Enter the Matrix

The Good
The hype was monumental, the idea ambitious and the anticipation high but as it screams out of the gate on all major gaming platforms on the same day as the Matrix: Reloaded hits cinemas, Enter the Matrix manages to trip on as many hurdles as it clears. Although the game treads the potentially dangerous path of tying in with the 2nd film, it takes the rather smarter approach of treading largely unfamiliar ground as the action is played out from the perspective of one of two of the films minor protaganists, Ghost or Niobe. The games story actually fills in a lot of the holes the movie leaves open and was written by series creators and directors, the Wachowski brothers. In fact a big selling point is that most of the games cinemas are actually additional film footage specifically shot for the game that is not seen in any of the Matrix movies. This isn't cheaply done in a Star Wars fashion either. The films cast are present and the footage was shot alongside the two sequel films so what's on offer is of a high quality. All well and good but it's the game itself that will really decide whether all was for naught or not and here it's a decidedly mixed bag. On every count there is an upside and an anitclimactic downside so since this is the good section we'll look at the upside first. Visuals (on the GC version at least) are pretty good for the most part with some beautiful combat animation in parts that mimmicks the films trademark action scenes. Music is all taken from the films score so it's fits the bill perfectly and the sound is dead on with all the thwacks and bangs you'd expect to hear. Gameplay consists largely of Max Payne style run and gun but with liberal amounts of very kick ass hand to hand combat that really works well, allowing for a punch kick and defend/grab button. Use of these buttons in various combos along with directional pad use allows for loads of different moves and when the fire button is involved that arsenal is only expanded upon, eg: Punch a guy hard in the stomach and then pull out your gun, lift him up with it and shoot him. Of course there is bullet time presented here as focus which allows you to do the slo-mo thing as well as run up and along walls, perform stunts and elongated jumps as well as the most potent and interesting combat moves such as the ever popular 'off the wall' kicks. There are also driving stages in which you either steer or shoot from the window of a moving vechile depending on which character you choose to play as which brings us to our next point. Playing the game as Niobe is substantially different to playing as Ghost. Even though the story and scenario is the same the stages are often totally unique to each character and when they're not they are often played in a different fashion. Coupled with some different cinemas and plot points unique to each scenario and the game is well worth going through with each of them.

The Bad
visuals can sway from very good to atrociously average in a heartbeat as some areas seem like they weren't finished, indicating a rushed development. In one cutscene, the character models seem to be older versions and look dangerously worse than the regular ones. Animation is also patchy with some truly appaling work and speaking as an animator myself, some of the dodgy looking animations could have easily been fixed in no time to look better which makes them seem all the more inexcusable. Driving missions are poorly thought out with Ghosts shooting stages particularly average. In one scene the enemy pursuing your car cannot be destroyed and so it becomes more luck whether or not you escape than anything since the computer often makes some terrible driving decisions that can easily cost you the game. As for the final ship flying section in the real world it's so much worse than anything else in the game it comes as a truly horrible anti-climax. Cues that link the music together are poorly realised and result in some tracks repeating so often it becomes annoying... and then there's the bugs. ETM has some of the worst bugs I've seen in a console game. On the GC at least these bugs won't make the game unwinnable or anything (see ps2 version) but they do most definately detract. In one cutscene the entire building that the characters were in disappears so they're left talking in the sky over a black box. Characters can get stuck in tight spots, becoming immobile and although this is very uncommon it still can happen. Visual glitches also appear on occasion and agents can often get you into corners where you can't move or do anything except die.

The Bottom Line
It's not that ETM is a bad game. It's a great companion to the films and it has it's moments when it's actually a lot of fun, it's just that the game can sway from wonderful to awful a little too fast and often. Fans of the films and Max Payne would do well to take a look but try before you buy. Everyone else may as well give it a miss as there are better examples of the genre on offer.

