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Letdown of the Year

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 59 / 77
Date: May 13, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I was fortunate enough to get to play through the game recently, here's what i thought of it

Graphics:
Character Models are are really good, but the environments don't look nearly as good. There's little to no atmospheric effects (fog, rain, etc). All in all the game looks bland. Special effects, like bullet time, are well done. Motion captured moves have choppy transtitions. (for example, the end of a punching animation does not smoothly flow into the animation for kicking, leaving the game looking jerky) . I saw a special on mtv about the game. It was pretty clear that ETM uses a modified version of the Messiah engine. The programmer was demonstarting the same tessellating polygon technique used in Messiah. It's interesting to see how powerful some aspects of the game's graphics engine can be, and yet the game still looks so bland.

Sound:
No problems here, uses mostly the ochestral score from the first movie.

Gameplay:
Kung Fu battles can easily be won by mashing buttons, except against agents. Go into focus mode and then mash buttons to hit an agent.
Gunplay is awkward, at least on Xbox. Using the black button to fire your gun is not very intuitive. Sniping is very frustrating, you push the right analog stick to enter first person mode, then you must push fire to bring up the reticle if you did not already have your gun drawn.
Running up the walls, backflips, etc. are all easy to execute and can be useful in doding enemy fire. Strafing is a pain in the neck, i don't understand why shiny chose not to let you strafe with the right analog stick.

Overall the 3rd person missions are usually short in length, The combat is unvaried. Many sub-levels are very similar. Once you've seen a couple, you've seen them all (with a few exceptions)

The driving in the game is mediocre at best. There are about 4-6 driving levels. The environments are empty, very few cars, even on the highway levels. The enemy AI is downright stupid. The physics are horrible.

The flying levels are downright unplayable, i didn't play as ghost, so i can't comment on the gunning levels.

The cinema scenes range from great to poor, but some are definitly worth seeing.

Hacking the Matrix:
a fun aside, one of the best parts of the game. I think i've completed everything possible in it, in which case it doesn't add more than an hour or 2 to game length.

Playing through as both characters:
More of a chore than anything else. Alot of repeat levels, through there is some new content. It's like how you used to have to play through Tony Hawk games with multiple characters to unlock things: you've seen most of it the first time through.

RENT it, it's not very long about 8 hrs, and it certainly does not have much replay value. It seems like they got way too caught up with all the technology they had available and didn't take the time to fix the gameplay problems.

This is insulting..

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 9 / 19
Date: June 03, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I can not, in any way shape or form, understand how anyone can find this game enjoyable. If you have never played any kind of shooting game since the super Nintendo, I can understand how this would get 5 stars. If you however do have some taste, you'll probably use this disc more often as a coaster than an actual game- if you can even call it a game (more like a sadistic plan to brain wash the public into buying a product so bad our standards would drop, threfore paving way for the next mass-market gaming projecy). Here is what you need to know before looking further. This game IS NOT FULLY COMPLETE. There are tons of little bugs you'll be able to groan about as you play. The enemy AI will run in circles, there's a lot of clipping, and most importantly, the game may CRASH, resulting in a BLACK SCREEN Secondly, the graphics are nearly identical to a N64 game...drab, dull colors, bland enviornments along with totally generic and uninsipired level design make for some of the most painful experiences that a regular gamer might have.
The fighting is fun... AT FIRST. After an hour of Kung-Pow it is just as enjoying as watching grass grow. I never thought I'd say this, but going outside and sitting in the sun is a helluva lot more fun than playing this game. I wont go into how bad everything else is...but lastly, the controls are real sketchy. You'll be cramping your fingers around the left and right triggers, tapping the black button, then sidestepping while hitting the A button just to do a cartwheel. Oh, and Your characters can't hit the broad side of the barn. Your shooting capabilities are extremely poor, pretty much all throughout the game.

