themselves automatically, after a short time. What this means is that even after a tough fight, you can find a place to hide and wait until you're at full health again, in a surprisingly short time. Don't think this reduces the game's difficulty, though, because smarter enemies therefore make it harder for you to find a place to hide and recharge! If you're not the patient type when waiting for your health to come back, here's a product tie-in I thought was a real hoot: using any of the PowerAde machines scattered throughout the game will dispense a drink which will replenish your energy even faster. That's a cute touch.

So far, you may be wondering if this is a good game or not; this review is decidedly on the bubble so far. Unfortunately, so is the game. So let's discuss the factor that keeps that bubble from deflating, shall we? Namely: the video! Every level is introduced and concluded with its own full motion video scene, perfectly performed by the actors. Jade Pinket-Smith reprises her role as Niobe, and Anthony Wong (as "Ghost") is not too shabby, either. Add to this some clips direct from the movie to help show when and where these events occur within the timeframe of the trilogy, and you have a real cool element to the game.

Gripes can be summarized by one undeniable detail: this is clearly a native video game system release, merely translated to the PC. This means textures, playing style (which seems made for a gamepad more than a keyboard), and the overall look and feel of the game is not as good as a "regular" PC game release would be. Yes, sadly, this includes "console-itis," the disease of any and all video game ports, which forces us PC gamers to save our game progress only after any game level, and not in real-time (console-itis?!? In a PC game this highly anticipated?!?!?). AI made for an older game system also means less intelligent enemies, since such systems lack the CPU and memory power of the typical PC system. If only this was a native PC game...

Then there's the "hacking menu." In an effort to be cutesy, all "hidden features" within this game (including some hidden levels) are behind a text interface called the hacking menu, accessed via the main menu. Much has been said of this text interface, and it's all true. For one thing: nothing in the manual is said of how to even use this menu. What's your reward for tinkering with it, until something happens...? Well, there's an Eliza-type conversation with Trinity, the ability to replay any video clip, and four mini-games. It's a nice array of added features, and yet in the end, I would've preferred these extras automatically unlocked after playing the game, and not have them hidden behind this "hacking interface."

In the end, I'm truly torn when rating this game. It's not a bad game, really, though it just isn't the fantastic, revolutionary game hyped in all the game promos for the past year. At least I'm not one of those game rags that gave an early-bird review for this game, calling it a sure-sell and anybody who doesn't like it is a moron blah blah blah. That's pretty embarrassing when quite frankly, a diehard gamer would have every reason to give this game a heave-ho, right into the used game bin at their favorite game store. However, there's still enough reason to like it, and in the end, I had a pretty good time playing it. A little.

	Final Rating : Small Crater. Not a bad game, really, and actually it's pretty good, though not as "revolutionary" as the promos hyped, and if not for the video clips, it would be nearly worthless.
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Enter the Matrix

A Techtite Review