How deep does the rabbit hole really go...not very (Enter the Matrix (PS2))

Member Name: smooth_criminal_

Product:	Enter the Matrix (PS2)
Date:	13/09/07 (131 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Diverse methods of attacking enemies

Disadvantages: The driving and flying levels

With the prospect of being the best movie – tie in game ever made, Enter The Matrix certainly had a lot to live up to. There’s been a lot of criticism of games which are based around movies and this game had it fair share of critics right from the beginning. The big question is did it live up to the massive hype and anticipation that was cast upon its shoulders? There’s no actual answer to this question, it’s definitely a brilliant game, no doubt about it. Whether it’s the sensational, masterpiece which combines several different genre’s and executes them all to complete perfection is an entirely different story.

Enter The Matrix boasts some of the most fast paced, exciting and truly extraordinary action seen for some time. It offers car chases, diverse fighting techniques, tons of weapons and the incredible experience of battling face to face with an agent. You can run up walls, you can take out SWAT teams, you can even spar with Trinity. From this it is clear that Enter The Matrix relies heavily on the plot and story of The Matrix itself. To some this may make the game predictable and boring, for others it may make the game exciting and compelling.

People can complain about the story or the predictability of the game all they want. However, the simple fact is, there’s nothing else out there that can equal the pleasure of jumping off a wall in slow motion and executing a roundhouse kick right into an agents face all in the space of a few seconds. Nothing can equal the tremendous burst of excitement as you walk through the airport, shotgun in hand, taking out police snipers and SWAT team members.

Graphics

The first glimpses that everyone saw of Enter The Matrix didn’t look at all promising. Then another batch of screen shots were released and things were looking up, the trailers then only confirmed that the graphics were, indeed, quite good. There are a lot of good things to point out about the graphics in Enter The Matrix. However, there are also some not so good things to point out as well.

For a start, the environments are dreary and extremely repetitive. One example of this is a level in which you are travelling down sewer tunnels after you and a group of other rebels were ambushed. Obviously, sewers aren’t meant to look fantastic but they seemed to just go on and on. After you manage to get past the dreary, dark green tunnels which make up the sewers, there are yet more dark green sewer tunnels to travel down and even more after that. Another example is the very first level where you’re attempting to procure a hidden package in a postal sorting office, it seems all that inhabits this sorting office are desks, walls and maybe a few chairs if you’re lucky.

However, what must be remembered is how incredibly huge the environments are and, although they are quite bland, what is there is actually quite well designed. The detail of some levels is better than others, the levels range from huge airports to rooftops, quite diverse and well detailed in all but a few cases. What really stands out from the rest of the game graphics – wise are the characters. The playable characters are extremely well designed and the enemy’s are minutely detailed.

The major let down is the environments, some are good but driving down a freeway for an entire level isn’t much fun, especially when the freeway just looks the same all the way through.

15/20

Sound

Sound is probably where Enter The Matrix really excels. Everything, from footsteps and gunshots to ricochets and the sound of someone’s ribs breaking, has been done to perfection. Even the sound of a punch whistling through the air as it nears its target has been superbly done. The sound effects are brilliant and have obviously been a priority for Shiny, the developer.

The music, however, is a different story. Enter The Matrix has adopted all of the original Matrix sounds. This means the game sounds great a lot of the time; you really feel as if you’re in the Matrix. Although some of the time, the music doesn’t match the pace of the game and can sometimes even be annoying. The music doesn’t seem to adjust when you stop fighting or when you start fighting again, it just carries on in the background, almost oblivious to how you are playing the game.

Despite this, the sound effects are breathtaking and, most of the time, the music is good too.

18/20

Gameplay

Enter The Matrix combines several different genre’s which generally works well throughout. The most noticeable combination is that of gunplay and beating the hell out of your opponents. Effectively you nearly always have a choice between shooting someone and kicking someone. The most spectacular is, of course, all the kicking, punching and throwing combos and they’re all an integral part of the gameplay.

If the game was solely focused around guns and weapons then it wouldn’t be as good a game. The gunplay itself isn’t actually lacking, with tons of weapons such as sub – machine guns, sniper rifles, crossbows, pistols and grenades, which can all be used in a variety of different ways, it’s certainly very entertaining. You can shoot at enemies while running sideways along a wall, you can shoot them while diving backwards and if you don’t happen to have any guns on you, you can even take an enemies weapon and use it on its former owner.

However, the hand to hand combat is what really sets this game aside from any other. The variety and diversity of the moves is incredible. From triple kicks to flips and punching combos, from counterattacks to trips, the combat is the most dynamic ever seen. To carry out the most spectacular moves and combo’s you have to make use of the focus gauge. This is basically a gauge which determines how long you can move around in slow motion for. The focus can be used to dodge bullets or it can be used to carry out the more interesting combo’s. It’s all a bit Max Payne when you consider the focus bar but there’s a lot more you can do in slow motion in Enter The Matrix. You can, not only dive into a room guns blazing but you can run up walls and jump into the air to execute a spectacular kick or whatever else takes you fancy, Max isn’t really up to that.

Possibly the biggest let down in the gameplay is the driving and flying levels. They’re so boring and repetitive that you just found yourself wanting to get them over and done with instead of actually enjoying them. Another bad point is, despite its strong connections with The Matrix storyline, Enter The Matrix can be quite confusing. Some of the time the player won’t be sure of what he’s actually meant to be doing and the hint boxes that occasionally come up to help are few and far between. The only other thing which provides some insight into your goals is the objectives screen which, unfortunately, usually contains a rather obscure comment.

The game also has some saving issues which would have benefited from some redesign. The save points are in very strange places throughout the game. For instance; you could go for fifteen minutes without a much needed save point and then, when you finally find one, you go on for about a minute and find another one.

The gameplay is generally fast paced and does not require any kind of tactics. Usually, it’s just a case of getting from A to B and taking out as many opponents as you can. Surprisingly, you’ll never tire of doing this and exploring new ways of attacking enemies. Enter The Matrix is as non – linear as this type of game can be and this makes for a pleasurable experience all round. Despite some glitches, the gameplay is generally quite good.

18/25

Lifespan

The fast paced action means that you’ll probably get through Enter The Matrix fairly quickly the first time round. Then, however, you have the option to play as another character which adds considerably to the lifespan. The choice is between Niobe and Ghost and after you’ve completed the game with one of them, you’ll most probably be compelled to have a go with the other. Their courses throughout the levels to differ quite dramatically for the most part.

Quite an original and unique feature of Enter The Matrix is the ability to hack into the Matrix. While, in truth, this is just an advanced form of cheating, it adds a new and exciting layer to the game. You can unlock all sorts of different things, from basic cheats (Not that I’ve actually tried these cheats of course) to an actual multiplayer level.

With other an hour of unseen footage from the film cleverly integrated into the cutscenes as well, Enter The Matrix is an above average game in terms of lifespan.

25/25

Originality

Despite the minor cross with the Max Payne slo – mo bar, Enter The Matrix is a highly original game. Since the bullet time feature actually belongs to the Matrix it can’t be marked down because of this. No other game has combined driving with hand to hand combat and shooting as well as Enter The Matrix has.

10/10

Overall

Overall, this wasn’t the game of the year that was anticipated. This wasn’t the best thing since sliced bread. However, it more than made the grade and has achieved perfection in many places. Enter The Matrix will go down as a damn good game, not a revolutionary piece of genius but a brilliant game. It’s well worth your hard earned cash and makes for a truly unforgettable experience that only the ‘Matrix’ title could deliver.

84%

Price: £5.00

Summary: Makes for a truly unforgettable experience that only the 'Matrix' title could deliver