Enter the Matrix Remains an Ambitious Movie Tie-in Game 20 Years Later

It’s time to jack again in and re-experience the film tie-in sport 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 formidable degree of Enter the Matrix. This simulation is way from excellent, however as Cypher so potently mentioned, “Ignorance is bliss.”

It was the primary sport based mostly on the long-lasting movies, however that was solely as a result of a nasty resolution had been made. The Wachowskis knew they needed a sport for his or her visionary undertaking 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 among 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 appearing out scenes from The Matrix Reloaded in an overblown gamified kind, there was an unique story written by the Wachowskis, who have been closely concerned within the growth of video games utilizing their world. The creators have been hands-on when it got here to overseeing a lot of these initiatives and needed 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 in regards to the story as they might. It was cross-promotional synergy at its most interesting, and The Matrix franchise might stay unbeaten in that regard.

Enter the Matrix put gamers within the function of two characters outdoors of the primary motion, however in an task that also felt important to the heroes’ success. Deciding on between Niobe (Jada Pinkett) or Ghost (Anthony Wong) provided a set of phases with totally different paths. The duo fights the identical enemies, however in numerous components, the main points change, and choosing 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 lots of the identical actors and crew, which makes the sport extra attractive. With all of this being canon, nonetheless, it might make the story really feel a tad extra convoluted, and it positively means new gamers have to have seen the flicks to really 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 price noting.

It is a sport that acquired just a little wild, in a great way, loosening the belt from the flicks and permitting gamers to discover a number of the dirtier work from what they’d beforehand seen. The second movie noticed a very good 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 indicate. 

Enter the Matrix tried to boost the bar for film video games

Enter the Matrix was making an attempt to start out a pattern, set a brand new bar for the place films and video video games may very well be married, not less than inside the realms of character, story, and expertise. Gamers use martial arts, weapons, and the Focus capacity to decelerate time and watch bullets fly by, all whereas wearing trendy 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. Essentially the most memorable characteristic although stands out as 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 properly and making means 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 fascinating bugs, however not one of the releases escaped with out some type of efficiency downside. For many, nonetheless, the PS2 providing appeared to supply the most effective general expertise.

As pleasurable and artistic as Enter the Matrix was, there have been lots of issues. The conventional controls work high-quality and look strong in lots of situations, however they are often sluggish and assaults aren’t snappy when coping with a number of opponents, which is made worse by usually horrible AI, inflicting the enemies to both be too simple to defeat or ridiculous to hit. Driving and on-rail shootings sections could be irritating and really feel tacked on whereas melee encounters are missing and degree design comes throughout as uninspired aside from wanting the half. It does supply numerous modes within the gameplay, which required a number of engines, and that is one case the place a extra streamlined expertise was almost certainly wanted. Even Perry mentioned the group, “bit off just a little greater than we may chew,” and in some circumstances have been growing for platforms they weren’t precisely acquainted with.  

Although the sport apparently spent over two years in growth, the discharge date was set in stone to coincide with the movie. Enter the Matrix had positives for positive, the place the entire bundle nonetheless managed to return collectively even when a number of features fall brief, however lots of these successes hinged on the IP it represented, and this batch of code may have used some extra time in manufacturing. Lead Programmer for the sport, Michael “Saxs” Persson, mentioned to Polygon, “Regardless of who you ask, Enter the Matrix was like Dante’s seven ranges of Hell,” which appears just a little harsh, however it appears like this wasn’t a straightforward manufacturing interval, irrespective 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. Actually, Enter the Matrix might have suffered barely for having to make the story slot in with the flicks when that was the strongest facet of the entire bundle. The sport isn’t fairly equal in its components, some parts are epic, others are awkward, however its power lies in what it was, an formidable program that sought to offer main followers one other likelihood to enter the simulation.