If you want to go ahead and follow the herd, buy this game and rant and rave about how good it is... I don't know how or why you would though, and I seriously think the orginal PONG for atari2600 would have sold just as many copies if it had The Matrix pasted all over it. Maybe the FMV video is worth it, but none of it is exactly thrilling. Honestly, the developers on this game deserve no credit for taking advantage of the mass market with such a peice of unfinished garbage. I rented this game, battled through most of it, but could not bring myself to finish it, and when I returned it, I felt just a little aggrivated that I wasted $6.30 (at the time I did rent it, my reasoning was "well 1 million people can't be wrong" -thats how many people bought the game the first week) on a game that people pay, what, 50$ for? Garbage.

Stinky, rotting, bug infested garbage (pun intended).

...

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 7 / 17
Date: May 19, 2003
Author: Amazon User

...

The first thing that I found annoying about this game were the controls. Most games I play have the A and X buttons for punching and kicking. This had B and Y. Also, you must press the right joystick in any direction to toggle between first person mode. Isn't it a waste of a joystick to use it as a toggle button. To look around in first person mode, you must go back to the left joystick. Also, you cannot move your character in first person mode. I needed to move slightly sideways to get someone in the crosshairs, but I had to go out of first person mode, move, then go back into first person mode.

I also thought the "Fire" button was not very intuitive. Additionally, when you are playing Ghost in the driving mode, you only have to worry about three controls. That being the case, they still decided to change what you use as the "Fire" button. Why not keep it consistent with what was used in the non-driving modes?

I like games that help you escape into the world of the game. I don't like to feel like I am playing a monotonous arcade game. With "Enter the Matrix", I felt like I was playing an arcade game. At one point, you couldn't drive through the wooden gate arms at a toll booth. Instead, the game told you to survive for 2 minutes, then the gates would open. Oh yeah, I could see that happening in the movie. Yeah, right.

I did like the "Focus" feature which allowed you to go into "Bullet time."

...

Sloppy Sloppy Sloppy

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: December 17, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Maybe I am a putz. But maybe this is just a lousy game. The graphics are not bad, the storyline is a little weak. But the controls suck and that makes for a lousy game. In first person mode, the controls are way too sensitive, and you cannot change the sensitivity or the up down orientation. The characters do things you do not want them to do, turn whatever way they want, stick to the wall when you do not want them to, refuse to when you do. The camera goes off on an angle you do not want. In fact, playing next to walls, I have seen nothing but the wall on the screen while the character is fighting.

Personally, this game had a lot of hope. But poor controls, and lousy logic in certain areas make this game a major disappointment. Do not waste your money.

Save Your Money!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: May 26, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Save your money. Seriously - this game will be showing up in the used bins in a matter of days (mine's already there). It's utterly amazing how something with so much potential could be executed sooooo poorly. First of all, the graphics are horrendous! Terrible! Playstation 1 type quality. Look at the tires on the cars - they're octagons! The characters move like stick figures - all of the animation is stiff and unrealistic. The lighting is terrible - there are frequently shadows stuck on walls with no associated light source.

Secondly, the controls are horrible. On the XBox, the little black button is used for fire, while the R trigger isn't used at all? Have the designers even played a game on the XBox?? Switching into first person view for sniping is a nightmare. Also, there is absolutely no control over the camera, so whenever you're in a tight area (like the sewers), you will frequently yourself in places where you can't see a thing.

One of the so-called strengths of this game is the variety of attacks and moves you can do (like ducking down behind a wall to hide). The problem is, you have absolutely no control over it! If you're trying to dispatch an enemy Karate-style, you just mash buttons and watch your character go through a variety of really poorly animated attacks. When you're running near a wall, your character will frequently go into their wall-hide thing. It's incredibly awkward and frequently very frustrating.

The bullet-time thing (focus) is cool for about 30 seconds, but then it just starts to slow down the game. Also, you have even less control in focus mode than you do normally - if you kick and miss, your character will go through a whole long slow-mo animation before you can attack again. It's just painful.

This game is also one of the buggiest games I've ever seen released on a console. You will very frequently encounter AI standing in place staring at the wall, twitching. On several occasions, doors didn't open when they were supposed to, or I couldn't pick up a necessary item (grenade), so I had to reload a previous save to continue. Very frustrating!!

