By now much of the initial hype surrounding the Matrix franchise has died down. Now that the mystery surrounding The Matrix Reloaded has disappeared, demand for the latest film-to-game cash-in property, Enter the Matrix, has declined as well. Enter the Matrix was supposed to be the game that would revolutionize game/movie cash-ins: it was “Written and Directed by the Wachowski Brothers,” all the actors from the film did voice work and shot original footage, and the game had an entirely original story distinct from the films. Sure enough, the game has sold plenty, but the reviews haven’t been all positive. That doesn’t really matter, because Enter the Matrix is ultimately a decent action shooter with some awesome exclusive movie content attached.

Enter the Matrix tells the story of Niobe (Jada Pinkett Smith) and Ghost (Anthony Wong), two soldiers who support Neo in his crusade to overthrow the Matrix. The game assumes you have basic familiarity with the plotline of the Matrix films, so I’ll make the same assumption here and spare you unnecessary plot rehash. What’s important to know is this: the machines are digging through the earth straight towards Zion, and you’ve got to do all you can to stop them over the course of about ten levels per character. You’ll battle foes from the films such as Agent Smith and the Twins, plus the usual waves of expendable security guards and...vampires. (If that last one seems incongruous, go see Matrix Reloaded. If you still have no idea what vampires are doing in this game, well, sorry. That’s the best I can do.)

The game itself is a third-person Max Payne-style shooter with some surprising depth. The graphics engine is very solid, running smoothly at 60 fps without any major hiccups, and the action is constant. At any given moment you’ve got five or six goons gunning for you, and you can either gun them down with a healthy assortment of weapons (MP5s, Uzis, semiautos, shotguns, grenades, and sniper rifles are among the toys at your disposal) or you can fight with your fists.

The hand-to-hand engine is surprisingly deep; you can pull off choke holds, throws, and wicked-looking kung fu stunts with ease. There’s also a Counter button you can use to stop attacks and break limbs. Things get even better once you use the Focus button. The game’s Focus button simulates the reality-bending camera work of the films; with the Focus button depressed, you can run up walls, dodge bullets, smack enemies across the room, and more. Once you get good, you could conceivably run through large portions of the game without shooting anyone at all. It’s quite exhilarating.

The levels are a mixed bag. Some of them are extremely creative and fun, like the Merovingian’s castle (where you will meet the aforementioned vampires) and a level towards the end of the game where you must escape from an Agent while the Matrix is unraveling around you. Depending on which character you play, you’ll also come across some interesting surprises, some of which reveal interesting plot wrinkles in the Matrix universe. Others, however, are just plain dull. Both characters have to endure a series of levels set in the sewers which suffer from terrible lighting and difficult mission goals. The sewer comes mid-game, so it may turn off some people who were at first excited after playing the first few levels. And the final confrontation stands among the weakest, most poorly designed in the history of videogaming.

There’s some incentive to play as both Ghost and Niobe, since both of them have different skills and specialties. Ghost is the sniper, so if you pick him you’ll be providing cover for Niobe and other characters on certain levels, whereas if you pick Niobe you’ll be trying to achieve other objectives (such as planting a bomb in the power plant - the buildup to Reloaded’s cataclysmic finish).

Which brings me to the game’s “driving” sequences. You’ve probably heard about the game’s failings in this area, and while I’ll agree that this is one section of the game that needs a serious overhaul, it’s not quite all bad. In theory, the driving sequences are fun, especially the one that takes place in the infamous freeway chase in Reloaded. But in practice the controls are far too slippery and inexact. One false move, particularly in the first few driving sequences, and you’re totally screwed. Worse, often times the game doesn’t make clear what you have to do to proceed. I played the first driving sequence five or six times before realizing I had to circle around the last leg before the game would “open” the gate to the end of the level. And the less said about the hovercraft controls, the better. If the driving sounds unappealing to you, however, you can just pick Ghost, who rides shotgun in these levels and can concentrate on shooting things.

Speaking of the driving sections, there’s one section of the game that made me a little queasy. Granted, I’ve played Grand Theft Auto III and plenty of other horrifically violent games, but there was a particular driving section - the one where the Twins chase you down in a parking lot - that rubbed me the wrong way. If you’re playing as Ghost, you’ll quickly realize that shooting the Twins’ car does little to stop them from running you over, ending your game. The only way to beat the level is to blow up the cars in the opposite lane so that they fly into the Twins’ car, thus acting as flaming roadblocks. So in other words, you have to kill a bunch of innocent people. I suppose in some greater cosmic sense this behavior is justified, since I was fighting to liberate the human race from the iron grip of the machines and whatnot. But I still felt awfully guilty.

Enter the Matrix has got some excellent extras, especially if you’re a fan of the Matrix mythos. There’s a fun little hacking minigame that, once mastered, unlocks a ton of Matrix concept art, cheats, secret levels, access to the movies you’ve unlocked, plus a trailer for Matrix Revolutions (which granted, is somewhat less of a draw now that Revolutions is just under a month away). There are no instructions for the minigame; you’ve got to “hack” your way through it using nothing but your wits. It’s not too difficult, though; let’s just say that a little DOS knowledge goes a long way.

Does Enter the Matrix have a ton of little flaws and bugs? Sure it does. Could it have been better if the developers took more time to polish it? Absolutely. But it’s still a fun little game, and a must-own for Matrix fans. And now that people have started trading it in, it shouldn’t be hard to find it at a bargain price. This is a game that deserves a second look after all the initial negative vibes it got, and with Revolutions just around the corner, now is a good of a time as any.

· · · sleeveboy