The Matrixis a complex series of movies that deals with existential, philosophical questions that have danced around the minds of great thinkers for centuries.The Matrixvideo games, however, are all about slow-mo kicking and shooting through waves of enemies while doing sick backflips.
The history ofMatrixvideo games is an incredibly brief one, with only four official video game titles ever being released. And with one of those,TheMatrix Online, technically no longer being playable, that leaves just three chances at a good interactiveMatrixexperience. Thankfully, each one of these three does offer something unique, something thatMatrixfans will definitely want to experience for themselves before the upcomingMatrix Resurrectionshits the silver screen.
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Enter The Matrix
The firstMatrixgame,Enter The Matrix, was released in 2003 for PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC, and GameCube. The game centers around Niobe and Ghost, characters that make brief appearances in theMatrixsequels. While the clunky controls of the game make it a difficult one to play nowadays, it was a decent first attempt at bringing the fast-paced action and iconic “Gun-Fu” of the movie to the video game medium. However,Enter The Matrix’s real drawis its story and characters.
As previously mentioned, the game sees players control either Ghost or Niobe, fellow Zion rebels that plug themselves into the Matrix in an attempt to recruit more to their effort. What’s particularly unique aboutEnter The Matrixis its use of cutscene cinematics and voice actors. BothJada Pinkett-Smith and Anthony Wongreprise their roles for the game, adding a little cinematic flair to the otherwise stilted dialogue and set pieces of the game. The cutscenes of the game use live-action footage, with the footage essentially acting as a whole separate movie spinoff as it was filmed alongsideMatrix ReloadedandRevolutionswith the same high budget, sets, actors, and special effects.
While the gameplay might not be anything to write home about, fans of the series will definitely want to play the game just to experience these cutscenes, as although it doesn’t add much to the core narrative of the franchise, its character and world-building givetheMatrixuniversesome additional depth.
The Matrix: Path Of Neo
A few years later,The Matrix: Path of Neowas released to the same range of sixth-generation consoles and PC. Rather than tell an original story, this game aims to retell the movie trilogy, adding a few extra tidbits and narrative details throughout. Before discussing anything about this game, it’s important to say that thePath of Neois an incredibly, incredibly cheesy game. But that’s half of the fun.
As each movie in the trilogy is stretched out to encompass at least a handful of missions, the developers had to get a little creative. So while some missions make complete sense, followingNeo’s virtual trainingas the game’s tutorial and fighting a hundred Agent Smiths in the Burly Brawl, some missions are just straight-up comedy. One moment players will be fighting Agents in a hallway, the next they’ll be throwing human-sized fire ants into the void during a dimensional-shifting Merovingian level. But the absurdity makes this game extremely fun and keeps it engaging even 16 years later.
Thankfully,Path of Neo’s combat is also pretty solid. While it does definitely get repetitive quite quickly, there are plenty of unlockable abilities that should keep fans of the series playing. WhereEnter The Matrixtried to make its action realistic,Path of Neoembraces its absurdityand emphasizes slow-mo combat, wall-running, bullet dodging, and pulling off wildly overpowered combos. That being said, some levels inPath of Neo, especially its boss fights, can outstay their welcome very quickly, refusing to end for what seems like an eternity.
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Saints Row 4
Okay, this technically isn’t aMatrixgame, but, all the elements are there.Saints Row 4not only features aMatrix-style parody of a plot centered around the crew being plugged into a simulation, but many of the unlockable powers in the game are pretty similar to those wielded by our favorite shades-wearing computer god.
Within the first few hours of the game, players are given the ability to fly, along with super speed and power that freezes objects around them. It’s not completelyMatrix-related, but players can dress themselves up in a trench coat, throw on some shades, zip around a city, and punch enemies into the sky. If it were up to some fans, that’d bethe perfectMatrixaction game.
The Matrix Awakens
The newly releasedThe Matrix Awakens: An Unreal Engine 5 Experienceis a technical wonder. Acting as a tech demo for “true next-gen” games,Awakensgives players a glimpse at what the future might hold for this new generation of video game consoles. The tech demo opens with a thrilling car chase sequence that allows the player to shoot at oncoming Agents. While the sequence is brief, and the gameplay is extremely limited, the scene oozes with classicMatrixcharm, mostly due to the phenomenal lighting that perfectly imitates the original movies.
Upon completion of that first sequence, players are then given an open world to explore. There’s not much to do, but some technical demonstrations of night-time lighting and crowd AI can be found by using the in-game map.The Matrix Awakenscertainly won’t scratch thatMatrixvideo game itch, but the technical elements showcased in the game are very exciting.
The Matrix Awakens: An Unreal Engine 5 Experienceis available on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
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