Some of the tie-in's to the movie are kind of interesting, but certainly not worth suffering through this very poor game to experience. The FMV's were shot on the same sets as the movie and while they were theoretically shot by the same directors, they definitely felt low-rent (compared to the movie) to me. The in-game cut-scenes suffer from the same horrendous animation as the rest of the game. Also, while the story compliments the movies, unless you're a pretty die-hard Matrix fan and feel like you have to get every miniscule piece of the puzzle, you're not missing a whole lot.

cool

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: May 26, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game is sweet. Frodo and Gandalf r awesome and the franchise mode is sweet. The game is cool cuz when you play it it makes you think of that movie called the matrix or something. Anyways the season mode is cool too and and i love playing as harry potter or Piglet in the game(although Ronald Mcdonald is the best character to play with(I scored 2534 goals in 1 quarter with him)).

The Rabbit hole isnt so deep.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: May 29, 2003
Author: Amazon User

One word best describes Enter the Matrix: substandard. To begin, the game is visually unimpressive, with outdated environments and flat textures. The entire world seemed blocky and pasted together. Also, bullet time, which is a concept created and glorified by the Matrix, is poorly represented in this game. Bullet time is better achieved in Max Payne than in this hasty attempt. The main problem with the graphically [weak] bullet time is based upon the major flaw of the game: control. It is nearly impossible to control a character in games now with only one joy stick, a la N64. However, Enter the Matrix chooses to use such a control scheme, allowing bullet time to remain unimpressive and difficult to control. The controls are, plainly put, frustrating. The only bright spot in the whole game is its tie-in to Reloaded, and the story that drives the game. However, even this story is flawed by aimless missions and tasks, which are both frustrating and irrelevant. The designers and the Wachowskis should have focused less on the mini-game portion of the game, meaning boss helicopter fights, rail gun levels, driving levels, etc., and they should have focused more on making the core of the game believable. The most impressive combat element (hand to hand) is entirely underutilized in favor of the clunky bullet time gun fighting. In no way did I feel immersed into this game or into the Matrix, and I only play to learn more of the Matrix tale. The story is the clever hook in Enter the Matrix; however, I may jettison my attempts at discovering these story elements in fits of frustration, dissapointment, and anger that this game was obviously rushed through development to coinside with the release of the film. Well, the rushing to production ruined what could have been the greatest game ever created. I'm entirely dissapointed, and I feel as I have discovered the bottom of the Rabbit hole.

I don't believe it.....

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: May 17, 2003
Author: Amazon User

What a letdown. What masters of spin convinced us to go out and buy this.

The graphics, whilst 'ok', are certainly not up there with other type of this genre - they're nothing on Max Payne for example and that's even a bit dated now. Even on this here GeForce 4800 (P4 3.06), with all the detail turned up and antialiasing on, the graphics are jerky and textures are not smooth.

The controls are pretty bad - especially moving between unarmed combat and weapons.

The SFX and musical score is good - that's the only positive thing I can say.

Poor playability, once you've played a couple of levels, nothing really changes.

Very disappointing. A big thumbs down to to Warner for granting the license to this software house. What a waste.

horrible

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: May 16, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I love how everyone has reviewed this game based on screenshots and video clips, and don't even own it.

I have the PC version. Horrible. Graphics are slow on a high-end system, especially with a few enemies around. Mouse control is atrocious, feels like a console game controller - all over the place. Weapon accurracy is horrible unless in Focus Mode (SloMo). Scripting fight animations lock you in, preventing you from stopping or performing other moves (such as drawing weapons) until they're complete. Even the UI menus are severly broken, as using the mouse will result in double-clicking unintentionally. There's severe clipping problems everywhere (enemies guns stick through walls). A patch was released on May 16 but all it did was add a crosshair to 3rd person mode, and alter the startup screen without changing any functionality.

This game has potential and with a MAJOR performance patch, could be great.

What a Waste of Money what a sorry game

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 4
Date: May 21, 2003
Author: Amazon User

THIS IS THE WORST GAME I HAVE EVER PLAYED POOR GAMEPLAY AND VERY POOR GRAPHICS>DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY OF THIS ...!!!!!!

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