The Matrix: Path Of Neo

Written by Tom Clare in PS2 Game Reviews, Tuesday 16 February, 2010

Released: 2005
Developer: Shiny Entertainment
Publisher: Warner Bros
Genre: Action/Adventure
Platform: PS2

Whilst it’s perhaps not surprising that the sum total of The Matrix: Path Of Neo’s endeavours amount to a fairly mediocre game, it is not necessarily for the reasons you might expect. It’s certainly not for lack of ideas or content – quite the opposite in fact – you’ll find an absolute glut of abilities and extravagant fighting manoeuvres will be thrown your way in the early stages of the game, but the loss of creative impetus ultimately begins to tell, and no amount of kung-fu can cover for the brittle game engine.

A spiritual successor to the promising-but-flawed Enter The Matrix, Path of Neo adopts a similar style of third-person action/adventuring with a healthy dose of hand-to-hand combat and shooting, and is in effect a retelling of the film trilogy from the point of view of Keanu Reeves’ protagonist Neo. The first half dozen or so levels act as an exhaustive tutorial as to the many combat and platforming techniques you’ll have at your disposal, and things open in engaging fashion.

Personal preferences aside, each of The Matrix films harboured considerable game potential and for awhile at least, it makes good on this. Standout moments include fighting through a building where walls keep appearing from nowhere as Agent’s attempt to fence you in; a black and white training section with some interesting visual effects caused by a malfunction in the program, as well as a quirky perspective puzzle on a subway train that is caught in a loop. And yes, you do get to recreate the memorable bank lobby shoot out with Trinity, pillars ‘n’ all.

The problem is, it’s one thing to have lots of ideas in principal, but they need to be put to more than fleeting use – some abilities are forgotten almost as soon as you learn them. The most striking example is the enjoyable opening sequence in Neo’s office, where you’re talked through how to employ stealth and the art of using walls as cover. You’ll virtually never make use of it past this point however, as the cover system is clumsy and impractical and there are few chances to sneak up on unsuspecting enemies. Likewise, the incredible height Neo can attribute to his jumps is somewhat negated by the prominence of in-door locations.

Very quickly, you’ll discover elaborate combos, weapon disarms, aerial attacks and killing blows, and despite the rapidity of the process, it’s rewarding to have some freedom in choosing the abilities Neo attains and in what order. But whilst the diverse settings and visual pyrotechnics do their best to convince you otherwise, the rush to throw stuff at the player means its pretty much run its ideas dry after the first few hours, making the first half of the game feel too muddled and the second too repetitive. The battle system is what’s been most clearly invested in, so the focus of the game becomes an almost unbroken run of fights.

And how do you keep things ticking over if battles are the chief gameplay source? Add more enemies of course! And more. And some more again. To say the PS2 disagreed with this would be a whopping understatement, as it descends into lurching disc-spasms in a vain attempt to keep up with the increasingly-preposterous amounts of on-screen action. The further you move through the game, the more the fights become a contorted, jerky mess, and it sometimes feels like the game is taking several seconds to respond to your frenzied hammering of the attack buttons. It takes away a lot of the fun you have early on with some nicely animated battles that faithfully mimic The Matrix’s fight scenes with cool slow-mo bits and an excellent line in destructible scenery. The shooting sections are awkward and unsatisfying though; with auto-targeting often focusing on enemies that are obscured by scenery, rather than those who pose an imminent threat.

As well as its technical troubles, Path Of Neo is somewhat disappointing graphically. It was reasonable to assume it would follow Enter The Matrix’s look closely, but the major figures are lacklustre and Niobe, one of the playable characters in ETM who makes a brief appearance here, looks noticeably less detailed. In a parallel of the gameplay itself, the FMV’s are a bit of a jumble with multiple scenes from the films seemingly condensed and mashed together in attempt to convey an insane amount of plot in just a few seconds – it’s not uncommon to see bits from three or four scenes edited to play like one conversation. Still, the ability to turn the environments into Matrix-style code (revealing hidden enemies in the process) is undeniably cool and an extensive attempt has been made to recreate the various and diverse environments of the films, even if they aren’t especially attractive.

For fans, Path Of Neo represents an interesting (and now relatively cheap) curio with a credibly lengthy main adventure and enough unlockables to keep you busy for a good couple of weeks. However, for the average gamer, its technical shakiness and near-complete reliance on fights after a time it comes across as a less accomplished Max Payne, and should therefore be approached with caution.
 

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