Enter the Matrix (2003)

The game's story picks up just before The Matrix Reloaded and runs parallel to that of the film. Bend the rules of the Matrix with martial arts, pilot the fastest hovercraft in the fleet, or just fight with lots of guns.

Directors:

Lana Wachowski (as The Wachowski Brothers), Lilly Wachowski (as The Wachowski Brothers)

Writers:

Lilly Wachowski (as The Wachowski Brothers), Lana Wachowski (as The Wachowski Brothers)

Stars:

Mary Alice, Christine Anu, Steve Bastoni

2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mary Alice	...	The Oracle (voice)
Christine Anu	...	Kali (voice)
Steve Bastoni	...	Soren (voice) (as Stephen Bastoni)
Don Battee	...	Vector (voice) (as Don Batte)
Francine Bell	...	Councillor Tuchman (voice)
Monica Bellucci	...	Persephone (voice)
Gunther Berghofer	...	Elevator Security Guard (voice)
Daniel Bernhardt	...	Agent Johnson (voice)
Ian Bliss	...	Bane (voice)
Michael Budd	...	Zion Controller (voice)
Kelly Butler	...	Ice (voice)
Josephine Byrnes	...	Zion Operator (voice)
Zeke Castelli	...	Operations Manager Mattis (voice)
Collin Chou	...	Seraph (voice)
Paul Cotter	...	Corrupt (voice)

Storyline

Shortly after the Animatrix's "Final Flight Of The Osiris" short, Niobe (Jada Pinkett-Smith) and Ghost (Anthony Wong) must retrieve the package at a post office before the machines do. After succeeding, they call the rest of the Zion fleet to warn the Resistance about the machines digging for Zion. The game then runs a parallel story to Matrix Reloaded which explains what Niobe and Ghost were doing while the movie was focused on Neo, Morpheus, and Trinity.

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Plot Keywords:

microsoft windows | console game | action game | woman | matrix | 

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Taglines:

Battle alongside the original motion picture cast on the mission that comes down to one question. In the war to save Zion, what part will you play?

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

T

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 May 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Enter the Matrix

Filming Locations:

Alameda, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

EON Digital Entertainment, Shiny Entertainment

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (Xbox version)

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

With a budget of $20 million, this game, alongside with Shenmue (1999), was the most expensive video game at its release.

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Quotes

Trinity: When are we going to find you a girlfriend?
Ghost: Like Augustine, I'm dedicated to a higher purpose.
Trinity: What's that?
Ghost: Ononism.
Trinity: Is that why so many saints are blind?
Ghost: Celibacy is a hands-on job.

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Crazy Credits

The end credits contain a hexadecimal code, which when entered into the game's hacking system, unlocks a secret hidden level called "Sparks' Training Construct".

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Connections

Featured in The Know's Top 10s: Top 10 Games That Sucked! But We Love Anyways (2016)

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Soundtracks

Going Under
Written by Amy Lee & Ben Moody
Performed by Evanescence

User Reviews

Adequate game with great hidden value.

Lets start by getting the negatives out of the way first.

1. The physics of the game are a little off in that the people don't react the solid objects correctly. Sometimes you will kill or incapacitate an enemy their body will be laying halfway inside a wall or laying flat as if they were on the ground but are actually laying on a one inch rail.

2. The sound in a few FMVs has some kind of echo problem that makes it hare to understand what the characters are saying.

3. Occasionally your character will perform a complex fighting move where they grapple with an enemy and knock them out except they don't pull off the first move correctly, i.e. getting a hold of the enemy, and they will perform the entire sequence of fight moves against thin air.

The first problem is understandable considering that MOST video games don't have accurate physics engines. The other two indicate that The Wachowski Brothers wanted it out in time for the release of Reloaded. The game came out 3/11/2003 and the film 3/15/2003.

Now for the good parts.

1. Other than these few problems the game is quite enjoyable and gives you a very in-depth look at the Matrix reality. Unlike most movie tie-in games this actually compliments the films rather than trying to imitate it or be a condensed version.

2. The game's plot line actually interweaves with the film Reloaded giving you a better understanding of the films complexities.

3. The use of focus power, or bullet time as it is also known, makes for some very impressive hand to hand and gun fighting. For those of you unfamiliar with the Matrix concept (if you don't know any thing about the films then why the heck are you reading about the game?) I will give you a prime example of bullet time so that you can understand the magnitude of being able to control this power.

Five minutes into the first Matrix film we see a woman dressed a black, leather biker's outfit with her hands on her head about to be cuffed from behind by a cop, there are three other's who all have guns trained on her as he approaches. Just as he touches her wrist she quickly spins around, breaks his right arm at the elbow and jams the palm of her hand into his face breaking his nose, all within one second. She then jumps 4 feet straight up into the air and time suddenly grinds to a halt. While time is frozen the camera view rotates 180º showing her poised like the Karate Kid ready to perform a crane kick. Time then resumes normal speed. She kicks the cop so hard that he goes flying backward about 10 to 15 feet into a second officer. She, defying the laws of physics, is not moved back at all by the force of her kick and simply lands back where she was. She quickly kicks the wooden chair she was sitting on into the face of a third officer, stunning him and shattering the chair. The fourth officer aims his gun at her and begins to fire. She runs up a wall along the corner of the room, again defying the laws of physics, and then runs back at the fourth officer ducking and weaving until she is in front of him. She then spins the both of them around until she is facing the third officer, now regaining his composure and taking aim, with the fourth officer behind her facing the same way and her hand controlling his gun. She fires a few rounds at the third officer, presumably killing him, and then whips her leg up kicking the fourth officer in the face over her own shoulder, incapacitating the last of her would be captors. This is what bullet time is about.

The game itself is sufficiently entertaining that if every thing about the matrix were stripped away from it and it were simply an action/adventure/fighting game with no connections to any other product it would still be a decent enough game to stand on it's own. The thing that makes this a good game is that it (like The Animatrix) is more like a compendium to the matrix than an entity unto it self.

All in all I would give this game a. 7.5/10 (10 being excellent, 0 being horrible and 5 being average).