Oh man, if my friends read this review, they will be shocked to see how I rated this game. I am a fan of the Matrix, the first movie, but I found the second installment – Matrix Reloaded - somewhat lacking. The movie had a plot, but not one that made me care at all. It also had a lot of great fight scenes. Well, all of that did translate into the video game. The game is filled with a thin plotline, decent graphics, and great fight moves. The shocking part is that the game also features vampires and women kissing (!), and I still can’t recommend it over any average game on the market.

First of all, Enter the Matrix’s graphics are a very mixed bag. Late in the game, the levels get colorful and pretty to look at, but early on most of them are drab sewer and building levels that all look the same. We have all seen the commercial that says it is the next evolution in gaming, and then they show Pong. Yeah, I admit, that compared to pong, it looks spectacular. However, the bullet time effects are not all that next generation when every game has them these days, such as Max Payne and Dead to Rights. This is definitely not an evolution.

Fighting in the game can be cool. I like the slowdown fighting moves and effects, but they did not impress me like they should have. It is funny that Matrix invented the bullet time effects, yet other games continue to outdo it. I thought this game would be the one to be crowned king, but it still doesn’t come close to the Matrix parody in Conker’s Bad Fur Day, in which a squirrel takes out a room full of teddy bears in bullet time. That was classic, this is average.

There is a driving portion of the game, which is well done, in all fairness, but if I want a driving game, I would play Grand Theft Auto 3 or Midtown Madness 3, both of which are infinitely better. There is also a flying portion of the game which involves holding down the shoot button while following an arrow. I have no idea how I lived through it, as I never targeted anything and I bounced off a lot of walls, but I made it to the end. There is also a hack feature which allows you to re-experience all the joys of DOS.

I think what makes this game totally average is that there are no puzzles to solve. You run from point A to point B, kill the baddies and never once have to think. Other 3D games, such as Tomb Raider and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, at least occasionally make you stop and figure something out. Brains aren’t a prerequisite to play this game, so all of you who thought my Half Life review was totally unfair, you will enjoy this game. Actually, this game did make me think sometimes. I thought - when will this game end?

Okay, I have to say some good things about the game to justify the final grade. There are vampires in the game. I have no idea why, or how they fit into the Matrix story, but they are there. Fighting the vampires was enjoyable. Jumping from building to building with super jumps is cool too, although, again, games such as Legacy of Kain 2 do it better. The first fifty times you use the moves, they are fun to watch

If only Squaresoft had bought the Matrix license after watching the first segment of the Animatrix. This could have been a great game with a little more thought put into puzzles and some better cut scenes. As it was, the only reason I bothered to finish it was because I was dedicated to see it through for a review. There is nothing evolutionary about this game, do not believe the commercial that is aired way too much. It is very much your average third person slugfest game in every way. Sometimes it is fun to play while diving and shooting in bullet-time, at other times you will see your life going by in slow motion while you go through yet another linear brainless level.

I like games with friendly save features. There are spots where the save points in this game are perfectly placed. I can think of two times, however, I got to a new level after saving, and encountered another save point within 45 seconds. Some times they are a little too close together. Don’t get me wrong, that is much better than too far apart, but it just shows some inattention to detail.

On a final note, Enter the Matrix stays true to the Matrix story, as it was written and directed by the Wachowski Brothers’, the writing-directing team behind the Matrix movie trilogy. The end of the game gives you some insight into the next movie, which is really the coolest part of the game and there is also nearly one full hour of exclusive, never-before-seen Matrix footage using the film’s actors and crew.

Since I want to avoid spoilers as much as possible, I will say it does add a little to the story line of the movies. Not as much as the first three segments of the Animatrix, but much more than a totally different movie, like American Wedding, adds to the storyline. I do have a slightly better understanding of some of what I watched on screen, and somewhat better idea of what is coming in the next movie. On that level, the game does succeed, but considering the steep price of admission for the game, was it really worth it?

Final Grade: C-

System Requirements:

• CPU: P3 600MHz; Celeron 800MHz
• RAM: 128MB
• Video Card: GeForce 2/Radeon 7500 equivalent
• OS: Win 98/98SE/2000/XP
• HD Space: 4.7GB uncompressed space
• DirectX: DirectX 9
• CD-ROM: 4x or faster
• Gamepad: Optional, but 12 button recommended