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the original matrix movie is one of my all-timefavorites. as far as science-fiction goes, it’s still one of the coolest universesever created, but something was lost for some when the two sequels came out. i personallyloved reloaded for its awesome tone and new characters, so if a game is going to be madebased on any of them, why not this one? unfortunately, although it’s obvious the game’s developershad high hopes for it, it didn’t turn out like i hoped. this is enter the matrix forthe original xbox. enter the matrix gives you a choice of twoplayable characters, niobe and ghost, both of the logos ship. that’s right, neo isn’tplayable, and morpheus and trinity are both only playable in a bonus section. but if youmanage to get over the fact that you’re
playing as some pretty minor characters, thestory is actually not bad. the writing ties some of the scenes into elements from reloaded,and it’s on par with the movies. the ability to pick between the two different charactersalso helps to keep things interesting, although it doesn’t serve all that much practicalpurpose. although i love the story and setting of enterthe matrix, the gameplay is where the game runs into some problems. it’s a third-personshooter, as you might expect, with heavy emphasis also being put on hand to hand combat. inaddition, a pull of the left trigger gives you access to “focus†abilities that slowdown time and allow you to perform intense takedowns and diving kill-shots. this aspectof the game actually works pretty well, but
it all falls apart with how it controls. first,the guns are controlled by the black button for some reason, and you can’t aim or adjustthe camera with the right stick. instead, it puts you into a first-person mode thatyou will never, and i mean never, use. just getting your shots to go towards the correcttarget is nearly impossible. not being able to adjust the camera would also be fine ifthe camera could center itself behind you on its own, but you’ll routinely get shotby enemies you had no idea were right behind you because you can’t see anything.using the “focus†abilities is definitely the most enjoyable thing to do in enter thematrix. as swat agents storm into a room, you can dive back and whip out an mp5 to mowthem all down before they even get a shot
off. you can also use this ability to avoidfire or even run on walls to set up awesome take-downs, and trust me, you’ll need touse the abilities. this game is really freaking hard. in a way, that’s not such a bad thingfor a game based on the matrix. you really do feel on edge and frantic throughout thegame, which mimics the tone of the movies perfectly. you’re even able to do hackingsections to unlock rewards, and it really does feel like hacking. you’ll have no cluehow to unlock the stuff if you don’t read up on the internet.perhaps enter the matrix’s strongest aspect is its presentation. not only is there a tonof live action footage, but tremendous voice acting, even from minor characters, althoughbecause this is based on reloaded, joey pants
couldn’t be in it. what a shame. for anxbox game, it’s visually on par with a game like second sight, and some of the effectslook really sharp. music is also amazing, perhaps the best besides halo on the originalxbox. enter the matrix has a great story, awesomepresentation, and nails the tone of the matrix films perfectly. however, it’s not a goodgame simply because it has frustrating gameplay. i’d only recommend this to die-hard matrixfans.
