It’s time to jack again in and re-experience the film tie-in recreation that attempted to be greater than only a slick commercial. There was a time when the try and safe a pipeline straight from blockbuster movies to online game releases was big, however few reached the bold degree of Enter the Matrix. This simulation is much from good, however as Cypher so potently stated, “Ignorance is bliss.”
It was the primary recreation primarily based on the long-lasting movies, however that was solely as a result of a foul resolution had been made. The Wachowskis knew they wished a recreation for his or her visionary mission set to launch in 1999 and approached Shiny Leisure, however founder David Perry believed The Matrix can be “one other hacker flick.” One thing that Perry would later inform Polygon was one in all his worst profession errors. Fortunately, the corporate would obtain a second likelihood and one other alternative to play on this computerized world.
As a substitute of merely performing out scenes from The Matrix Reloaded in an overblown gamified kind, there was an authentic story written by the Wachowskis, who have been closely concerned within the improvement of video games utilizing their world. The creators have been hands-on when it got here to overseeing all these tasks and wished these followers that have been deep into their lore to not solely see the movie, however watch The Animatrix, learn the comics, and play the sport, all in an effort to get as many particulars concerning the story as they might. It was cross-promotional synergy at its best, and The Matrix franchise might stay unbeaten in that regard.
Enter the Matrix put gamers within the function of two characters outdoors of the principle motion, however in an project that also felt important to the heroes’ success. Deciding on between Niobe (Jada Pinkett) or Ghost (Anthony Wong) provided a set of levels with completely different paths. The duo fights the identical enemies, however in numerous elements, the main points change, and deciding on one over the opposite does decide whether or not the participant handles extra driving or capturing. Some followers have been upset they didn’t get to play as Neo, however there’s one thing cool about being in on the bottom degree and seeing how different events have been serving to behind the scenes.
There’s a considerable amount of live-action footage, and over an hour of it’s new to the sport, shot whereas they have been engaged on the movies and utilizing a number of the identical actors and crew, which makes the sport extra engaging. With all of this being canon, nevertheless, it may possibly make the story really feel a tad extra convoluted, and it positively means new gamers must have seen the flicks to actually profit from the plot. Everyone seems to be welcome to enter The Matrix, however for diehard followers, the sport does add some essential story additions value noting.
It is a recreation that bought slightly wild, in a great way, loosening the belt from the flicks and permitting gamers to discover a number of the dirtier work from what that they had beforehand seen. The second movie noticed a great little bit of the ghost twins, whereas the sport allowed followers to play with the vampires and werewolves extra, in addition to discover motion sequences that Reloaded didn’t take the time to point out.
Enter the Matrix tried to boost the bar for film video games
Enter the Matrix was attempting to begin a pattern, set a brand new bar for the place films and video video games may very well be married, at the very least inside the realms of character, story, and expertise. Gamers use martial arts, weapons, and the Focus skill to decelerate time and watch bullets fly by, all whereas wearing modern hacker apparel. The world mimics the flicks whereas Brokers really feel like an actual risk (at first anyway), and the drive to see extra of the story and cutscenes strikes us ahead. Probably the most memorable function although will be the hacking-based cheat system, the place customers can entry the mostly-forgotten multiplayer and make the most of DOS instructions for numerous results.
It doesn’t matter what caught out essentially the most, the sport was extremely welcomed upon launch, promoting fairly nicely and making manner for an additional installment afterward. Enter the Matrix can be rereleased as a price range title, and a few variations have been even barely revamped with new mini-games. Every model of the sport had points and attention-grabbing bugs, however not one of the releases escaped with out some type of efficiency downside. For many, nevertheless, the PS2 providing appeared to offer the very best total expertise.
As gratifying and artistic as Enter the Matrix was, there have been a number of issues. The traditional controls work advantageous and look strong in lots of situations, however they are often sluggish and assaults are usually not snappy when coping with a number of opponents, which is made worse by usually horrible AI, inflicting the enemies to both be too straightforward to defeat or ridiculous to hit. Driving and on-rail shootings sections might be irritating and really feel tacked on whereas melee encounters are missing and degree design comes throughout as uninspired apart from wanting the half. It does provide numerous modes within the gameplay, which required a number of engines, and that is one case the place a extra streamlined expertise was almost definitely wanted. Even Perry stated the workforce, “bit off slightly greater than we might chew,” and in some circumstances have been creating for platforms they weren’t precisely accustomed to.
Although the sport apparently spent over two years in improvement, the discharge date was set in stone to coincide with the movie. Enter the Matrix had positives for certain, the place the entire package deal nonetheless managed to return collectively even when a number of features fall quick, however a number of these successes hinged on the IP it represented, and this batch of code might have used some extra time in manufacturing. Lead Programmer for the sport, Michael “Saxs” Persson, stated to Polygon, “Regardless of who you ask, Enter the Matrix was like Dante’s seven ranges of Hell,” which appears slightly harsh, but it surely appears like this wasn’t a straightforward manufacturing interval, regardless of how a lot enjoyment gamers might have gotten out of it.
Some critics felt that the sport cheapened the film, however I don’t see that in any respect. In truth, Enter the Matrix might have suffered barely for having to make the story slot in with the flicks when that was the strongest side of the entire package deal. The sport isn’t fairly equal in its elements, some components are epic, others are awkward, however its energy lies in what it was, an bold program that sought to offer main followers one other likelihood to enter the simulation.