Despite being a move tie-in, I had high hopes for Enter the Matrix when it was announced. Most movie
license games aren't very good, but this mostly stems from the games
being cheap cash-ins on the popularity of the films. Enter the Matrix
was different, however. There was a lot of ambition to this title.
Enter the Matrix's story isn't just a retelling of the movies; it fills
out background details that The Matrix Reloaded didn't show on screen.
The Wachowski Brothers wrote the script. The movie actors did the
motion capture and delivered the lines. They even filmed some sequences
to be used as cutscenes. On paper, this should have been a good
extension to the world of the Matrix. Unfortunately, these lofty
ambitions came crashing down when it came time to make the game.
Enter the Matrix plays like most third-person action games. You'll run
from room to room as either Niobe or Ghost, use Kung Fu and guns to
take out your enemies, trigger a cutscene, and move to the next
mission. Every few levels, you'll take to the streets in your muscle
car or shoot down sentinels in your hovercraft. None of this is really
exciting, and none of it is done very well. The driving sequences and
railshooting is especially boring. The only new feature is "bullet
time." Taken from the movie, you can slow down time to deliver some
nasty bone-crushing moves to your enemies. These are impressive
visually, and sound just like when bullet time is used in the movies.
The graphics in this game are not very good. Characters look blocky and
dull. The environments run the gamut of generic locales, including
office buildings, warehouses, and rooftops. The driving sequences look
especially awful. The city is dull and lifeless. The rail shooting
sequences aren't anything to write home about. About the only cool
effect is the bullet time moves. They really do look like they hurt
when you connect with one.
The story is very "Matrixesque." There's a lot of bloated dialogue and
convoluted storytelling throughout. While I credit the team for making
this game as important to the main storyline from the movies, you never
really get the sense that any of this game matters to the rest of the
Matrix world. The frequency of cutscenes is totally maddening as well.
You play for a bit, and then the game takes over for you while you move
to the next sequence. I felt like I was watching more than I was
playing.
At the end of the day, it felt like Enter the Matrix just didn't have
enough time to fully flesh out all of the ambitious ideas that Shiny
and the Wachowski's had for this game. It's not surprising, as this
game's release had to coincide with The Matrix Reloaded's theatrical
release. I wouldn't recommend this game; it doesn't really add much to
the Matrix.
