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Falls flat everywhere

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 6 / 18
Date: November 27, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I am a big fan of the whole Matrix franchise, and as such, I really wanted to like this game. So I went out and rented it--which is a good thing, because now I'm only out $7 and change.

Where to begin? After playing Prince of Persia and Psychonauts, you have a good idea of what a good platformer game is with a great story and fantastic gameplay. Of course, neither of these two games were locked into a movie script, which I think is a big part of the problem... The game wants you to follow the "path of neo" so closely, that even when it gives you a creative option, it's not creative at all. For example, at the beginning of the game, Morpheus asks you, "do you want to take the blue pill or the red pill?" Now, why on EARTH would I want to have that decision at all?? So, of course, I took the blue pill! BIG DEAL! You wake up as yourself again in front of a computer and then you're given the choice all over again... after a few minutes of boring cut scenes. WHY DID I DO THAT??

Which brings me to another point: The cut scenes. There's actual movie footage in this game, which is sorta cool, I guess, but since I've already seen the movies at least... oh... a BILLION times, I really didn't need them, now did I? They were very annoying after a while. And you couldn't skip them! Another annoying thing! Some of them were out of sequence from the actual movie, but help the game along (I think).

There's a "pre-game" before the game, in which you get your ability as a gamer tested, and then the game says, "you qualify as a master--do you want to play the hard level or the easy level". Problem here? You get teased with a bunch of cool Matrix abilities, and then they take them all away from you to begin the plot. Okay... I can live with that. A bit odd, but, whatever...

When the plot actually starts and you have to sneak away from the Agents, you have to sneak through your office. What's a problem here is that the game TRIES to give you "helpful" directions, but they are so not obvious that you have to get "killed" a couple of times to understand what the game is trying to lead you through. It will say, "Go down the next hall..." and you see two halls and you're like, "uh... WHAT??"

The camera angles SUCK! You have to keep "resetting" the camera angles, which is extremely distracting. Psychonauts and POP did that so flawlessly, and when there was a problem, turning the camera slightly was easy. Not so in this game.

I can go on: The animation is poor and repetetive, some of the graphics make no sense (a guy standing a foot off the ground is a little odd). And the gameplay was okay, then got annoying reeeeeally quickly: Once you get out of the Matrix, it's time for your training, just like the movie! NOT! In the movie, there was Jujitsu with Morpheus... I don't remember much more. In the game, you have to train, and train, and train some more. It looks like you have to conquer something like 30 or so "levels" of training to even start to go back into the Matrix. Needless to say, I got bored really quickly. First you're fighting some kung-fu guys, then you're fighting in a world that looks like it came out of the movie "The Ring" -- which would have been cool if this were a game version of "The Ring", but here--it was distracting. Then you have to fight sword guys, gun guys--all in the training sim... BOOORING! Where's the plot?? Sure, Trinity shows up ONCE, to help you fight, but other than that--snooooozer! I turned the game off after about 2 hours. I think I'll wait for the last Prince of Persia to hit stores. Glad I rented this.

FINALLY!!!!! are game designers caring about us anymore?

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 6
Date: February 12, 2006
Author: Amazon User

i put this down faster than i picked it up!!! why the heck did they wait 4 years to get the brain power to make this game. no one wants to play as niobi and who the #%$%$# @$#!! is ghost??. after the 2003 suck office smash hit Enter The Matrix, they could have atleast realeased it the following year!!!
you follow neo's story as "The ONE" as you kill people and fight machines. the graphics are lacking. the only slightly entertaining feature in the game is finally being able to finally pick up swords and other weapons in the weapon room sean from matrix reloaded. for any fun u will need to get cheat codes from CHEAT! on G4. waste!!!!

