A rebel sprints up and along a wall at full speed, dodging bullets as they whiz by. He focuses and enters bullet time. Flipping and turning, he ends his run with a spinning kick that KOs his hapless enemy.Who wouldn't want to be able to do that in real life? In
Enter the Matrix, the authorized game written and directed by the Wachowski brothers, at-home coppertops finally have a chance to execute spectacular stunts, too. Shooting snipers, jumping across buildings, steering cars—it's all here, and the best moves are done in 3-D slow motion, known in the game as "Focus" mode.
In this third-person fighting game, players can choose Niobe (steely commander of the
Logos, a part written for Jada Pinkett-Smith) or Ghost (her calm and collected first mate, played by Anthony Wong). Other favorite characters—and the actors who portray them—appear throughout, including Agent Smith(s), the Oracle, the Keymaker and Seraph. In fact, all the films' major stars make brief (in Neo's case, voice-only) appearances, but the soul of this game belongs to Niobe and Ghost.
Each completed task brings a new cinematic, some that take place during the time between
The Matrix and
Reloaded, beginning with what happened to the Osiris. Later cutscenes show what Niobe was doing while Morpheus and Trinity took care of the Keymaker. Stories and experiences overlap between the movies and the game, and with Niobe and Ghost as the lead character, the backstory comes to the forefront.
After finishing
Enter the Matrix, players have a much better sense of what transpired among Zion's leadership. Completests also receive a tantalizing preview of what's to come in
Revolutions.
Bullet-time stunts head for home While it's more work to execute these spectacular stunts (even in a video game) than to watch them on a movie screen, those elegant, balletic—yet lethal—kicks will be a temptation too great for most
Matrix fans to pass up. The punches, throws and running dives are everything a crazed fan would want them to be. The famous cartwheel-with-guns-blazing trick is here, too, as are plenty of meaningful
Matrix minutiae.
So why isn't this the best game ever? Many of the scenes require players to repeat entire sequences over and over, for the most nit-picky reasons. There are plenty of little annoyances, like the operator, Sparks, and his panicky, heavyhanded, "I'm the obligatory comic relief" delivery.
Some criticisms may be a matter of taste. For example, film-watchers who liked the Chateau, and the ramblings of the Merovingian, will probably enjoy similar elements in the game. Those who found the idea of the Exiles tedious, and a little too Buffy for the metallic heart of the Matrix, will probably tire of spiking hearts.
But preferences like these aside, there is still no excuse for certain sections of the game, primarily in the car or while steering the
Logos. With poor game controls, these challenges are simply too primitive to be interesting. Far better are the running, diving and fighting sequences that make up the majority of the game.
No criticism should keep a
Matrix fan from picking up this game, though. Niobe and Ghost are fantastic characters, expertly and convincingly acted. The hacking feature is a clever way to incorporate cheats and allow fans to rewatch unlocked cutscenes. The firefights are fun, and not overly difficult for beginners. Scary (and witty) final battles with Agent Smith bring the best elements of the movies into gamers' living rooms.
Hallelujah! A fighting female character who commands a ship while she kung-fus. Is it my imagination, or does her Focus mode charge up faster than Ghost's, too? — Jennifer
