User Reviews (1 - 11 of 14)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

You have been warned!!!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 55 / 75
Date: November 09, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Before you read my review, click on some of the games that I have reviewed over the past four years here at Amazon. I'm one of those long time reviewers on PC games...so listen to the voice of authority. I gave this 1 star and here's why.

I was SO excited to buy this game and when it came out yesterday, I pumped $50.00 into the cash register and I came home all happy and giddy. And then the nightmare started...

First of, this came as a DVD-Rom, no problem for me. I have a P4 3.2, with a 512mb DDR graphics card and 2 gb of memory so yes I was ready to play this game at max texture. The game will load...and this no kidding...6 gigabytes of installation files! If you have a tiny hard drive, better think twice before you install this game. Luckily I have two 200 gb drives but still, having 6gb gone to a horrible game is just too painful to bear at the moment. And then the nightmare happened...

The graphics are HORRIBLE!!! It was obvious that the graphics were completely ported from PS2 or Xbox. The conversion was just poorly done. Graphics were washed out, it was like looking at a game that was marinated in clorox bleach for two days, dried out and then plastered on your monitor. It is that BAD. I maxed the texture to the highest resolution and even raised the maximum texture quality..but it was hopeless. The graphics remained washed out and just utterly disgusting. Make no mistake...this game is a poor conversion from a console game. It was pretty obvious that Shiny Entertainment got lazy with the PC version.

Ok having undergone the first suffering, I tried to convince myself that maybe the gameplay will save it. Oh my God was I SO wrong. You start out like in the movie...right where Neo was in the office being chased by Agents. Character movement was horrible. You could tell that the character was moving on some sort of rail, like somebody put gridlines on the floor and Neo could only move in a linear fashion. Controls were completely unresponsive. I tried using a controller but it was still bad. You can't even configure your joystick. If you check the readme file it says there all the button configs have already been programmed so there is no way for you customize it.

The gameplay was a long dragging struggle of mashing the buttons anywhere and everywhere. Forget about key combos because they wouldn't really matter. Just keep mashing that button and you will eventually win every level. The game even attempts to act like Delta Force Black Hawk Down PC game where you operate a chaingun and straffing an office building while you try and save Morpheus. All in all this game requires no brainpower at all, no strategy, you just basically follow the rails. You just follow one straight path into every poorly designed level. No flexibility, TOTALLY LINEAR in scope. This game is a sign that the Matrix is finally DEAD. You know I could ask my dog to finish this game for me...he might get a high score just by gnawing and chewing my mouse, he'll eventually beat this game.

This game is dumb and yes I am dumb for having bought this game. This is prolly the worst ever game I have ever invested my money in it.

Let this be a warning to you buyer. You have been warned. Be very very careful about plunking $50.00 on this. I suggest you wait for other reviews to come in before you hit the game stores. But I will tell you this...Path of Neo is a path to disaster.

I haven't finished the game but...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 25 / 27
Date: November 13, 2005
Author: Amazon User

The other reviewer dogged this game horribly.

I would be the first to admit that this game has many shortcomings, exspecially from a standard pc gamer point of view. The graphics are not Half-Life 2, thats for sure. One thing I noticed after i started playing though is that the game automaticlly set the graphics level to 2. You can check this in the options only before you start playing. I upped the setting to 10 and suddenly saw some nice shadow effects as well as specular maps. For those of you who don't know, specular maps make things look shiny. I recommend everyone adjust this setting before you start playing the game, unless you have a crappy system.

I have no problem with the pc controls. I can't imagine them being better with the current combat system.

The hand to hand combat in this game does seem simplified. There are button combos in this game to learn that will allow you to pull of some cool moves. I am becoming more intregued by the combat system as I play and learn how to pull of cool moves.

It is easy to tell that the guns in the game where not meant to be as flashy as the hand to hand combat. My major complaint with the guns is that while you have a good target reticule, you shoot from third person. This is ok but its not ok that when you shoot at eye level the Neo character model completely blocks your view of what is in front of you. So you wont know if you are hitting anything or not. You can always move to the side though.

You really have to spend more than 30 minutes with the game if you want more out of it. It is too bad that it didn't take advantage of all the pc has to offer, but at least we have a pc version.

Best Matrix game yet!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: December 14, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Like the title says, this is infact the BEST Matrix game yet! While this holds little value to many, I'd like to elaberate on MY experience with the game, which seems to be a bit contrary to Mr Paul Arellano.