An incredible disappointment!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: February 13, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I really don't want to comment on how well or if at all the game follows the movie. I'm not a big `moviephile' and you probably wouldn't find anything I have to say on this topic helpful. But I will say that the designers threw in some extra fights in there that were not in the movie that seemed to be redundant. ******SPOILER****** For example when you fight the oracles body guard you have to fight him a 3rd time in a movie theatre that is playing a the matrix movie where Neo fights the body guard the first time ************

As for the game play it was pretty smooth, and the game made decent use of the PS2's controller. However there seemed to be almost too many moves and I was forced to neglect some of them for the sake of not constantly dieing.

The cut scenes were entirely too long and I found them to be quite boring. They also were about half from the movies and half CG. All that did was point out to me that the game was in CG, while that seems obvious; it just made it harder to "get into" the game.

The game itself on the other hand, was way to short. It usually takes me at least a month to beat a game for the amount of time I spend playing video games. I beat this game in a total of 3 days, ick.

Now, the biggest problem I had with this game was the ending level and particularly the cut scene that introduces it. *****SPOILER****** The Wikowski brothers come up as 2-D, featureless, colorful characters and basically say that the whole martyr thing doesn't work for Neo in a video game, so instead Neo has to fight a giant Agent Smith. My roommate and I were laughing hysterically; thinking that I had done something special and unlocked some special, joke, feature. But no, in fact the joke was the end of the game, what a disappointment.******

If you still want to play this game when it's on the bargain rack, go for it. BUT PLEASE DON'T PAY $40 to $50 for this game!!!

Do NOT buy this game

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 10
Date: March 24, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Worst video game purchase I've made in five years. Endless cut scenes, repetitive and unsatisfying gameplay, pointless "special abilities" and other useless crap, jerky graphics, stupidly complex controls and a completely non-functioning pov camera angle. The Wachowski Bros worked on this? Bullsnot. They loaned their name and cashed a check. Avoid this ripoff like the plague unless you are a twelve year old fanboy with no life.

Major Disappointment

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 9
Date: November 11, 2005
Author: Amazon User

"The Matrix" has been great entertainment for years: I love the film trilogy, I enjoyed the companion tales of "The Animatrix", but more relevant I enjoyed the "Enter The Matrix" video game (it's a 4 out of 5). So when I popped in this disc, and eagerly awaited the next installment in this iconic world...I was stunned!

CONCEPT
Players will assume the role of Neo for the entire film trilogy. Half of the game revolves around key sequences (Morpheus' rescue, or Neo vs. Agent Smith). The other half includes portions that add to the overall story. For example, 5 short tales are about Neo freeing the minds of The Matrix's inhabitants. Gamers can improve Neo's abilities and powers as they progress through a simple upgrade system.

GRAPHICS / ANIMATION
---The game looks solid enough, but the character models aren't very smooth and look a little blocky. The environments are nicely detailed, but there isn't much interaction with them. The martial arts combat 'looks' smooth, but collision detection has some serious issues. The walls are destructible, but the character models don't react correctly to their surroundings. Try to imagine a dark, gritty, and unclean "Jade Empire", and you get the right idea.

SOUND
---The music doesn't stand out very much; in fact, it often becomes silent in the middle of cutscenes. The voice-acting isn't great, but rarely is bad. The only sore spots are actually when different actors quote the movies' lines. What's really strange is that when players use the Focus ability, the sound becomes muted and muffled. It's a really annoying experience. The guns sound fine, but don't have much of a punch to them. The martial arts attacks sound good, but also lack much emphasis to get one's blood racing.

PRESENTATION
---This is the part that ticks me off the most. "Enter The Matrix" seamlessly interweaved "The Matrix Reloaded" footage with original cutscenes to create a good story. In "Path of Neo", the actual film footage is used with no cohesion whatsoever. Seriously, movie clips are randomly spurted like an ESPN highlight reel, and end with a brief clip that pertains to the level you're about to play. In-game cutscenes aren't too shabby, but are inconsistent. Some are outstanding, while others are extremely weak. Some of the in-game presentation reminded me of the "Minority Report" game that was released three years back. To make matters worse, the Focus ability (which initiates Bullet Time) gives an annoying green tint on the screen. This becomes extremely annoying.

