Well...it's a video game, but so what, there are a lot of those out now. Oh, it's based on The Matrix movies...? Humph!
User Rating: 5 | Enter the Matrix XBOX
The main problem with this game is that it is extremely repetitive and boring. The presentation (graphics, sound, gameplay etc.) isn't as spectacular as I (a big fan of the first Matrix movie and a respecter of its two follow-ups) would have it; that fact is basically my problem, but that doesn't mean the game is not without flaws. The game's camera system and fighting and shooting mechanics are sloppy, which can be expected, what with so many 3D games of varying overall quality exhibiting the very same problems. Most times it really isn’t a problem (more like a distraction), but with a game with “The Matrix” brand on it, it’s a little jarring when you cannot see exactly what your character is doing. The camera, most of the time, stands behind your character’s entire frame, but if they’re engaged in hand-to-hand combat, the game does a haphazard job of keeping all characters involved in a brawl on-screen at once; the result is a camera that focuses on almost everything but what it’s supposed to. The camera behaves a bit during shooting sequences – it’s the controls that are problematic there. Not that the basic shooting mechanics are bad – in fact, they’re excellent. The problem is, the button mapping for the shooting is silly (black button), and accessing them is unnecessarily problematic. The black button functions as your access to firearms and the shooting button; to tell the truth, I figured the shoot button would have been mapped to the right shoulder button, but nope, that’s saved for the oblique targeting that, at times, I’m never really sure actually works…until it locks on to an enemy you can’t even hit behind a wall, when there’s another right beside you, shooting you in the back. It locks on until you kill the initial target you put your sight on – it’s a little annoying. The button is also used for strafing, but the targeting system mucks up most strafing opportunities. Anyway, It seemed to me that simply shooting in a general direction brought more results than using the goofy targeting, save for times enemies are above or below your character, even then if you stand still the game auto-aims your character at the closest enemies anyway, so…yeah, the targeting button is unnecessary. Actually, the game plays quite a bit like Max Payne 1 and 2, but from what I recall from playing the X-box version (the PC version is the best version of that game), the camera controls were situated to a separate analog control, but in this game turning and moving forward are all within the left analog stick, which sometimes feels awkward, but isn’t a big problem. The unresponsive nature of the control within any one level’s environments is another jarring aspect of the game. This game should not be this poor. All that said, the aforementioned Max Payne games control a whole lot better than this game, but then again, they don’t have karate and wall-running (which is one of the game’s better creative attributes). Anyone willing to play through this game will find that the controls do a good enough job…a good job for an unremarkable overall experience, in my opinion. The graphics and sounds are very meager. Most character models are detailed just enough to where they aren’t ugly. Environments and colors are sort of washed out and faded looking, which was something apparent in the movies as well. Levels are stock and not very interesting. Everything, graphics-wise, just seems bland, as if no creative thought were put into how the game’s levels would represent the movie. It’s all very boring and uninspiring. The sound effects are also mediocre, save for the distinct sounds of punches and kicks of the film series. The bullet-time effect (called ‘focus’ in this game), visually, as well as aurally, was done with a lot more flair in--who'd have thought--the MAX PAYNE GAMES, primarily, because players controlled the camera in those games, and the on-screen action was a lot more…exciting to behold. Music from the movie is looped endlessly to the point of overwhelming, mostly because the game never fells as if it’s going anywhere…repetitive. Man, there’s this acid music track that I can’t recall the name of the plays during the first shooting sequence that got me hyped…but that was the only instance of it playing, and after that, it never played again. Very weak, that right there. I’m indifferent about the voice work. The actors lines are delivered in the same melodramatically stiff way lines are said in the movies. I do like the fact that, in the end, Jada Pinkett-Smith is, essentially, the star of this game. Even though the game is bland, I’ll still give her a hearty, “You go, girl!” for her efforts. Niobe is an intriguing character; Ghost is a standard action game character, but that isn’t a bad thing. The story is hardly worth mentioning (most folks, I figure, don’t care what happens, as long as they kick butt and move in slow-motion and whatnot); however, I will mention that EtM requires a viewing of the second movie, as well as the Matrix short, “Flight of the Osiris” to truly know what’s going on. The story is a little too abstruse and over-plotted for its own good. Enter the Matrix is not a bad game, at all. It can be played (and even enjoyed) by anyone willing to play it, while putting up with its few problems. No on thing stands out as the biggest flaw. If anything, the detrimental fact is that EtM never quite lives up to its potential. This game is an overall mediocre presentation, which isn’t surprising, but nonetheless, very disappointing. This game is pretty boring, that’s all there is to it. Hee hee…Max Payne beat Neo (no, he isn’t in the game) to the punch and had a faster trigger-finger, as well. Whatever, man! Let me stop cracking wise. 