The Good
First off, lemme get this out of the bag first - I'm a HUGE Matrix fan. I love all 3 movies, and The AniMatrix. I think the movie/anime concept of the Matrix universe is one of the most compelling we've seen since Star Wars and Blade Runner.

That being said, "Enter the Matrix" (ETM) could have been a thousand times better if it hadn't been for the time constrains placed on Shiny Entertainment. I figure if it were given an extra 3 months to work out the bugs and improve the game's engine, it would have done much better.

But I digress. There are some good points to the game.

First off - the concept. Shiny had a huge amount of support from the producers of "The Matrix" and had access to virtually every piece of audio, visual, and the actors. The fact that you play from the end of "Final Flight of the Osiris" (from "The AniMatrix"), through the events of "The Matrix Reloaded" is cool. Video footage was shot specifically for the game, including the majority of the actors from the movie. And since the game runs parallel to the movie, it's part of the canon and continuity of the films. Plus, you don't get the Whole Story of what happens unless you play through the game and watch all the FMV cutscenes. I've noticed that Hollywood is taking a much more active role in co-operating with Game designers/producers in making sure what you see on your computer is as good as what you see on the big screen, and ETM is sorta on the right track with the blending of Hollywood and the PC entertainment industry.

The Graphics - if you have a PC fast enough (more on that later), are top-notch. Again, Shiny used photos and digital sources from the movie itself (first-generation Sound and Visual FX, along with high quality photos of props, sets, etc.) So the graphics quality (production-wise) is astounding. The use of Motion Capture is extensive. The Wachowski Brothers insisted that each actor wear the mo-cap suit. Normally one actor will perform all the mo-cap for ALL the characters in a game, mostly to save time and money. The difference is that The Brothers wanted to make sure that when you see a character walk on the Big Screen, that same character walks the same way in the game. Talk about a stickler for details.

The Sound/Music is top-notch as well. Don Davis' score is used extensively in the game, along with the familiar sound effects from the movies.

And one other part of the game that is really neat is the "Hacking" mode. Basically to unlock levels, cheat codes, messages from the characters, models, and other fun things are done by hacking a save file (within the game, of course). It's a fairly intuitive system, but it looks like it was designed for a console system, and not the PC game. You move around using pseudo-DOS commands, and you can gain access to a lot of behind-the-scenes, and background info. The one quirk I don't like is the fact that it DOESN'T quite operate the same was as DOS does. So it's a bit difficult if you grew up typing directory names, and it doesn't quite work the same way in the game itself.

The Bad
Wow. Where to start.

I think the failure of ETM cannot be blamed on any one department, person or entity. There are many factors that busted this game, but I'll list a few of the main ones. One of the MAJOR factors, I believe, is the fact that the game HAD to launch on the day of "The Matrix Reloaded" film debut. Time constraints are never good for programmers (for comparison, look at Blizzard for excellent examples of the "It'll release when it's done" motto), especially when trying to program a game that is trying very hard to break the "Movie-tie in: curse.

Gameplay - The game doesn't play very well on a PC. I believe it was designed for consoles, and perhaps it should have stayed that way. Frame rates were atrocious (even with all the graphics options turned down or OFF), glitches in the camera abound (especially when hand-to-hand fighting), basic button mashing (fighting - although it looks cool - is a joke), and the first-person shooting mode (due to the frame rate) is near impossible to play.

Control - It's not there. I've played a few Third person shooters, and the majority of them are very easy to play. ETM isn't. The controls swtich between over-the-shoulder third-person (i.e. Tomb Raider, MDK2), and side-scrolling style (i.e. Street Fighter/Mortal Kombat views). A neat transition, but nearly impossible to controll you character. And if you are fighting more that one enemy at a time, the game might not do what you want it to.

Graphics - the downside. This game is a system hog. I'm running the bare minimum to play game, and it's virutally unplayable. Clipping issues, control issues, pop-up (during chase scenes), and collision detection are the major issues in the game.