Graphics: Indeed Paul is right, the graphics do look a bit "ported." Meaning, majorly fuzzy, ESPECIALLY at a distance. Most certainly does this game fall way behind the likes of HF2, FEAR, Doom3 and so on, in the graphical department. Oddly enough, most faces look... Well, pretty realistic. Infact, if you look directly into Neo's eyes, but observe the background at the same time, he almost looks out of place. Very little detail exists in the world outside of Neo's face.

The first level: WARNING! IT SUCKS! :P I nearly had a heart attack doing the first level, the movement was choppy, the level was linear, and the excitement? None present. What was present was a feeling of ... loss... for my money that is. However, once the game recovers from this near-death-one-foot-in-the-grave-gameplay, it rocks!

Gameplay: This game is about as close to Neo as you can get. Enter the Matrix was a joke, however, this game (in my opinion) makes up for it. Most of the game involves you strategically taking on 4-8 NPCs at a time, and it's rather constant. That means heart pumping, button pushing, dry eyed ACTION! It is at this point, that the lack in graphics seem a distant memory, as upclose in combat, things are about as clear as they need to be to maintain a certain level of entertainment.

Martial Arts: Excellent! As you might expect from the Matrix, the moves are unbelievable! The time they shaved on the graphics obviously went into this department, as you are given a slew of arial, ground and focus attacks, custom to the amount of enemies you are taking on. One such move when queued with 3 enemies has you foot sweep 2, while they're in mid air you grab their feet and while swinging them in circular motion, pound the 3rd guy and finally slam the first two to the floor ontop of the 3rd!

Overall: It's undenyable that the game could be better, much like everything else. However, all in all, I'd say it's the Matrix game we've been waiting for. If you're an old Street Fighter fan, you will feel a definate resemblance while trying desperately to combine the right combo of moves to flatten your foes.

The Matrix: Crash of Neo

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: April 03, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game looks pretty awesome, and the challenge to assign the difficulty you play at(a grind fight against increasingly difficult enemies) is pretty cool. Unfortunately, the game crashes after completing it, every single time, and I'm not the only person having this problem. My system meets the minimum requirements, I have the settings cranked down, to no avail. Nor am I the only person having these problems. A simple google search of "path of neo crashes" will show you the atari forums with no responses from atari. Apparently, they have no desire to take care of their customers. 0/10.

If I were a person...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: May 01, 2006
Author: Amazon User

that payed full price for a game I would have purchased this the day it came out, but with two young children at home I don't have alot of extra room in the budget for games. Luckily I found it a Target on clearance for $8, and I'm glad that I purchased it.

Could the game have been better? Yes. ANY game could be better. I think the problem most people had with this game is the HIGH and somewhat unrealistic expectations Matrix fans have for anything associated with the franchise. I personaly have enjoyed every moment I have spent playing this game. The game does start a little slow, but I think it is necessary to set up the story. Neo didn't start off with his "superpowers" right away in the movies, and the game is based on his story within the Matrix. The melee combat is just tremendous. Every move Neo used in the movies can be reproduced in the game. The sword fighting is impressive due to the moves that can be accomplished, and the sounds the swords make. They sound just like the scenes from Reloaded where Neo is fighting the Merovingian's "henchmen". The gunfighting can be frustrating, but like I alluded to earlier, no game is perfect. The game is difficult in spots, but that is part of what I want in a game.

If you are a fan the Matrix movies, and if you can see this game for what it IS not for what you WANT it to be this can be one of the best games you play this year. If you are not a fan of the movies, but you are looking for a great PC fighting game please consider this game.

My ratings-

Gameplay 5
Fun 5
Sound 5
Graphics 4
Difficulty 5

Graphics are not the best but gameplay is very good

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: July 24, 2006
Author: Amazon User

So the graphics are not great but, who said that is all in a game? I find this game pretty fun to play. Hand to hand combat is very fun as you can make many combo moves that looks just as cool as in the movies. Sound is good too. The reason this game takes so many space of hard drive must be because it has many edited cuts from the 3 movies of the matrix.

My only complain about this game are the controls, because the keyboard is needed to make many moves what is a little hard to manage.

I paid 20.00 for this game and i don't regret it. So, if you want to be the ONE, or at least feel like him, get this game.

