Enter the Matrix

aka: Heike Diguo
Moby ID: 9211
PlayStation 2 Specs
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Description official descriptions

In the war to save Zion, what part will you play? Enter The Matrix casts the player as Niobe or Ghost, captain and first mate of the rebel ship Logos, respectively. Niobe is a master combatant, capable of beating up everyone in her way. She is an excellent pilot, both in the real world and in the Matrix. Ghost is very adept at firearms, and his marksmanship is a mastery. Both characters are very athletic, and throughout the game the player will have to walk, run, jump, strafe, peek, run on walls, climb ladders and pipes, and fight various enemies.

Available weapons include a security pistol, an automatic pistol, a submachine gun, a machine gun, a shotgun, and grenades. Besides weapons, a variety of hand-to-hand moves are available, from punches, throws, and grabs to kicks and chokes. Throughout the game, the player will be called upon to utilize Focus moves, which is basically bullet time from the films. When Focused, time slows to a crawl, allowing the player to zoom around enemies, dodge bullets, and jump to avoid oncoming obstacles.

The game was written and directed by the Wachowskis, and its plot is intertwined with that of the second movie, The Matrix Reloaded.

Spellings

  • 黑客帝国 - Chinese spelling (simplified)

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Credits (PlayStation 2 version)

535 People (444 developers, 91 thanks) · View all

Written by
Directed by
Lead Designer
Produced by
Producer
Executive Produced by
Executive Producer
Lead Programmer
Animation Director
Lead Level Programmer
Director of Photography
Production Designer
Art Director
Supervising Editor
Film Editor
Co-Editor
Senior Visual Effects Supervisor
Visual Effects Supervisors
Music by
Sound Design by
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 63% (based on 68 ratings)

Players

Average score: 2.8 out of 5 (based on 109 ratings with 9 reviews)

A game that is built to be nothing but high-action fun!

The Good
This game is very well made, starting off with the game concept. The fact that you can do the cool moves that you see in the Matrix trilogy's combined with the sheer simplicity of the interface makes this game extremely versitile and enjoyable on many levels. This game is enjoyable to the rookie gamer as well as an expert. Although I doubt a rookie would get past the middle of the game without much frustration. The graphics are really good, one of the best graphics I've seen in games recently. On my computer the graphics don't start to get glichy unless I run the game for over two hours. Restarting the game fixes the problem though. There's also a great integration between powerfull weapons and your awesome kung-fu master character. You can take the gun from a guy's hands bash him in the head with it then flip it in the air and shoot him in the face. The fluid motion of the characters in this game while fighting is really well done, the best to date I believe. What's more, you can also drive and pilot a hovercraft throughout different levels. The game can be played as either "Ghost" or "Niobi" and the plot follows the trilogy's storyline from the beginning to end, but through the eyes of these characters as opposed to the movie's main characters.

The Bad
The music could have been a bit better but its still really good nonetheless. Also the story is in depth enough. Since they use real footage with actors from the movie, they tend to be shorter than you would expect if it were generated. So the story has a hole here and there but that doesn't take away from the fun of the game. Seeing Jada Pinket Smith actually acting for the game is a really cool bonus.

The Bottom Line
This game is awesome! The AI is actually difficult to kill, and there is a number of ways of killing people in differente situations so its really hard to get bored. Focus mode is awesome too an example of it would be Max Payne but better I believe.

Windows · by Thiago Oliveira (85) · 2003

The Curse of the Movie Game is not yet broken.

The Good

'Enter the Matrix' is big on concept. The games story runs parallel to the movie 'Matrix Reloaded', following two minor characters from the movie, Niobe and Ghost. The game fills in a lot of interesting details in the Matrix saga, and sets up some characters and events that I am sure we'll see in the next film. Fans of the Matrix will surely get some enjoyment from playing through the game just for the sake of watching the cutscenes and following the plot.

The combat system allows your character to pull of some pretty cool Matrix-style moves. You can use your 'focus' powers to slow down everything around you, allowing you to see bullets as they fly though the air, and to perform some snazzy slo-mo martial arts combos. With focus activated you can jump much farther, cartwheel and flip out of the way of incoming fire, and leap about while accurately firing yoru weapon.

The graphics don't suck, but they aren't the best ever seen on an Xbox. The FMV cutscenes tend to look a bit muddy and seem to be in a bizarre aspect ratio when played on a 16:9 television. The character's facial models are excellent, and the lip syncing is some of the best I've ever seen in a game.

