Wytch rates this game: 4/5I have never understood why this game has been given such a bad reputation. Well....
Enter the Matrix is a spin off from the hugely popular Matrix series starring Ghost and Niobe. This is the first point of contention for many as Ghost especially was little more than a cameo role in the films and if you want to have some highly philisophical and impactful plot to go alongside the events of the movies you are going to be sorely disappointed.
The game plays as a hybrid third person shooter and brawler. Whilst you can shoot your enemies, going into focus or bulletime mode and charging them with your fists raised is often a fairly sound tactic. The melee system is by far the most fun part of the game, nothing particularly complex but very satisfying in an almost Arkham Asylum style way.
Extended sections of shooting are broken up with a session or tow as either the gunner or pilot of a car or a hovership respectively depending on whether you chose to be Ghost (the gunner) or Niobe (the pilot). These are generally...horrible. The car controls very badly and the turret sections are either insultingly easy or insane depending on how the ai feels today.
One feature that is very nice is the agents. You meet agents at points during the plot and whilst you can stand and fight they are immortal to the likes of you. I would have prefered if they killed you faster but they still add an air of authenticity to the experience that is appreciated. In fact in general this is a well presented game with live action cutscenes from the actors who played Niobe and Ghosst in the films and a fairly good looking aesthetic.
I can't stop ignoring the problems forever though, my rose tinted glasses are really starting to crack. The gun play is lousy, feeling weak and useless, level design is often poor and confusing without clear objectives, there is an escort mission where you cant help the escort in any way so it is pot luck as to whether he survives, generally the game feels unbalanced and quite buggy, flipping off and over invisible objects, wall running when not intended, endless forward dives that seem to float for minutes, lack of much challenge in the main game... the list goes on and on.
Personally I love Enter the Matrix for the dumb easy action game it is and, who knows, maybe you can look past some of its rather major issues and see the game I fell in love with.
