I bought this over the weekend and tried it last night on my PS2. You play as Neo throught the trilogy. The Washowski Brothers directed and wrote the game.
You start off with a short training program where you fight progressively tougher security forces in a recreation of the first film's lobby scene. Depending on how you fare, the game provides difficulty options to you. You audition for the game with the first playable segment. Neat.
Then you have to escape the office building by following Morpheus's phoned directions. Depending on your success (I failed), you can move forward or find yourself in Tank's training programs. And here's where the game blossoms.
The training programs are to teach you guns and hand to hand. Because Neo and Tank and Mouse are geeks, the sessions are set up as a Mortal Kombat style game (complete with FIGHT! command), a gorgeous bushido sword game, a Jackie Chan fight scene (straight from Drunken Master), a haunted dojo sword battle, and (my most recent session) a John woo restaurant gun battle. It's awesome, and I haven't even really tapped into the game. As you progress, you pick up Matrix code-bending tricks like fast motion and fight combos. All of this is supposedly how Neo trained in his first marathon training session. I haven't fought Morpheus in the dojo yet, and I've played two hours. I've nicknamed it "Grand Theft Neo" because the challenges are so varied. The game catches newbies up on the story with film clips, including one I don't think I've ever seen before. But the clip edits are dizzying. If you don't know the film, you may be in some trouble here.
I like the controls and graphics. It's a fast-moving and detailed game. The environments are affected by your movements, and the reactive props have a nice physics to them. The combos I've got so far kick ass, and the game goes to a slow-motion auto sequence when you hit the right combo. This is obviously choregraphed in the style of the films, and you get a real sense of the trilogy's style. The camera controls are fluid, but the auto-camera movement stinks; you have to correct the game's choices. And you can easily get stuck making giant wall jumps when you're trying to work a more offensive move. Still, it's eye-popping and immersive. It surpasses Enter The Matrix in graphics, so much so that I don't think I've seen such gorgeous playing graphics on a PS2 before.
A fun, fun game so far.
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
Originally posted by LanceJrIf this was a question...the answer is NO its not
Care to elaborate? 'cause if you're just gonna be a smartass and give the impression that you're not actually READING the posts, we can take care of that.
Far be it from me to come to LanceJR's defense, I have heard very strange things about the ending. I can't find where I read this but. . .
Spoiler Below: Highlight text to read
Apparently after you defeat Super-Smith like at the end of Matrix Revolutions, a bunch of Smith's get together and say something to the effect of 'this Jesus crap wouldn't work in a video game' and then proceed to form a gigantic Smith who attacks you with a billboard. You beat Gigantic-Smith, and then I don't remember what happens to Neo, but the end involves everyone in Zion singing "We Are the Champions".
If this is true, it does not instill me with much confidence regarding the game, which is a shame since Matt Tracker's description thus far makes it sound intriguing.
Originally posted by EddieBurkettIf this is true, it does not instill me with much confidence regarding the game, which is a shame since Matt Tracker's description thus far makes it sound intriguing.
Can't vouch for the action, but the game manual does in fact contain the legal fine print for the song you cite. I assumed some character hummed it or referred to it in dialogue.
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
Originally posted by LanceJrIf this was a question...the answer is NO its not
Care to elaborate? 'cause if you're just gonna be a smartass and give the impression that you're not actually READING the posts, we can take care of that.
Take care of it? I'm being serious though.. It's not worth it. The whole Matrix thing in my opinion is over. This game should have been the onyl Matrix game to ocme not no thte crappy Enter the Matrix where you play as Ghost & Nobe. The graphics are OK, the game play is shoddy, and this game was just made to make fans happy since Enter the Matrix blew. Rent it and be happy you didn't buy it.
I played it, and it wasn't bad. I'm very Matrixed out, though, so I wouldn't buy it.
The game is many many times better than Enter the Matrix, and I could see it being a very entertaining game. The combo stuff and the training stuff is pretty fun.
The truth is, the morbid curiosity about the ending was more entertaining for me than the game itself; the controls were wonky and the gameplay itself wasn't all that impressive. Brownie points for the Wachowskis going completely insane with the writing, though.
For those who want to find out about the ending's legitimacy but don't want to buy the game, you can watch it on Putfile in three pieces: number one, number two, and number three.
Originally posted by Roy.The game is many many times better than Enter the Matrix
It'd have to be.
Seems like a harmless enough beat em up, but the chip paying for Revolutions left on my shoulder means I'll probably only play if there's jager bombs involved... that's how I got talked into Shaolin Monks.
I wouldn't have wasted my time playing the game so I'm glad I actually got to see the ending for myself. That is so ridiculous and so awesome at the same time that I don't know what to say.
"Before you could take Animal Crossing to a different village. Now, with Wi-Fi, you can take it around the world." -Satoru Iwata on Animal Crossing DS
Considering how shitty the ending of the film was, I think I actually like the idea of the video game ending better. Also, Giant Smith is just a really cool concept.