GAMEPLAY
---When compared to "Enter The Matrix", this game takes too many steps back. Climbing ledges and scaling walls is difficult and useless, gun-shooting isn't fun and feels like it was tacked, and there are even some platform exercises. The platforming isn't bad, because it actually feels fresh. But the key feature is obviously the martial arts fighting. This was not done too bad. The motion capture is very good (if not always timed right), and doesn't feeling like you're watching it like "Enter The Matrix". Instead of combining odd camera angles like last time, "Path of Neo" is a complete third-person adventure. The hand-to-hand combat is inconsistent, because sometimes animations can't be stopped, but it is slightly fun. The problem with that, however, is that the the first third of the game is an introductory phase. "Path of Neo" features some of the most unenjoyable training I've ever played. Only the most patient gamer will want to reach the "Reloaded" and "Revolutions" chapters.

OVERALL
---I really hate this game. It isn't worth the 50-dolalr asking price. I really want to like this game, but when I play "Enter The Matrix" and compare it to "Path of Neo", too many steps were taken backwards. My love for "The Matrix" stories and experiences can only propel a bad game so far. "Path of Neo" is not worth your time or patience.

Is Neo the One?

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 89 / 95
Date: November 20, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Finally, after SIX FRIGGIN YEARS, we finally get to play as the big guy himself from the Matrix trilogy! That's right, put your hands together, because you play as...Mouse!

Just kidding! Unlike the last matrix game, this time you finally get to play as the savior of mankind, Neo. Was it worth the wait? From my point of view, yes.

Before we go any further, I'd like to give everyone a warning about the game. WHEN YOU SEE A WHITE SCREEN AND TWO CHAIRS COMING TOWARDS YOU, SKIP THIS CUTSCENE! IF YOU DON'T, THE GAME WILL RUIN THE ENDING FOR YOU!

There we go. I apologize if I gave you the impression that I was shouting, but I wish that someone had told me this before I played the game. More on this later.

At first glance, Path of Neo simply seems to be a reworked Enter the Matrix, except that you play as Neo, and with better graphics. In a way that's true, because Path of Neo (PON) is a third person game where you run around shooting lots of guns, getting into lots of hand to hand combat, and doing cool matrix moves.

What all is different here from Enter the Matrix? Better graphics for one. While lots of people don't seem to think the graphics are bad, they really aren't. They are better then Enter the Matrix and have a higher level of quality. There are lots of moments where I went "Wow" when seeing some spectacular scenery. But, as many have pointed out, when you get up close and personal, the graphics can get pretty blocky and unimpressive. Overall, I'd say the graphics are pretty good, but not earth-shattering.

But gameplay always takes superiority over graphics. And while it stumbles along the way, PON for the most part succeds. If you haven't guessed already from the title, you play PON from Neo's point of view. You start out as wimpy Mr. Anderson, running from cops and armed only with a push move. As the game moves on, you slowly begin to unlock powerful moves one by one, further transforming yourself from a wimply desk worker to an ass-kicking trenchcoat fighter (who knows kung-fu!).

The meat and potatoes of PON is it's fighting engine. While the last game was a half and half mix between firing weapons and doing button mashing, PON places a bigger emphasis on hand to hand combat. While you can get into big gunfights if you want to, more often then not you'll be getting up close and personal with your feet and with your fists. Herin lies PON's greatest strength. The hand to hand combat system is a lot better and a lot more satisfying then Enter the Matrix was. While you could breeze through the last game simply by mashing buttons, you have to actually work and memorize combos to get through PON.

But you don't have to worry about seeing the combination for a move only once, then try to memorize it. PON has a nifty feature to help you out. When you get into hand to hand combat with an enemy, the game oftentimes suggests what buttons to press by showing the button in the left corner of the screen. For example, start punching an enemy with the triangle button, and the game will show the square button, suggesting that you should press that button to disarm the enemy. This feature is extremly useful, and helps you learn the various moves quickly.

