While the game is pretty average to below average, the FMV sequences save the game from being a total bust.
Enter the Matrix follows the path of two minor characters in the series, Ghost and Niobe. They are gunner and captain of the Ligos. Their story intertwines with the movie and the other properties to flesh out parts two and three of the series. A lot of what happens in the movies makes so much more sense after playing this game.
The basics of the game require you to sneak and fight your way through several long levels in the game. You will start on the first level of the game trying to retrieve the package that was delivered by Jue in The Final Flight of the Osiris. From here, you will connect the dots that were left out of the second movie, but you see them happen from the points of view of these two characters.
The action is decent, but is quite repetative. You will find that the same moves are used over and over ad-nauseam. I would of liked to have seen more moves from the characters, because after awhile, you get tired of watching them perform the same dozen moves over and over. But the thing that will keep you playing til the end is the Full Motion Video cut scenes.
Yes, there is about an hour's worth of Full Motion Video in this game. It is really amazing. I have to say that this alone is what makes the game score higher and made me want to continue playing. Almost all the actors from the movie make an appearance and some bit characters show up a lot more in the game. The sequences do a hell of a job in regards to fleshing out the second movie. Things that were mentioned in the movie, you actually see them happen here, like the subs being taken out by the EMP blast. You actually see that happen in the cut scenes.
The graphics in the game are below average. For when this game came out and the long development cycle, this game should of looked better. It was pixelated at times and the character models were substandard and looked blocky. I would actually be in pain when looking at some of the close up scenes where you could see the pixelation on certain items. It was awful indeed. The game really gets hammered by the ugly graphics.
Sound on the other hand was pretty good. The voice over by Jada Pinkett Smith and Anthony Wong was pretty good. The volume is a bit off in this one though. No matter what I did, the volume during the cut scenes was far too low and the game sounds were way too loud. I never could get the game to compensate.
There is another feature in the game which was somewhat cool. The Hacking mode. The hacking mode allows you to unlock a lot of items that you would not of normally found. But it is done in a rather ingenius way. You are given an A:\ prompt and that is it. You have to hack the system to get the codes and other items. I had some fun with this, but once you get a few steps in, it is relatively simple.
The story in the game is told from two perspectives, but the play is not all that different in the two games. One is driving the car in one sequence, while the other story will make you the shooter in the car. But it does not help gameplay or length in any way. The game looks old and feels unfinished. I would not of completed the game if it was not for wanting the next FMV sequence to fill in the gaps that I wanted to know more about.
Enter the Matrix is not a bad game to get if you want to know more about what happened in The Matrix Reloaded. But as a game, Enter the Matrix falls flat from becoming a game anyone will want to play for an extended period of time.