**The Bad**

Sadly, the whole games stinks of mediocrity. The level design is very poor, at times being simutaneously completely linear and terribly confusing. Enemy AI is very unimpressive. Guards take cover, but that's about it. Fighting armed opponents always comes down to using your disarm move to get thier weapon and then beating them up a bit to finish them off. If gunfire ever gets to heavy you can go into focus mode and dodge bullets while capping the bad guys. You will seldom find yourself in any real trouble.

The game is surprisingly easy, clearly aimed at novice gamers. Your health regenerates if you give it time, as does your focus meter. If you ever find yourself in a tight spot you can just hide behind a pillar until you are all better. Despite this, there are still health packs scattered about. This effectively destroys any sense of tension.

The controls are just absurdly mapped. The left analogue stick is used to move around, the right stick switches you to a first person view. Yup, the entire right stick is dedicated to switching POV. It makes absolutely no sense. To draw and fire weapons, you must push the black button, to holster them you use the action button. This caused countless unintentional holsterings during gameplay, as the action button is used for things like opening doors and disarming opponents as well. The left trigger activates your focus, and the right trigger locks onto a target, though this seemed to work sporadically at best.

The gameplay itself, while often enjoyable, frequently forces you to drive, shoot while riding, or take out enemies with a sniper rifle. These sequences are clearly intended to mix up the action a bit, but I just found them to be an annoying distractions. The driving bits are purely awful, and the 'shooting from the passenger side window' parts aren't much better. The final levels of the game have you simply running away (or flying away while shooting) and nothing else. These ending levels leave the distinct flavor of a rush job in ones mouth, as they aren't fun in the least. Five whole levels in which I simply run away from Agent(s) Smith? Something must be missing...

**The Bottom Line**

For fans of the movie, it's worth renting just to see the cutscenes and flesh out the plot. I can't reccomend a purchase to anyone, as it is just too short and unpolished, even with two characters to play through as. I finished it easily in two days.

While the concept of expanding a blockbuster movies universe through video games is a good one, this game simply does not do enough to make it as rewarding and compelling an experience as if could have, and should have been.

Xbox · by Entorphane (337) · 2003

The game is awesome!

The Good
I liked how the game is so real,(like the glass breaking and books falling from being shot) and how much movie footage is in there. I also liked hacking and the fighting in the game.

The Bad
I didn't like how the game had so many short stages and it is hard to drive the car.

The Bottom Line
Enter the Matrix is a great game if you like the Matrix storyline. This game is not just based on the new movie, but is a story on its own.

GameCube · by robnic (3) · 2003

[ View all 9 player reviews ]

Trivia

Advertising

At the end of the game there is a trailer for The Matrix Revolutions.

Extra footage

The game features two hours of footage not seen in any of the movies. It was shot especially for the game by the Wachowski Brothers and features the supporting cast from The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. Carrie-Ann Moss also makes a brief appearance as Trinity although Keanu Reeves (Neo) and Laurence Fishburne (Morpheous) are both absent.

The footage was later included in The Ultimate Matrix Collection on the The Matrix Reloaded Revisited DVD.

Sales

On August 31, 2003 Enter the Matrix (PS2) won the Gold-Award from the German VUD (Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland - Entertainment Software Association Germany) for selling more then 100,000 (but less then 200,000) units in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

Script

The Wachowski brothers were so passionate about creating a genuine The Matrix atmosphere that they wrote a 244 page script just for the game.

The Matrix Reloaded

The game was released on the same day as the movie The Matrix Reloaded. Throughout this film, there are numerous billboards to be seen. These billboards contain cheat codes for the game.

Warner Bros. license system

The poor reviews for Enter the Matrix inspired Warner Bros. to create a system where games with WB licenses that received less than a 70% rating on average out of all game reviews would require extra royalties. This was created in an effort to minimize bad movie-licensed games from Warner Bros. products.

Awards

  • Computer Games Magazine
    • March 2004 - #5 Worst Game of the Year 2003
  • Computer Gaming World
    • March 2004 (Issue #236) – Worst Use of a License of the Year
  • GameSpy
    • 2003 – Biggest Disappointment of the Year (PC)
  • Golden Joystick Awards
  • PC Powerplay (Germany)
    • Issue 03/2005 - #7 Biggest Disappointment
    • Issue 02/2006 - #4 Hype Disappointment
  • Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland (VUD)
    • August 31, 2003 - Gold Award

Information also contributed by Daniel Albu, JPaterson, Macintrash, Maw, Solid Flamingo, Xoleras, and Zack Green.

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by JPaterson.

PlayStation 2, Windows, GameCube added by Kartanym.

Additional contributors: Macintrash, PCGamer77, Unicorn Lynx, DreinIX, Cantillon, Patrick Bregger, piltdown_man.

Game added May 16, 2003. Last modified March 8, 2024.