Enter the Matrix - Xbox

With hindsight, we can consider ourselves very fortunate that Enter the Matrix has finally made its appearance. Shiny Entertainment's biggest development so far, the game almost never came their way. Shiny founder David Perry turned down the offer of the original Matrix game. Luckily for him - and us - writers and directors Larry and Andy Wachowski came back with another offer after the film had been released. Needless to say, Perry couldn't sign quickly enough.

That was in early 2001. Two years, an acquisition by Infogrames, and that publisher's name-change later, Enter the Matrix enters the fray, going on sale one week ahead of the release of the second film in the series, thus making sure the hype machine remains in overdrive. Infogrames, before it became Atari, invested a lot of time and money in this. Has it been worth the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent? Is it worth jacking into for the long haul? Let us Enter the Matrix…

The Wachowski brothers insisted on writing a different chapter in Matrix lore for the game experience, and have come up with a unique storyline that is cleverly interwoven with that of The Matrix Reloaded, as well as neatly following on from the Animatrix movie, The Final Flight of the Osiris. This is where you come in, where you 'enter', if you like.

To fully appreciate Enter the Matrix, it's not essential to revisit the original Matrix movie, but we recommend it. You might want to track down the Animatrix episodes too. And of course, go see The Matrix Reloaded. It'll all help with the game experience, as you weave in and out of the game's plotline, which follows two acolytes through the same timeline of the movie.

Your adventures in the Matrix differ according to whichever playable character you select, Niobe or Ghost. All the other primary characters from The Matrix Reloaded also appear in the game, including Neo, Trinity, Morpheus, Agent Smith and others. Enter the Matrix spans multiple genres to challenge all gamers of whatever bent; there's oodles of martial arts action, exploration, shooting, fighting, driving, flying, and hacking into the Matrix itself. If you can't find anything to enjoy about Enter the Matrix, then go fly a kite. Us, we'll stay indoors and enter a different world… more