Enter the Matrix
The plotline, as with the first Matrix film, is hardly straightforward. In a nutshell, however, you take the role of two members of the ship Logos, Ghost and Niobe. In the opening level you are trying to find information on a missing ship and its last report. This search leads you to cross the path of Morpheus, Trinity, Neo and most importantly Agent Smith (or should I say Agent Smiths).
You can choose which character you start as and each character has slightly varying stories to unfold. They both have their own unique fighting style, which allows for many hundreds of different moves to drool over. You can marvel as your character walks up a wall spins round with a flying kick and sends the opponent screaming. You can either engage in face-to-face combat or select an array of impressive weapons to annihilate your opponent. The ability to slow time to pull off and observe some of the more complex moves is just beautiful. This function is fast becoming a common effect in 1st person gaming but the style and fluidity of this version adds to the slickness and character of the game.
These fighting levels are nicely contrasted with a few driving levels (Both cars and the Logos), some sniper missions and oddly a hacking section. This addition is both odd and confusing. It can only be described as getting your old Spectrum out from the attic and playing on that for a bit. It may be that I have yet to reap the benefits of prolonged attempts at deciphering what the point of this element of the game is, but with a game as action filled and graphically appealing this area of the game will not appeal to most of the gamers.
This game has come at a time of hot competition. It will be in direct competition with Vice City and Zelda just to name two of the biggest competitors. These games are huge and dense and attempt to trap you for weeks and months as opposed to days. Enter the Matrix is an outstanding game but it does fall short on game play time. In easy mode, all that is needed is a day and a bit of coffee. This is a major fault, despite having two stories to do and being able to fight Trinity! The game still manages to be fun and once you get into watching the silky fighting moves you’ll be able to pick this game long after you have completed it to have a good battle with all the Agent Smiths!
The graphics on this game are of a high standard but this comes at a price. The loading times are long and frequent, but with this there is increased save points and some quite impressive movie footage. The likenesses of all the characters from the films is outstanding with animated versions of Neo, Morpheus, Trinity, Agent Smith, Seraph and the Twins. The world they inhabit is brilliantly subtle and strikes the original feel of the movie. The cinematic soundtrack is impressive yet over imposing at times. I found myself dying because the music would be so intricate you couldn’t help but listen.
So this game does indeed let us Enter the Matrix. We can live, breath, fight and die in the Matrix. But the real selling point of this game has to be video footage of the upcoming film, the graphics and being able to fight Trinity! It falls short on game play but the look and feel created by the music and cinematic style is truly engrossing. Can this game compete with the big boys? Well of course it can, what it lacks in game play hours and a multiplayer game it more than makes up for in style and variation of game play. This game is definitely worth a look if you are a Matrix fan and even if you’re not, it’s still a little beauty of a game!