Enter the Matrix (ETM), written and directed by the Wachowski Brothers, is the most serious attempt at bridging the gap between Hollywood and the video game industry. Over 20 million dollars was allocated from the Matrix sequels’ budgets for the game, and Shiny, the developers of ETM, were given full access to everything involving the movie, including the sets and actors. To paraphrase ETM Lead Designer David Perry, no matter what, Enter the Matrix will have a huge impact on the gaming industry. Either, no one will ever make a game this way again, or it will open the floodgates for the infusion of Hollywood into video gaming. Fortunately for gamers, ETM is actually a pretty good game. While it does have significant flaws, one walks away from the game getting a good impression of what it would be like to “experience” the movies, and it is definitely worth playing for fans of the Matrix movies.
The game starts slightly before the events of Matrix: Reloaded. You can choose to take control of either Niobe or Ghost in the game. While both characters’ missions are generally alike, each has enough unique missions that make finishing the game with both a worthwhile experience. There are also different cutscenes, both filmed and in-engine, unique to each character. In the vehicle based missions, Niobe drives while Ghost shoots. Otherwise, every other mission is of the action-based run/melee/shoot variety. The story line is completely original and complements Reloaded perfectly.
The most obvious problem with ETM is the control. ETM asks for use of virtually every button on the X-Box pad. Unfortunately, since ETM is an action game, it can be difficult to shift your fingers all over the pad, particularly switching between the melee and fighting controls. The melee attacks use the XYAB buttons, and weapon manipulation is with the white and black buttons. I had tremendous trouble with this, and I felt like it any success I had was random button mashing. I tried both the original and S-controller, but both were extremely uncomfortable. Eventually, I was able to use a Playstation Dual Shock controller via an adapter, and that felt very good because of the 4 shoulder buttons. Other people’s experiences haven’t been quite as negative as mine, but nor were they extremely happy with the control. Even after completing the game, using a X-Box controller for ETM is still awkward for me, despite understanding how to play the game. The control issues extend pass just the button selection, however. Almost every single part of the game feels like it should have been tweaked. First person control is mostly frustrating. It’s strange that you can choose between inverted and normal looking in the Options menu, yet in the vehicle shooting missions, you only have inverted. In first person and the shooting missions, the cursor feel is very poor, and it is difficult to accurately target something. It’s also strange that you can choose first person by tugging on the right control stick, but you have to aim with the left when most first person shooters today use the right stick for aiming. The control in the driving missions is ok, but the vehicle physics are just awful. It’s almost impossible to really predict how the car will control, and the collision detection is simply ludicrous.
The Wachowski Brothers directed each cutscene as well as the camera angles in gameplay. Normally, set angles in an action game are a horrible idea, and combined with my early control problems, I found myself extremely frustrated with the game. As I adjusted to the controls, however, I found the camera to be actually pretty good. It can be a little difficult at times to deal with, especially when enemies are around you in multiple directions, not just in front of you. However, the auto-aiming when using lock-on does a good job of taking care of people whether you see them in clear sight or not, taking care of a lot of possible frustration.
The combat in ETM is the real highlight of the game. With Max Payne out, one had to wonder how bullet time would be handled, and if it would simply be a copy of Max Payne’s. Thankfully, it is not, and improves on Max Payne greatly. Bullets create the same ripple effect in the movies, and use of bullet time, or “focus,” as it is referenced to in the game, is activated by a simple press of the L trigger. Different moves can be created within focus, by pressing jump, punch, kick, or disarm, or a combination of them. It takes very little practice to do great looking moves, and often, fights often compare positively visually with the ones in the movies. You will find that virtually every jaw dropping move you see done in the original movie doable in the game.
Another aspect that overshadows ETM’s control issues is the difficulty of the game. Saves are usually frequent, keeping the pace of the game fast. Also, health and focus regenerate pretty quickly, always giving you a chance to live if you play carefully. Overall, the game is of moderate difficulty and probably around 8-10 hours the first time though.
The excitement of the movies is recreated well in the game. The cutscenes are well done as you might expect. In-engine action cutscenes are well framed, and filmed scenes have no trouble retaining the high production values of the movie. The story actually adds a significant part to the movie, and fans will be excited to know that particular details quite important to the movie are only available here. The missions themselves seem to make sense in relation to the storyline and the movie, and some of the most exhilarating moments of the first movie are recreated to be experienced in the game, such as one on one fight scenes, the chase by agents, and a lobby scene, complete with destructible scenery. Overall, it really felt like I was in the Matrix universe.
A unique feature of the game is the ability to hack into the Matrix. The hacking mini-game, while fairly simple, adds some value to the game. Among the unlockables are a multiplayer fighting mode, and several bonus features you might normally expect on a movie DVD, like concept art galleries. While it’s fairly simple to unlock these, it still adds an interactive element that helps the player feel just a little bit closer to the Matrix universe.
Graphically, ETM is definitely a mixed bag. Shiny’s hyped Messiah technology was promoted as the cross-platform engine, able to automatically adjust to a system’s capabilities and correspondingly optimizing the graphics to the strengths of each system. What make the fight scenes so great are the outstanding character models and animation for the moves, as well as the bullet time effects. All the moves were choreographed and motion captured, and the combat in ETM is the first time I’ve seen martial arts combat in a 3D game look so seamless. The character models, in particular Niobe and Ghost, in general are quite good. Their movement in general also look fluid. Aside from these positives, ETM is a real disappointment. Lighting and any type of special effects are generally bland, and one wonders if they could have been recreated on a last generation system. The game’s textures, are also well below average. Textures are simplistic, often repeated, and create the sense of a plastic-looking world for the indoor levels. Banding is readily seen in the textures, and one has to wonder if the game is even rendered in 32 bit color. Overall, it’s not the artistic sense that’s lacking, it’s the technical application of it. I liked how the levels would have looked had there been better textures, but the drab nature of the game world is very depressing.
Since the Matrix movies are so impressive aurally, one might expect the same for the game. This is generally true, with the music and voice acting as highlights. The voice acting is just as good as in the movies, and the music, especially in the 1 on 1 fights, is outstanding. However, and I’m not sure if this was a bug, but I noticed in some levels that the music would feel disjointed, like it was repeating every 10 seconds. ETM supports 5.1 sound, but, unfortunately, for the most part it is not used well in the game, even in the filmed cutscenes.
Enter the Matrix was released with great expectations, just like Matrix: Reloaded. Just like it, there will be probably be mixed reactions to it by players. Similarly, though, the game is much more good than bad, and will be a thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable experience for any Matrix fan. While non-Matrix fans will be obviously less motivated to try out the game, the combat and bullet time sequences are worth playing on their own. Hopefully, ETM’s success, both as a critical and financial success, will encourage Hollywood to engage in closer collaboration with the gaming industry. Of course, if this means more “interactive movies,” this may be a bad thing.
Graphics 7.0/10
Sound 8.5/10
Control 6/10
Gameplay 8/10
Overall 8/10
(originally published in GamersInfo.net)
Tags:
matrix,
xbox
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