Maximum Letdown: Enter the Matrix (PC, PS2, Xbox, Gamecube)

In 1999, Warner Brothers and the Wachowski Brothers made a film like no other. It told the story of a future in which humans were enslaved by technology gone mad. The film’s combination of special effects and martial arts were unlike anything ever seen before. At the end of the film, fans would eagerly anticipate what would happen next. For four straight years, fans have yearned for a sequel to the film, and gamers craved a video game tie-in which would allow the to take control of all the high velocity action shown in the films. Indeed, since the film was released, many games have incorporated the Matrix’s slow-motion action into their own gameplay.

By 2003, the Matrix was set to become the new millennium’s answer to Star Wars, taking its place as the primer Sci-fi franchise. Thus, for the film’s upcoming sequel, the Wachowskis knew they had to do it big. To that end, they recruited scores of anime artists, actors, CG graphics experts, and game developer Shiny entertainment (Earthworm Jim, Messiah, MDK). Not only would we be getting a sequel, but we’d also be getting the first video game, along other cool stuff. Not only would we see the next evolution of the franchise, but we’d also see a breakthrough in storytelling across different forms of medium Or at least it would have been had the Wachowskis and the people at Shiny entertainment had the slightest clue of how to do this properly.

The idea looked good on paper. First, moviegoers would see the CG-animated short Final Flight of the Osiris. Then, they would play the game, and then see the Matrix Reloaded. Or they would see Reloaded, the play the game. Or they’d play a level from the game, watch one of the movie’s scenes, then play another level from the game, er, then they would wait until the DVD came out (fortunately that didn’t take long), and play the game, and switch back and forth between the DVD and the game. Anyway, once that was sorted out, moviegoers would then head back to the theaters in November to see the third film, the Matrix Revolutions.

That last paragraph demonstrated one of the main problems with the game. The game’s narrative was meant to provide supplemental information to the movie. Instead, the narrative is so disjointed in both the movie and the game, that in order to be able to properly understand the movie, you’ll need to play the game and vice versa. For instance, as you watch the movie, you’ll wander what happened at the power plant. That’s because you’ll get to see for yourself in the game. Also, during that highway chase scene in the movie, you’ll wonder how Ghost and Niobe seemed to be there just in the nick of time to save Morpheus. Again, that’s why you’ll gave to play the game. That’s not so bad for gamers, because if one wasn’t a fan of the movies, they wouldn’t play the game in the first place. For moviegoers who aren’t gamers, they’ll simply be confused. Also, there are moments in the game (such as Persephone’s kiss and the fight with Seraph) that also happen in the movie with Neo, thus making them seem forced.

The second huge problem becomes apparent when you start the game. This being a video game based on the Matrix, you no doubt want to play as Neo. However, you instead play as two nobodies named Ghost and Niobe. These two weren’t in the last flick, and they show up in Reloaded for a grand total of 10 minutes, but you’ll get to be up close and personal with them in this game. Now granted, these guys are real badasses and Jada Pinkett Smith (who plays as Niobe) is as hot as ever, but who cares? I want to catch bullets with my hand, move faster than the speed of light, fly long distances within seconds, kill off thousands of agents in seconds, and bend spoons with my mind.

Now, given these two critical missteps, the game still had a lot of potential to be enjoyable had it had some decent gameplay. Sadly, the game fails in this regard too. Hit detection is way off, save points are unevenly distributed (you’ll literally be walking forward encountering auto-save points every other step), the melee and shooting combat are floaty, and bugs are present everywhere. The game is so simple that it can be finished in one weekend. Much of this can be blamed on Shiny/Atari rushing the game to have it out by the film’s release. If they had a few more months to work on the game (like say, waiting until the DVD’s’s release), things could have been ironed out. However, that would have meant postponing the game’s release, and without the plot details that the game adds, then moviegoers confused by the movie’s plot holes would have to wait even longer to get the whole story.

The game isn’t a complete loss. For what it’s worth, this game contains one of the best uses of bullet-time (or focus, as the game refers to it). While [more superior] games such as Max Payne and Dead to Rights have simply used it to slow down the action, Enter the Matrix uses focus to enhance your combat maneuvers, access new techniques, and allow sniper-like zoom-in features with your firearms. The live-action cut scenes have been directed by the Wachowskis, so they are the same quality as what you’ll see in the movie. The music is also pretty good, as it seems that it has also been borrowed from the movie. There is also a pretty fun DOS-like hacking minigame. You can unlock weapons, power-ups, concept art, movie files, and levels. It’s basically like a built-in cheat device. I’d almost say that it’s more fun than the actual game itself.

Fans of the movie will want to rent this disc just to see the cinemas. Everyone else will want to avoid this, as this is yet another licensed flop. Even more sad, this is a flop that took $30 million to produce. Now, Shiny and the Wachowskis did what it could to help make up for this flop. Revolutions, the third and final film in the trilogy was a decent film. In 2005, they released The Matrix: Path of Neo which allowed players to take control of Neo throughout pivotal moments during the Matrix Trilogy, and even featured an alternate ending. That same year, Warner Brothers and Sega released the Matrix Online, which continued the story of the Matrix universe, and contains live events. Even with it’s potential, the game’s development was rocky at best. Ubisoft had backed out of an agreement to publish the game, and Sony Online Entertainment picked up the game’s operation a few months after its release. Both Path of Neo and the Matrix online were received only slightly better than Enter the Matrix, and at the time both games were released, few people cared about the Matrix enough to give them a look. What should have elevated the Matrix to sci-fi greatness instead wound up dealing the franchise a shot in the kneecaps from which it was never fully able to recover from despite its best efforts to do so.

*Although if there is one good thing that came out of this whole debacle, it’s the Animatrix dvd. This is a collection of 9 short films from top anime directors about the world of the Matrix. It includes the Final Flight of the Osiris short film that is the prologue to Enter the Matrix. Highly recommended, even for those who aren’t fans of the movie.