True to story with massive amounts of gameplay

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: November 27, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Hey, what can i say? THIS game is much more like what the first game should've been.
This game is not linear as other reviewer(s) have suggested.
Yes, it follows a VERY familliar story-line for fans of the series. But, this program allows you to act out some of the BEST battles that NEO had to offer within the trilogy.
The way they meshed the movie bits with a new perspective was very nice. 600 DIFFERENT ATTACKS! I think that's incredible.
Some are so creative you'll find yourself attached to them more than others. But, there are so darn many you may never use all of them! New characters written in by the Wachowski's , come new environments, and the original voice actors. Better graphics than the first, better action. Easier to control characters.
The only complaint i have is that your friends AI is not all too smart. Once in a while they'll walk right in front of you while you're shooting and bite the big one. Or, stand too close when you detonate a bomb and (again) bite the big one.
Other than that, this was as great as i expected it to be.
I'm not even a die hard fan of the movie franchise.
I am, however, a fan of this game. A fun program whether you're a hardcore fan or not. But, it does help to know at least a little about the movie first.

Fighting is the best part of the game, which isn't saying much

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 02, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Graphics aren't the greatest, and there is some lag in some parts, especially when fighting in big areas with tons of bad guys coming at you. Gun fighting isn't that enjoyable as well, the gun muzzle flash is so big and bright and yellow, it's hard to see the baddies you're shooting at.

The fighting aspect of the game is the best part of the game. Once you get comfortable with the controls (I'd recommend a gamepad instead keyboard, though it's still doable) it's a thing of beauty watching yourself as Neo really kick some butt. I find myself getting into a "zone" where fighting three agents at the same time is almost second nature, weaving and bobbing and then punching their faces off with the greatest of ease.

It's really a shame the graphics are subpar and the lag slows down the fights to a frustrating slow pace, that makes this game a rent first, instead of a must buy.

Not great but not bad either

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: November 28, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Gameplay:Path of Neo lets you fight either hand-to-hand or with various ranged and melee weapons. There are many combos and it takes awhile to learn them all. Luckily a good portion of the beginning of the game is spent training you how to do these moves. This is the area where PON shines the best, the moves are quite spectacular and some of the best combat moves I've seen in a game.

Now the bad news, PON is probally best suited for a gamepad. Having said that, however, I was able to use a keyboard just fine. It just takes a bit more getting used to. There were two major bugs that I've found here. One was there was no way to reconfigure your gamepads controls and two, everytime I started PON I had to remap my keys as it would reset. Hopefully that will get fixed in a later patch.

Graphics:The graphics are on par with Play Station 2 games. This is probally the weaker element of PON. While I wouldnt say the graphics are bad, just don't expect to see Half-Life 2 type graphics.

One of the things that drove me crazy was the constant blur. I believe this is due to the depth of field always on. There is no direct way to turn it off, altho there is a workaround, in fact there's not that many graphic options at all. That ultimately becomes a big negative.

Sound:You wont hear a whole lot of music from the Matrix triology in PON. What you will hear is alot orginal music made especially for PON, most of which is fairly good. Now sound effects are a different matter, there are qutie a few that you'll hear and be able to associate with the Matrix movies.

The only cast member from the Matrix to do there actual voice over is Laurence Fishburne aka Morpheus. The rest is done by voice actors. Sometimes the voice actors were spot-on in there impresonations, other times they would miss terribly.

Overall:The biggest problem with PON is its bugs and lack of graphics control options. Also, maybe it was just my machine but my framerate would drop dramatically whenever guns where used. The melee and ranged combat system on the other hand is well done and worth playing just for that reason alone. The moves are smooth and there's plenty of eye candy that goes along with that.

In closing, I'm giving PON a 3 out of 5 stars. It could easily be a 4 if some of the above problems get corrected. So If you like the Matrix movies or you like fighting type games, chances are that you will enjoy The Matrix: Path of Neo.

Buggy-Buggy, Crash-Crash, Your PC go BOOM!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: May 12, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Its always a bad sign to buy a game, take it home and find a card inside the package directing you a website containing two big patches for the game. Path of Neo is a cool concept that got the rush-rush-rush treatment in my opinion.

After applying the patches, the game got a little further along before it crashed and burned, taking my PC with it. Cool, the game comes with its own version of Agent Smith! The game would also freeze if I changed controller options, oh DEAR!!

This is a trend in PC gaming - releasing games that are not ready for prime time then patching up the code later. Unfortunately, the patches for Path of Neo don't seem to work. Oops.

The upside is that I did not pay full price for The Buggy Path of Neo, but paying anything for a broken game is too much. Buy it at your own risk..

Review Page: 1 2 Next 

Actions