And oh boy...you get some incredibly powerful moves througout the game. By the end of your journey as Neo, you'll be smashing jaws, punching people twenty times in five seconds, and smashing your foe's skulls into the ground while you stand on them. Shiny has put virtually all of Neo's moves from the movies into the game, and it's great fun to do them yourself, including his "run up guy's chest and kick him in head" move to "Slam both fists into an enemy, sending them flying across the room". Pulling off these moves eventually becomes a breeze, and when you get really good at it, you will really feel like you are Neo, because you can take down any foe you come across. Late in the game, agents won't be able to get even close to you without flying across the room from a well placed kick.

If you don't feel like doing hand to hand combat, you can take up gunfighting. Neo will come across a large array of weapons during his path as the One (though the variety of weapons is nowhere near as big as the last game). You get pistols, shotguns, submachine guns, bombs, even grenade launchers (very useful against helicopters). All of these weapons get the job done, but trust me, you'll have much more fun punching your foes! Though I have to admit, flying through the air in slow motion while firing in every possible direction is quite cool!

Because you are the one, and because you are aware that the matrix is an illusion, you have the abillity to focus yourself and use the illusion to your advantage. Focus returns from the last game, but it's slightly tweeked. Focus is essentially the ability to move faster, punch harder (much harder) and use exclusive moves that are physically impossible to pull off. With the touch of a button, you can stop bullets, dodge bullets, leap high into the air, take out up to four foes at once, and so much more. You'll even be able to activate code vision, which allows you to see those famous green lines that make up the matrix.

While the game does contain virtually every action sequence from all three movies (sorry guys, you can't have sex with trinity in Zion), it expands many of these scenes. For example, at the end of the first movie, Neo stopped bullets, destroyed Smith, and glared at the other agents. In the game, you stop the bullets, but then run through the rooms in the hallway, laying the smackdown on the agents. Likewise, after Neo beats up the Merovingians thugs (Sadly, you can't kill that french a**hole. Why?!), he has to journey through the guy's dungeons to reach Morpheus and Trnity. It's a blast to fight Smith, participate in the Burly brawl, and take to the skies in the explosive final battle from Revolutions.

There are several scenes put in exclusivly for the game that are not in the movie. Most of these scenes take place in the timeframe between movies 1 and 2, telling you some of the things that Neo did between the movies. In one truly brilliant level that should have been in the second movie, you run around T.V. filled hallways while Agent Smith ominously taunts you from the screens.

Sound and audio work well too. Laurence Fishburn (Morpheus) returns to do new audio for his charachter and does a great Job. For everyone else we have imitators who do a really good job (but Agent Smith sounds nothing like he was in the movie). The music is...well, music. Almost nothing from the movie's soundtrack made it in, but the new stuff is simply average.

There are also a good amount of jokes in the game, poking fun at movie critics ("Oh I get it, the black suited guy is the savior of humanity!"), video game critics ("Video games are teaching our children violence!"), and video games themselves ("I got the high score on Time Crisis"). My favorite joke comes from Agent Smith. When you get cut off from him, he keeps talking to you "I know you're in there Mr. Anderson! I can...smell you!"

But alas, PON does make a few foulups along the way, mostly with control, repetitivness, and the final battle.

The control is probably the biggest problem that you'll face in PON. It's a very strange setup which takes the better part of an hour or two to get the hang of. Gunplay in paticular is terrible. You press R2 to pull out your gun (which is selcted with the left and right buttons), use the right analog stick to select your target, then press square to fire. During all of your gun battles, you'll also be moving with the left analog stick, jumping through the air and using focus as well, meaning that you'll be pressing more buttons as well. So you'll be running around, focusing, jumping, targeting, and shooting all at the same time. It's frustrating to get the hang of, but thankfully, it eventually becomes second nature.

The repetivitvness is another problem. All but two of the game's missions eventually boil down to "Run around and beat everyone up". This is fun, but the game suffers from a lack of variety in the missions. The only exceptions are the opening stealth level and a turret shooting level.

