Background The original Matrix film, released in 1999, was a revolutionary action film in terms of combining Asian cinema inspired gunplay and kung fu together with cutting edge special effects, particularly the famed "bullet time" effect. With themes that resonate with the nascent late 90s internet and a plot that keeps you thinking, The Matrix was a cultural touchstone for many Western millennials. Of course, with financial success comes a demand for sequels, which was taken a step further by the franchise with the launch of a multimedia universe. 2003 was to be the big year, where two film sequels were released: The Matrix Reloaded in May followed by The Matrix Revolutions in November. If that wasn't enough of a media overload, there was also the anime anthology, Animatrix, and the subject of this post itself, the videogame Enter the Matrix, which was also released in May at the same time as The Matrix Reloaded. While the ambition is admirable, it's clear that the release date of the Enter the Matrix was driven by the requirements of the wider media franchise itself rather than when the game would be in a complete state.
Production Enter the Matrix is a third person 3D action game incorporating melee combat and shooting augmented by the "bullet time" system. The game includes a significant amount of cinematic footage that was shot concurrently with the Matrix sequels. The plot of the game ties in very closely with The Matrix Reloaded, which in game events expanding on scenes within the movie itself. The game even includes a teaser trailer for The Matrix Revolutions as part of its ending. The game has two selectable player characters: Niobe and Ghost. While each of them have slightly different melee movements, gameplay wise they seem indistinguishable. While the overall chapters are similar for both characters, each character has their own unique path through the levels with a few exceptions.
The menu UI is functional and leans heavily on the imagery of the Matrix franchise, from the green digital rain to the sound effects. The whole presentation plus the exclusive footage makes it feel like an integral part of the Matrix franchise, rather than the standard licensed game of the time where the license feels more like window dressing. The in game aspects itself are where the cracks start to appear. While the 3D environment tries to evoke real world locations, the basic geometry and texture work, especially in the latter levels, gives it a previous gen or low budget look. Character models have the early 6th gen console look, with the protagonists benefitting from the bulk of the effort. A lot of works seems to have gone into the animation to account for the various melee and gunplay moves for the protagonists, although animations still appear to be canned and not physics driven. Some particularly egregious examples of bad 3D models include vehicles with angular wheels.
Gameplay
The majority of the gameplay are third person combat sequences through linear levels. Health and Focus, the resource for bullet time, both regenerate on their own after a couple of seconds out of combat so there are almost no resource pickups except for health packs located sporadically throughout the maps. Shooting is similar to the original Tomb Raider games, where the character aims automatically at the nearest enemy, while melee is similar where initiating melee combat locks the camera into a more side on view with nearby enemies, and also seems to reduce or prevent enemies further away from shooting at you. I suppose that's one way indulge the fantasy of melee combat against armed opponents. Melee combat includes punches, kicks, and throws. There's also a disarm move, particularly handy for reducing the threat of armed enemies, while sneaking behind enemies also allows for an insta kill move. Counters are also possible although its only relevant during melee boss fights. There seems to be a lot of depth in the melee system, including light medium and heavy attacks, which depends on your direction inputs when fighting enemies.
Focus is the cornerstone of the combat system. Activating focus puts the world into slow motion allowing you to run quickly while dodging visible bullet trails to close the distance with enemies or giving more time to aim and shoot at various enemies. Jumping while using guns in focus mode also gives you cartwheeling or diving moves which seems to improve bullet evasion. Focus also improves your melee moves, making them less likely to be blocked and also allowing for more powerful focus specific moves. There also certain context specific moves, such as running on walls or wall kicks.
While the combat system is ambitious, it's clear that significantly more polish is needed. The biggest combat issue for me is hit registration. There's little visual feedback when the enemies get hit, apart from some canned animations which seem to get overridden when the enemies move to their next animation. Shooting in bullet time seems inconsistent, with many shots looking like they miss the target. Melee combat has the same issue, particular for melee boss fights where it's hard to tell when your hits are being blocked.
While there are a variety of guns, you'll mostly be sticking with the shotgun or automatic weapons once you get them from the enemies. Grenades are included but using them is inconsistent and potentially dangerous due to unpredictable bounces off level geometry.
The levels themselves are mostly unremarkable indoor areas, although there are certain rooms with columns that are clearly meant to evoke the iconic lobby firefight from the first movie. Progress through the levels are mostly linear, with a few switches to trigger or doors that unlock once an enemy opens them, but otherwise no puzzles or keys to collect. Certain levels require you to run way from pursuing Agents, since they're not beatable except for certain set pieces.
90% of the enemies in the games are armed cops. There's a level midway through the game with a focus on melee enemies, which allows the melee system to shine, but otherwise most of the game involves grinding through varieties of cops, from lightly armed pistol wielding guards to armored SWAT teams that require a lot of firepower to take down. In most instances, closing the distance with bullet time then disarming enemies seems to be the most effective combat tactic. Enemies with firearms do high damage, which encourages you to be evasive and use the Focus system. While there's some instant Focus regeneration if you manage to kill an enemy in melee, there's still a lot of waiting around needed at certain points to get your health and focus up for the next battle.
The game also has a couple of levels which involves either driving or shooting from the vehicle, depending on which character you choose. The latter can be annoying as the AI driver sometimes gets stuck in geometry.
The game has a checkpoint system, with long periods between checkpoints. On occasion it's possible to trigger a checkpoint at low health/focus that makes the next sequence more difficult, but otherwise it's a matter of looking for a safe spot to regenerate. There are no upgrades in the game, so there isn't much of a reason to replay once you've done both the Niobe and Ghost paths.
Technical Note
I played the PS2 version emulated on an Android handheld, so it's possible that certain effects could be more visible on a big screen, but otherwise the game runs fine in ARMSX2. There are some bugs here and there with enemies sometimes getting stuck, but nothing game breaking.
The biggest issue with the PS2 version are the awkward controls. The game is from the era where twin stick 3D controls were still not settled, so it uses the left stick for forward, backwards, and turning, while the triggers are bound to strafing. While it works, it has not aged well.
Conclusion
The elephant in the room for Enter the Matrix is the existence of Max Payne, the 2001 third person shooter which pretty much got bullet time gun play perfect right out of the gate. While Max Payne is more of a conventional third person shooter where you have to actually aim, the crisp gameplay sells the bullet time fantasy far better than Enter the Matrix. Of course, Enter the Matrix also has the whole melee combat system as well, but the shooting and melee system here don't feel seamlessly integrated.
Overall given its uneven gameplay and very weak level design, it's at the bottom tier of mid games.
4/10 Some cool moments but otherwise a janky relic of a bygone era
