Enter the Matrix

[2600Lives]

I've had this game for the GameCube for a few weeks now, and I must say that it's been a thoroughly enjoyable gaming experience. For anybody who doesn't know, it takes place during the Matrix Reloaded. You play as two of that movie's supporting characters, Niobe and Ghost (who is a VERY minor character in the movie to be sure). I just tonight finished with Ghost, and thought I'd toss up a li'l review.

 

First thing's first. This is one of the few games I've played where you get a true sense of POWER. A lot of older games threw up a single invincible soldier against countless hordes of enemies, sure, but you still felt sort of...vulnerable. Here, you are the MAN. Your character can do so very many more things that most of your enemies cannot that you rarely feel threatened by them (and therein lies some of the challenge, as if you let your guard down, you suddenly find yourself dead). Your martial arts skills are unbelievable, letting you take any of the "normal" humans in hand to hand with ease. The gunplay is similar, though use of the "Focus" button (which is basically Max Payne's Bullet Time, though done far better I think, since it was the Matrix that invented Bullet Time) is really required to get that sense of invincibility. Then there are the driving levels where, if you're playing as Ghost, you get to ride shotgun with a machine gun full of infinite bullets and get to blow the HELL outta everything on the road. This is too damn fun! The game doesn't try to do to many things at once, as for about 80% of the game you are on foot within the Matrix trying to get things accomplished. However, the driving, sniping (and the sniping is OH so satisfying), and later, riding gunner on the Logos in the real world do break up the monotony. The game itself tells a LOT of backstory from the second movie, and it's worth a play through for the Matrix fans who are all about that kinda stuff. It even has a little Hacking mini-game where you take one of your saved files and "hack" it. This opens up cool extras and other little tidbits, so it's definately worth the time to check out. The difficulty can be high in spots (see below), but on easy it's managable enough so you can finish the game relatively quickly. I like the fact that you don't play as Neo (in fact, you don't even see him during the game!), and Ghost is just a damn cool character. He's philosophical, always having some proverb or wisdom for any given situation. You also learn some veeeery interesting things about him, too. Niobe is fun, as she's always stoic in the face of any danger. Your Operator, Sparks is a riot, adding some good comedy relief just after your tied your fingers in a knot trying to take down an Agent. The graphics are beyond top notch, and you can interact with almost anything in the environment. The music is also great, giving you that mixture of symphonic, techno, and metal that the Matrix is known for (and they have a cool Evanesence song play during the end credits, too!). Control can be iffy at times, and you MUST memorize how to control your character, since you'll be needing almost all of their skills during the game, but they do their job nicely.

 

Ok, the bad spots.

 

Driving. This SUCKS, plain and simple. When you're Ghost, you usually ride shotgun and get to blow stuff up real good, but Niobe has some driving levels that are just pure frustration (and Ghost has one that's even WORSE). The physics are insanely off, and your car jumps 100 feet into the air at the slightest bump. It makes these levels way too hard and not much fun at all, especially if you have to do things like outrun an Agent's car or something. Fortunately, these levels are few and FAR between, so once you're past them and saved, you're good. Definately a letdown here.

 

You have to press multiple buttons to do some of the better manuvers, and these manuvers can mean the difference between dodging incoming fire or getting a face full of double 00 buckshot. You must memorize the controls completely to have a good chance at beating this.

 

This one is merely a quibble, but the Oracle is played by a different actress than in the movies. Why? Everyone else from Trinity to Smith is in here, why not have the original Oracle too? It sorta throws off the immersion into the game a little (fortunately, she's only in one cut scene, so it's really not that big of a deal).

 

All in all, this is a great game. Maybe not brand new price great, but definately 20-30 bucks great (I got mine at Blockbuster, as they had mispriced it for $9.95 and they HAD to give it to me for that!). This is a MUST for true Matrix nuts, too.

[Dones]

This one is merely a quibble, but the Oracle is played by a different actress than in the movies. Why?

The actress who played the role passed away a few years ago.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

This one is merely a quibble, but the Oracle is played by a different actress than in the movies. Why? Everyone else from Trinity to Smith is in here, why not have the original Oracle too?

Because the actress, Gloria Foster, died shortly after filming her scenes for The Matrix Reloaded. I'd bet good money that the new actress will be playing that part if the Oracle appears in Revolutions.