The storytelling in the game is a joke. The game does feature clips and scenes from all the matrix movies (and the animatrix as well), but the editing is in a fast cut/music video style, which just doesn't work. I was able to figure out what was going on, but the storytelling in the game is very sloppy and doesn't work. Seeing all the movies is necessary before you play the game.

Some sections of the game are also quite short. The burly brawl sequence lasts less then five minutes, not even enough time to beat up the Smith's you want to.

The biggest issue I have with the game is with the final battle, and the ending. Before you worry, i'm not going to reveal what they are.

The final battle from Revoltuions is the game's final level, where you fight Smith on the street, in the air, in the building, and in the crater. But after that battle is over, the game has you do one final fight that's not from the movie. It starts out with a cutscene of the Wachowski brothers coming onscreen and explaining why they changed the ending of the game from the movie. In the process, they tell you what the final battle is before you play it, giving away any suprise that you might have had. This is an enormously stupid mistake that ruined the battle for me. It's like the director of the sixth sense showing up on screen five minutes before the end of the movie and saying, "Well, I had this in mind for the ending, but I decided to make it so that Bruce Willis was a ghost the entire time. Enjoy the suprise ending!". I can't see how the wachowski brothers did this. If you want the final confrentation to be a suprise, you don't give it away before people play it!

So when you see a white screen with two chairs coming towards you, skip the scene. Trust me, you won't miss anything. I wish someone had told me about this.

And the battle itself? Well...uhm...uh...it's really one of those things that you really hate, or that you find fairly amusing. It feels like it could be in the movie, yet it wouldn't work. In stort, I expected to find the battle in a superman comic book, rather then in a scene from the matrix saga.

The claim, "An all new ending" is a lie. The ending is just two clips from the ending of revolutions put together, lasting about fourty seconds. Then the credits play. And the ending that is givin to you is enormously unsatisfying. Here, I do need to give a small spoiler, so if you want to stay completely spoiler free for the ending, look away! ******The game doesn't tell you, show you, or even hint at what happens to Neo after the game ends. It should be no suprise that he surivives the final battle with Smith in the game, yet the game doesn't show you what happens to him. It's INCREDIBLY dissapointing********

So in the end, your reward for all your hard work is a fizzled, half-baked ending that is a big letdown.

But I don't want to paint a poor picture of PON. When it's fun, it's really fun. It's heads and tails about Enter the Matrix, and is every matrix fan's dream come true. If you want to play as Neo, and if you are a big fan of the movies like I am, then you'll have a lot of fun with this game.

I should also say that PON is one of those games that you should rent before you buy. And even then, don't buy it for full price. Wait until it sells for about twenty dollars, and you'll get a much better deal.

If you really like the matrix triogy, then you'll most likely like this game.

Finally

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: June 23, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Back in 2003, to coincide with the release of the second and third Matrix films, a video game was created. Enter the Matrix was a highly anticipated movie tie-in that disappointed on every single level, much like the following films in the series. The biggest complaint from many about the game was that you didn't play as Neo; instead you played as Niobe and Ghost taking place in events surrounding the storylines of the film. Now, Atari and Shiny have finally answered the prayers of Matrix fans, finally allowing you to play as the savior of mankind, with all his fantastic abilities at your fingertips. You play as Neo from the beginning as you train your way to becoming "the One" by learning to manipulate the Matrix to your advantage. You are directly in events taken from the film trilogy; from the subway battle to the Burly Brawl to the epic, rain soaked finale against Agent Smith, only this time it has a different ending than that of the film. The first thing you'll notice is that the game's graphics engine isn't the most attractive one you'll see. There had to be sacrifices made in order to inject so much into this game, and while the graphics may be jerky, they suit their purpose. The biggest flaw of Path of Neo is the control scheme. Basic hand to hand combat is easy enough, but when it comes to the gunplay elements the game suffers mightily. Between unholstering your weapon, aiming it, and moving around at the same time, you'll be giving your fingers cramps. This is the biggest drawback of the game and it will turn off plenty, but the ability to pull off some insane combos which can be unlocked throughout make the gameplay rewarding. Laurence Fishburne is the only cast member from the films to lend his voice to the game, while the likenesses and sound alike voices of Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and the rest of the cast are here. All in all, Path of Neo isn't the best game to come around, but it's faithfulness to it's source material is refreshing for a licensed game, and it's light years beyond Enter the Matrix.

