A bad port to the PC or a bad game to begin with? An impressively fused combo of the two.
When Shiny and Atari join forces to make a game based on “The Matrix”, you know they mean business. Mainly the business of making games that make your brain hurt while you are simultaneously trying to be a loyal fan. Enter the Matrix, the dynamic duo’s first title, blended a bland storyline based on background characters with decent kung fu gameplay that lacked in execution. In hopes of gaining back the trust of the “The Matrix” fans, Shiny and Atari decided it was time to let the fans have what they want: the ability to play as the hero of the story, Thomas “Neo” Anderson. The Matrix: Path of Neo comes fully equipped with the opportunity to dodge bullets, fight Agent Smith in a Dragon Ball Z air battle, watch scenes from all 3 films in ridiculously confusing montages and, most importantly, you can finally and truthfully say to your friends, “I know kung fu.” What are you waiting for? Jack in!
Or read what’s beneath the surface for a few more minutes. Though Path of Neo features a character that is certainly more well known than Ghost or Niobe from Enter the Matrix, it makes retelling the entire trilogy in a 10 to 12 hour game that much more difficult. The most apparent problem with Path of Neo’s attempt at storytelling is a lack of a steady flow. The game starts off with a rather time consuming Mortal Kombat themed tutorial and then makes a drastic transition into the epic feel of the first film. It follows the first film almost as if it was the official game of the movie. Every following level is either a side story that serves no purpose, or a great leap in time to reach scenes involving massive waves of disgruntled agents. There’s rarely a solid tone conveyed in the story because of repeated drastic changes between the levels. Some levels are recreations of scenes from the films and others involve either arcade-inspired waves of soldiers or comical situations that relate nothing to the films. Did they mean to make an arcade game or a serious game? To add to the unsteadiness, between each level the game flashes confusing montages that blend footage from all three films. Even with prior knowledge of how the trilogy develops, the path taken in telling Neo’s story is as confusing as Keanu Reeves and Sylvester Stalone in a debate on flat tax. Thankfully, Shiny knows how to keep your mind consistently in this state of wildly developing confusion.
I never thought that video games could be harmful to your health until after playing Path of Neo. I wanted to vomit, tear my brain out, vomit on my brain and then let Vin Diesel eat it. Controlling a high-flying, pole-swinging, Jesus-symbolizing hero such as Neo in a dizzying third-person view is like boxing a bear while intoxicated. The keyboard is used for movement and the mouse for “clicking spree” attacks while moving the nauseating camera. Relying on the camera to keep track of the action is like relying on a video game to live up to its film counterpart. Aiming Neo’s punches and kicks with the camera is far more difficult than it needs to be and can cause much irritation during large fights. Guns are just as impractical as they were in Enter the Matrix due to terrible aiming control and the desire to use kung fu over any other form of combat. The PC version has very few compatible gamepads, each of which still provide little support in controlling the camera. Without a gamepad, any move requiring double analog sticks cannot be performed (unless you specialize at lightning speed 360 movements with arrow keys). Without the ease of performing the console moves, the primary strategy is what I like to call “button smash fu”. The only way to block is to attack, which means more smashing! The weak excuse for a block button, known as the “evade” button, is only used to dodge certain special attacks, and it requires great perception during overwhelming action. With better control of Neo’s surroundings, the mind numbing pain would still exist all in thanks to its visual presentation.
Adding to the dazed and confused feel of Path of Neo is a graphics engine that also highly supports this theme of irritation. To create an artistic “The Matrix”-like feel, every level has a glowing haze similar to the cinematography of the films. Consequently, it also makes each environment look like life through the eyes of a drunkard. Each uncomfortable turn of the camera only adds to the blurry haze that, while artistic and stylish to some, makes Pong’s environment look far more enthralling. The characters in the game obviously received little attention when being pampered in their trailers. Each character, except for our gracious hero, looks like a 3D model wearing a scanned facial image as a mask. The game tries to make up for it with destructible environments and dozens of Agent Smith clones on the screen at a time. Sadly, the sacrifice of low quality models is, although humorous, far too insulting for a $50 game. Many of Neo’s arcade-like combo moves are animated well, but aside from his “Chuck Norris ain’t got nothin’ on me” kung fu arsenal, Path of Neo lacks any believable animations. Thankfully, watching Neo save Zion one exaggerated kung fu animation at a time is the most prevalent image seen through the haze of radiant confusion.
The main purpose of Path of Neo is obviously to let players become “The One”. Who wouldn’t want to recreate the scene where Neo takes on hundreds of Agent Smithi (note the ingenious plural incorporation) or the first time that Neo dodges a bullet? Unfortunately, these sequences are best left on the big screen, as far away from Shiny and Atari as possible. Trying to connect your moves with the dozens of Agent Smithi can be difficult, considering the inaccurate aim of the easy-to-perform yet hard-to-connect kung fu attacks. Dodging a bullet is rarely ever possible due to the fast paced action that promotes kamikaze-style kung fu. The list describing scenes from the films that are better left in CGI goes on for pages. All of the fans across the world will try to make the game feel like “The Matrix” by using the bullet-time effect or Neo’s unknown ability to throw objects like Jedi Master Yoda. One day, however, their stubborn minds will eventually show them the repetitive nonsense that makes up Path of Neo’s inferior gameplay. Nevertheless, as an old sage once said, “Miracles happen everywhere; McDonald’s, the mall, The Matrix: Path of Neo…” When everything somehow magically comes together, the 30 punches to Agent Smith finally connect and the gameplay has its shining “Hallelujah, it really is ‘The Matrix’!” moments, enjoyable doesn’t begin to describe the emotion felt. In the end, however, these moments are few and far between and are greatly overshadowed by the repetitive, control-hassling kung fu. Path of Neo is ungrateful to those who just want to beat a guy up.
Joining Laurence Fishburne in Path of Neo’s voice acting cast is…well, he was the only one available. Trinity, Agent Smith, Random Security Officer #33 and even Neo himself are all played by surprisingly decent no-name voice actors. Accompanying this deceit is the fact that very little of the music from the trilogy appears in the soundtrack of the game. In fact, the final battle against Agent Smith (not spoiling the real ending, wink wink) has sequences that lack any music at all! Replacing a good majority of the usual horn-screeching sounds of “The Matrix” is a mix of sub-woofer-friendly techno tunes and convincingly similar remakes of the trilogy music by composer Tobias Enhus (Full Spectrum Warrior). The sound effects that accompany the guns, fists of fury, wooden poles and destructible environments enhance the overall style of the game, but adding pennies to a sizable debt is unfortunately insignificant.
Aside from the discomfort endured in Path of Neo, it’s also discomforting to think that Shiny and Atari mean only for the best, never meaning to harm or discourage anyone; the young, innocent boy with blonde hair behind every fan-boy title. The unfortunate fact of the matter is that mankind has not yet developed the capabilities to enjoy games like Path of Neo; a brain cannot withstand a story without a reasonable pace, a camera without reasonable control and a graphics engine that makes unreasonable sacrifices. Creating a game based on the most daunting character of the modern age of kung fu is a feat beyond that of any developer’s capabilities. Creating a game that is worth playing, however, is a feat that Shiny and Atari have yet to discover. Behind an offer from this game-developing duo there is only one doomed path. I should have taken the blue pill.