And there is a nasty bug (at least while I was playing), while playing Ghost - I finally made it through Concourse 2 (after defeating the helicopter). I go to exit the game, and it dumps me to Windows. EVERY DAMN TIME. I haven't even got through that level, and if the bug continues to exist (the game is "fully patched" on the DVD release), I'm gonna give up.

The Bottom Line
Now I've heard that the game plays very well on the console side of the gaming world, and perhaps it does. If that's the case, I might have enjoyed the game much more. I believe that the fact that Shiny pushed this game out on Mulitple platform all at the same time (with the same release date) really hindered their efforts. Perhaps they should have worked on one version of the game (a la GTA3), and after working the bugs out of ONE version of the game, they could port the game over to multiple platforms.

ETM tried to be a ground-breaking game. I think that between Shiny Entertainment, Warner Brothers and Village Roadshow Pictures, the PC industry is taking the right steps to making movie video game the best that the can be. It's been done right (take a look at "The Lord of the Rings" games by EA), but unfortunately, ETM wasn't done right at all - at least for the PC.

If you have a very (I'm talking at LEAST a 3.0gz) high-end system, you might be able to enjoy ETM the way it was meant to be enjoyed. Those of you with low-end systems should pass on ETM until you upgrade. And even then, I'd play it ONLY to get the story behind the game, not the game itself.

The Good
By far the best thing about Enter the Matrix is simply its connection to the Matrix movies. Personally, I am a huge fan of the Matrix trilogy. I love its unique philosophy, its incredible action scenes, and the modern Gothic style. That being said, I went into this game knowing that no matter how bad it might have been, I would have loved it. Fortunately, Enter the Matrix has plenty of great things about it that would have made me like the game regardless of its connection to the movies.

As you have probably already heard, the story in Enter the Matrix runs parallel to that of the second Matrix movie, the Matrix Reloaded. What surprised me is that the Wachowski brothers actually filmed over an hour of extra film footage to be used exclusively in the game. Combined with the in-game cutscenes, this footage provides you with information you didn't get in the movie. Most of the information isn't really important, its just interesting to see the backstory of how things happened in the movie.

Even though the game has such a huge connection to the movie, I think a lot of fans were disappointed to not be able to play as the movie's main characters like Neo or Trinity. Instead, you will play through the game as Captain Niobe of the Logos and her right-hand-man Ghost. I will admit that at first I was a bit weary about playing as these two, but now I realize that it was the best path to choose. If you played as the movie's main characters, all you would be able to do is play through the movie, which is sort of pointless. Not only do you get to learn more about these two minor characters, but you are provided with a whole new experience, and it really works out for the best.

Besides its connection to the movie, Enter the Matrix actually has quite a bit to offer in regards to gameplay. Hand-to-hand combat is fairly simple, consisting of simple punch-kick combos. There is also a wide selection of weapons to choose from in each level, with things like simple handguns, automatic rifles, grenades, and even a nifty little biochemical weapon that fills up the human lungs with water upon explosion. Even with all the weapons to choose from, I nonetheless often found myself resorting to hand-to-hand combat. I'm not sure if it is more effective than weapons, or if its just more fun, but there aren't too many games that I've played where I decide to charge a fully armed SWAT unit with nothing more than my bare fists.

I should explain though, that charging a fully armed SWAT unit empty-handed isn't as crazy as it sounds, at least not in Enter the Matrix. This is because you have the option of using the "Focus" command. By doing this, everything slows down to a crawl and your character can execute special moves. Special moves like dodging bullets (which comes in handy with the SWAT thing), running on walls, and jumping long distances. Focus also helps when you're using a weapon, because not only do you aim much better, you can also do things like shoot while diving and cartwheeling.