Pretty fun, but nothing special overall.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 11
Date: November 09, 2005
Author: Amazon User

The Matrix: Path of Neo can pretty fun to play, but overall it fails to live up to its high expectations. Not much has improved; its overall feel is just like the previous two Matrix games. The ability to play as Neo is awesome however, and is what people have been wanting for a while. There's a lot of cool stuff to do as Neo. Experimenting with his moves can last a while, but it does get old after a while and is sort of gimmicky.

The single player game is quite easy, and experienced gamers will be able to get through it in 10 hours if not less. Pretty disappointing. There are some intense moments, but it's not very memorable and you'll probably play it through twice at most.

The gameplay is alright. The framerate is quite unsteady. The game is pretty smooth, but when you're in combat, the game plays extremely slow. It gets very annoying, and takes away from the experience. Load times are quite long. If you don't mind this, you'll find some fun in playing with Neo's abilities and moves.

In the end, The Matrix: Path of Neo is probably just worth a rental. Unless you're a die-hard Matrix fan. It's a pretty cool game but generally it has the same feel of the other Matrix games and the problems from those are in this game as well. The graphics are pretty bad compared to other games out. Path of Neo has some cool things to offer but they all feel gimmicky, plus they get old fairly quickly. So check it out if you wish, but I don't recommend purchasing it.

Overall Score: 3/5

The path to boredom.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: July 14, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The Path of Neo is a faithful game to the Matrix trilogy, going beyond the movies. You only play as Neo and you only fight. No driving and only one frustrating puzzle to solve, i.e. "Distorted Dimensions." But, when you do fight, the action is amazing. You have the freedom to dodge bullets, the freedom to step on people's faces. But, soon the action melds together, getting rather boring towards the end. Also, the game is short. Only 2 days did it take for me to finish. And, i was lucky it was only a rental.

When You're rerady, You won't have to play this game....

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 5
Date: November 14, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I love the matrix, hell, thats why I traded in 4 of my previous PS2 titles to get some store credit on this "gem". Basically I paid $17 for this one, Which sadly, is what it SHOULD cost. Hold your pitchforks, I'm not bashing it. In fact, there are definetly moments and subtle new story branches that I felt added to matrix ethos much like the animatrix did, which I loved. But upon instantly placing the disc into my PS2, I cringed at the graphics and thought, what were the reviewers playing when they raved about these effects? the textures are like military camoflauge pants, that bad. On the plus side, as you progress, you really start to feel like Neo, and by the end of the game, even the toughest Smith can't touch you. I thought I was truly "the one" but it just turns out that the game is easy, much like Jet Li's Rise to Honor and can be beaten in LESS than a weekend. I beat this one in a day with time to replay some parts that I liked. $50? Oh no sir, I must say you're wrong! Watching each movie back to back would take longer, is that what they were going for? Damn Watchowski's!
But there are some delightful moments, and some really annoying ones too, such as the Escher mansion puzzle stage where you fight....ANTS? duh, it's the matrix, and apparently the Watchowski's were tripping on acid when they thought of this part. And their "new" ending?. Put it this way, after going through it, I wished Neo had just died like in the pictures. Being a matyr wouldnt be so bad. It is HORRID and LAME, I think they just gave up on sensibility, any REAL matrix fan could have done alot better. Overall, enjoy rockin' this one and doing Neo's awesome moves for a day. After you beat it, you can select "scenes" so there's no reason to play through it again. The unlockable cheats arent worth the time. Im really debating selling this one and getting something else, the fan in me disagrees, but my gamer side says "on to the next challenge". When you initially get past the coolness of being Neo, which lasts as long as the game, theres no reason besides nostalgia to play it again. However, if you watch the movies at least once a week, get this game. You probably think you're Neo right now.

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