The Matrix: Path of Neo Review

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(More customer reviews)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...Read more›

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Product Description:
THE MATRIX: PATH OF NEO will follow the story of the blockbuster motion picture trilogy THE MATRIX, THE MATRIX RELOADED and THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS and for the first time allow gamers to play as Neo and become "the One". Gamers will play as Neo, but from the moment the game begins, how the situations play out, how they handle them, how they deal with the events, where they go, how people react to them -- it's all up to the gamer. They may win where Neo failed or find another way to solve the problem -- the path is now theirs to follow. As Neo, the choices the player makes to resolve each scenario and the resulting consequences may have a different result than the original films. Alternative scenarios filled with new characters, content and storylines have all been written and planned by the Wachowski Brothers to expand the Matrix universe and overall gaming experience. Gamers will assume the role of Neo from when, as Thomas Anderson, he gets the cell phone in the package from Morpheus, to the flying street battle in the rain against Agent Smith.

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