Along with the regular run and gun missions, Enter the Matrix makes a few valiant efforts at varying the gameplay. In the world of the Matrix, Niobe is one of the best drivers around, while Ghost is one of the best gunmen. Put these two forces together, and you've got yourself one dangerous pair. And to make use out of these two characters' talents, Enter the Matrix threw in a couple of driving levels. As Niobe, you'll be in charge of driving, and as Ghost, you'll be in charge of hanging halfway out the car window and shooting anything in your sights. While I never actually had as much fun during these parts as I did in the regular levels, it was still nice to have a little variation.

Speaking of variation, I have to throw something else in even though it isn't much different than the rest of the game, because I had so much fun with it. There is an entire level in Enter the Matrix where the majority of the enemies you fight are vampires and werewolves. These guys are really a lot of fun because you really get to exert the full potential of the hand-to-hand combat system. And to top things off, once you do enough damage to a vampire or werewolf, your character will execute a special move where you stick a wooden stake into its heart. My favorite? The one where Ghost jumps up and shoves the stake into the enemy's heart, takes a step back, and kicks the stake in even further. Now how could you not like that?

Another thing that deserves at least a little praise is the fact that your health recharges automatically. Some people might think this is cheap, but I loved it. If you stay out of danger for a few seconds, i.e. don't get shot or punched or anything, your health will start to automatically recover. This way, you don't have to go frantically searching for a health pack only to get killed seconds before reaching one and then have to start the level over. I don't know how you might take this, but it really takes away from some of the frustration that I have experienced in games before.

The music in Enter the Matrix is the same music you heard in the movies. It is mostly the orchestral pieces that you will hear in the game, but during some of the intense battles, some of the heavier modern stuff is thrown in, to add to the atmosphere.

Finally, Enter the Matrix presents a very unique and interesting idea with its Hacking option. Hacking is selected from the main screen, and it is here that you can view area maps, character profiles, weapon descriptions, and input cheat codes. The interesting thing about it is that it resembles very closely an old DOS computer system. In order to view an area map, you'd have to access the B drive, open the maps folder, and input the code for the map you want to view. For whatever reason, it's really fun just browsing around in the Hacking database.

The Bad
If you've read the rest of this review, you know that there is a lot to like about this game. Unfortunately, there is just as much to dislike. The main problem is glitches. Sometimes, these are actually pretty fun; for instance, watching a SWAT officer dance back and forth, like he's bouncing between two invisible walls, while you can just walk up and punch him in the face. But when a glitch costs you your life, they are not so much fun any more. And if you're anything like me, they will cost you your life A LOT.

If you've seen the Matrix movies, then you know what the matrix code looks like. All those random green symbols sliding down the computer screen, remember? Well, I hope you like to look at that a lot, because that's what you get to look at during the excruciatingly long load times. But this wouldn't be so bad if you weren't dying every five seconds due to glitches, because each time you die, you get to sit through another session of "decipher the matrix code", or as I like to call it "go make a sandwich and take a nap time." I'm exaggerating of course, but when you have to sit through so many long load times, it gets frustrating.

If I could ask the developers of Enter the Matrix one question, I think it would have to be why I have to drive in first person. But I have a feeling I already know the answer. They did it that way so you wouldn't be able to see the police cars that come out of nowhere and ram into your side, knocking you head first into a building so that they can box you in and shoot to their heart's content. A minor problem, sure, but annoying nonetheless.

I realize after having watched the first Matrix movie one hundred times and counting that the rules of physics in the Matrix can be bent, but when did guns start shooting bullets in every direction, regardless of where the gun is pointed? Do me a favor. If you ever get a chance to play this game, run up to an enemy in focus mode. If he turns around to run away, watch how the bullets come out of the gun at a ninety degree angle straight for you. Cheap? You bet!

The Bottom Line
To round it all up, Enter the Matrix is a fairly mediocre game with some unique aspects and a few problems here and there. All things considered, Enter the Matrix really is a fun game. If you're a fan of the Matrix movies, definitely pick this up. If you're looking for a fun game to waste away your time, at the very least, consider this game.