[DJGeki]

This one is merely a quibble, but the Oracle is played by a different actress than in the movies. Why? Everyone else from Trinity to Smith is in here, why not have the original Oracle too?

Because the actress, Gloria Foster, died shortly after filming her scenes for The Matrix Reloaded. I'd bet good money that the new actress will be playing that part if the Oracle appears in Revolutions.

Yes, the new oracle is going to be in the next movie. At some point (in either the game or Revolutions) they will explain why the Oracle has changed in appearance. Seraph is still with her when this happens...

[2600Lives]

Bah, I didn't hear anything about that. That sucks! I'm usually pretty up on all the celebrity deaths, but this one musta slipped under my radar.

[Mr.FoodMonster]

They have this game for only $15 bucks at best buy, so im going to grab it

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

Actually, almost exactly two years ago!

 

http://www.thelogbook.com/z2001/oct/oct8.htm

[dinovelvet]

All in all, this is a great game. Maybe not brand new price great, but definately 20-30 bucks great (I got mine at Blockbuster, as they had mispriced it for $9.95 and they  HAD to give it to me for that!). This is a MUST for true Matrix nuts, too.

 

Oh good score there...I paid $50 for mine back in May. I walked straight out of the theatre from seeing Reloaded and into Best Buy to get it!!! I enjoyed the game, I didn't understand a lot of the complaints about it. Although I could have done without the driving levels. The best part was playing as Niobe where you have to fight an agent in the back of a plane with the cargo ramp open. That was Bad ASS. Then at the end level where all the Smiths are chasing you as you're running around the outside of the building. I kept thinking I was Neo and tried to kick his ass, but obviously didn't get very far with that strategy. Anyway I might give the game another run through before Revolutions is out!

[Godzilla]

in the matrix game, the new oracle directly references the merovingian killing her old self, as an explanation for her new appearance. I found that very interesting. I really enoyed the game. The only beef I had was niobe piloting the logos in her end game. its fun as ghost in the gunners chair, but trying to fly the logos and shoot the sentinels is just too much, especially with the super floaty-hovery way the logos handles (but seeing as it seems to fly by replusion in the movie and not direct thrust, the way it handles may be accurate, but it still isn't fun.)

[RCmodeler]

They have this game for only $15 bucks at best buy, so im going to grab it

 

 

Went to Best Buy today, and the PS2 price was still $40. I was bummed.

[dinovelvet]

in the matrix game, the new oracle directly references the merovingian killing her old self, as an explanation for her new appearance. I found that very interesting.

 

Yes in the trailer for Revolutions, the Merovingian says "Bring me the eyes of the Oracle" and there's also a shot of Smith in the Oracle's apartment, laughing, so I guess she's toast early on in the movie. Er, sorry if that was a spoiler.

[2600Lives]

Okie dokie, I was playing through at Niobe (and guys, you may wanna get this game if for nothing else but the scene with Persephone and Niobe!), and right after the Twins chase you around in their SUV, you get a nice little FMV. Immediately after it ended, I get a "Alloc 443924 (some number sequence, I dun remember what it exactly was) DivxBuffer error" and the game crashed. Whattafuck? Has anyone else had this problem? This is gonna suck if I can't finish it with Niobe! Ghost's game was fun, but Niobe's game is quite a bit different, and I wanna see all it has to offer!

[RCmodeler]

PS2 uses DivX? Or are you playing the Cube version?

[2600Lives]

It's the Cube version, but I just skipped the cut-scene and it's cool. Working fine now.

[Jasoco]

Is there an Xbox version?

[2600Lives]

Yeah, I think so. There should be one for each of the "Big Three", otherwise they'd be losing out on a lot of revenue.

 

Almost to the end with Niobe. Then, I'm gonna unlock the sword and go back through it with Ghost! Sweeet...

[Jasoco]

Based on all your talk about it, I may have to pick this one up.

[Hydian]

The story of the Oracle is pretty interesting IIRC. They had originally intended to kill off Gloria Foster and replace her with a new oracle (just as they ended up doing) but decided that they liked Gloria so much that they were going to keep her. Then she died and they had to go back to the original plan anyway.

 

Oh, and we rented Matrix for Gamecube last week. I didn't play it much (5 minutes or so) but my girlfriend really liked it and has added it to her buy list.