Enter The Matrix

Written by Tom Clare in PS2 Game Reviews, Saturday 8 September, 2007

Released: 2003
Developer: Shiny Entertainment
Publisher: Atari
Genre: Action/Adventure
Platform: PS2

While the world awaited a sequel to 1999 epic The Matrix, its creators, the Wachowski brothers, were busy expanding their vision beyond the confines of film. Firstly, there came the fantastic collection of anime short-stories that made for The Animatrix, and then the video game Enter The Matrix (ETM). On the surface, an obvious and lucrative tie-in, but also rather progressive among its peers as it plays its own individual (albeit ultimately minor) part in the bigger Matrix picture.

Chronologically fitting in between the original Matrix film and its silver-screen successor Reloaded, ETM gives fans a chance to tackle a side-story based around two of the series secondary figures; freaky-haired Niobe (Jada Pinkett Smith) and prize-winning-poker-face Ghost (Anthony Wong). Whilst predominantly a third-person shoot 'em up, it also incorporates elements of on-rails shooting and driving sections - on paper, not too dissimilar then to revered PSOne classic Die Hard Trilogy.

In reality though, it's more like a quicker, lightweight version of Max Payne. The game relies on short, sharp levels with little cerebral interaction and lots of blasting. The slightly clumsy layout of the controls means ETM nearly shoots itself in the foot from the outset; allowing only one analogue stick for movement and wasting the L2 and R2 buttons on strafing, thus certain manoeuvres feel strange and you have to play a lot before they can be executed impulsively. That said, the dazzling martial-arts and technical wizardry of the films has been integrated extremely well.

Just as in Max Payne (and of course, The Matrix films), time can, at the touch of a button, slow to a crawl for a short period and this is brought into play through the 'Focus' feature. There is a considerable amount to this; it allows you to gain the upper hand in fights by diving, rolling and dodging out of the way of bullets; running up and across walls; increasing the distance of jumps and heightening the accuracy of your shooting. The combat as a whole is great - there is a huge array of weapons but it says a lot for the game that the hand-to-hand combat can be just as effective and enjoyable as the gunfights. As mentioned earlier, the controls could have been set out a little more cleverly, but once you acclimatise its very solid.

It's just as well the action is good as the levels themselves are very linear; it's a rare occurrence when your objective is anything other than to follow the compass and instigate another cut-scene or firefight. It's a shame as there's not much more to do than flick the odd switch, because many of the locales have the scope for housing more than simple background scenery.

Visually, the two playable characters are by some distance the best-looking in the game - the animation on Niobe and Ghost is excellent; with the array of martial-arts moves appearing graceful, smooth and stylish. ETM fits into the Matrix universe with supreme efficiency, though at times it is to the games detriment. The settings and general environment design have generally been well thought out - a shoot out among a room of pillars makes for an admirable (though slightly toned down) homage to the classic gunfight in the first film - but there is a clinical blandness to Enter The Matrix which, along with the all-guns-blazing mantra it encourages, means that the offices and building facades seem a little drab and sparse.

Though the mission objectives remain simple in the second half of the game, the levels are a bit more extravagant in their design. There is a very enjoyable section where you must run through a mansion interior staking zombies, whist smiling to yourself at the disappearance of the suffocating grey-shades that hung over the early levels like a rain cloud. For those who enjoy the prospect of legging it full pelt with no knowledge of what's around the next corner, the Chinatown levels should deliver the adrenalin rush you're after as they see you being pursued relentlessly by a number of indomitable agents - my nerves were shattered by the end of it!

Despite the healthy body count offered up in ETM, there are actually very few variants of enemy; SWAT teams, security guards, vampires and the dreaded agents make up the vast portion of foes. For the most part they are cannon fodder, though they do have varied plans of attack; some hold back, others charge at you and the crafty ones work together and chuck grenades in your direction - on the whole the A.I. is none too bad.

When you are not shooting, you'll be involved in car-based missions - most likely driving if you have opted to play as Niobe, or riding shotgun if you've elected Ghost as your character. These sections are adequate enough and add a bit of variety to proceedings, though they are by no means perfect. The vehicles are just a bit too slow to drum up any real excitement at the prospect of a chase, whilst the handling is passable at best - the compass indicating where to go next can prove a bit of a pain as you occasionally have to find well-hidden or very narrow paths that are not obvious, and if you don't identify them quickly, you will more than likely fail the mission. On a brighter note, the on-rails shooting bits are not too bad at all, and vastly superior to those seen in the Grand Theft Auto games (perhaps as it's played at a slightly more leisurely pace and the driver isn't swerving all over the place); blowing up other cars is great, simple fun as they go absolutely flying when blown up.

Enter The Matrix has its silly moments here and there that hurt its overall score. It has some of the least helpful tutorials in the history of gaming; examples being such useless twaddle as 'To Accelerate, press ACCELERATE' and 'To draw and fire a weapon, press FIRE' - such vague references to the buttons are all the more baffling as you can't change the control configuration anyway. Then there's the odd noticeable glitch in the Matrix (ho-hum) - enemies floating after you've killed them and, on one of the on-rails shooting missions, Ghost kept falling out of the car at the end of the stage; it would have been comical if I didn't have to keeping restarting the mission.

The size of the levels can at times seem wildly erratic. On the whole they are short, lasting five minutes or so (there are around 50 levels in all) before you are prompted with a save point, though there is the occasional lengthy one that will catch you by surprise, lasting two or three times this duration and requiring you to complete several objectives. The game also reaches the other extreme with sections not even lasting a minute - including a bit that involves nothing more than running down a corridor, and another consisting of just one room and two enemies.

Perhaps the standout feature as far as fans of the movies are concerned is the storyline. Whilst compared to the original film it is hardly special, in a gaming sense it's pleasant to see such a quantity of high-quality FMV footage and cut-scenes, and credit where it's due, the plot fits around the gameplay convincingly. Kudos must also go to the voice-actors; as it's the Matrix not all dialogue is delivered entirely convincingly, but it is encouraging to see so many stars lending their vocal talents to the project. The soundtrack is also relatively strong; the music seemingly content to fade in and out at intervals for the most part, but there are occasions where it bursts into life to compliment a specific moment of action - it adds an extra layer to the atmosphere.

Enter The Matrix is not a very long game - I polished it off in a whisker over five hours first time through, but the replay value is high. The two playable characters have genuinely distinctive adventures - each with entire sections dedicated solely to them, and as many cut-scenes and FMV's are exclusive to one character or the other, you'll need to tackle ETM with both to get the full picture. For those who like a challenge, there are three difficulty levels to tackle, plus a nifty and original 'Hacking' mode to try. This basically allows you to type on a Matrix style computer (green text 'n' all!) and access a number of simple but cool features, as well as some more useful bits such as information on characters and guns featured within the game, as well as the chance to view cinematics that you had unlocked in the game proper. It's a touch fiddly at first as your commands have to be precise and specific, but it's a really clever idea that's superbly crafted.

Ultimately, Enter The Matrix is playable and inventive without ever truly standing out. The developers are to be commended for making a game that is much more than a simple cash-cow for the films, but with a story that isn't as gripping as Max Payne's and controls that make it less instinctive than other, similar shoot 'em ups, it will probably be fans of the franchise that ultimately get the most out of this. Worth a look, as it can be found for £2-3 on the Internet these days.

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