Enter the Matrix: Shit or Gold?

[Companion Cube]

I had the misfortune to see the car level in action, and I caught myself thinking: What the...? This looks like a placeholder level...

Looking back on it, the driving sequences were so unbelievably shit it was funny.

[Chardok]

I had the misfortune to see the car level in action, and I caught myself thinking: What the...? This looks like a placeholder level...

Looking back on it, the driving sequences were so unbelievably shit it was funny.

Yeah. I thought the same thing when I was presented with the mission objective:

"Chase the AIRBORNE Cargo plane in your POLICE SUV through a drainage ditch AT NIGHT and-oh yeah, the plane will be throwing boxes at you and later on, you'll have no idea where to turn at and you'll hit a wall and won't be able to back up cause of the shitty driving system and then the police all ram you and shoot you until a cheese-death occurs"

[Hotfoot]

The biggest problem with Enter the Matrix is the motivation to play the game. You play the game for one primary reason: to see the cinematic and in-game cutscenes. Why? So you can make sense of various sub-plots of the Matrix. The Animatrix had a similar bent to it, but made up for it by including extra shorts that were nicely independent of the film, and didn't make you jump through hoops to get to them (in other words, it's not a game).

Most games get you to keep playing because the game is fun and the story is interesting. Enter the Matrix gets people to play because they want to know what the hell is going on in the movies, and are suckered by the promise of a fun game that emulates the matrix. Max Payne and various mods for games such as Half-Life and Unreal Tournament have long since provided superior gameplay to Enter the Matrix.

As for the Matrix Online, well, forgive me for not holding out much hope for that one. I've played numerous MMORPGs, and I know several of the common hangups those sorts of games have. How much creative control the WBs demand is going to have a serious impact on the game itself. Ubi Soft is the publisher, already this bodes not well. Monolith is the developer. Not bad, but to date they've not made any MMO titles. The netcode for AvP was initially pretty shitty (it may have improved since I last played, however), and NOLF2 is pretty good from what I've played of it, Get Medieval is a good concept, but poor delivery (and also their most recent project). Now, the question is, you're in the Matrix: what do you do? Camp agents? The primary objective of the Zionists seemed to be freeing minds from the Matrix, now it's going to be...what? Fighting for freedom? Inside the Matrix? Uh...how? Oh, sure, there's going to be combat, but does this mean that you could be walking down the street, going to talk to somebody, when all of a sudden Agent Johnson pops out of nowhere and kills you? Reason? "AGENT TRAIN TO ZONE!"

Well shit.

And the guns....okay, lots of guns. How do you control it? Do you even bother? You don't have to pay for guns, you can just get them when you enter the Matrix, totally for free, no additional costs are needed. Why not always pick the best guns available? Economy? What economy? Maybe this will be like Planetside, only more towards the mindless shooter aspect. Only not having any limits on the guns and equipement available kills it. If it's an action game, what? Damage goes up when you level? you can do slow-mo more often? The mechanics of it all boggle the mind. These sorts of games are not just created on a whim, they require years of work and planning to create. Given how rushed Enter the Matrix was, it's not too hard to imagine that the Matrix Online will be the same way.

All of this...levelling, dying, respawning, lag, drops, more lag, etc., just so that every so often the WBs can just churn out some plot point which is revealed in a GM event that you missed because the autopatcher fucked up or you were out getting laid. Yeah, that's worth $50 for the box and $10-15 a month, plus another $40-$50 for the first "expansion patch" eight months down the line.

I paid for a Matinee showing of Reloaded, I'll pay for a Matinee showing of Revolutions. I paid for the Animatrix and the Matrix in full, and I used others to play Enter the Matrix. Unless a miracle is delivered by way of Monolith, there is no way in hell I'm going to pay for the Matrix Online.

[Uraniun235]

The netcode for AvP was initially pretty shitty (it may have improved since I last played, however)

AVP 1 or 2? AVP2 fucks my computer over with horrible lag (puts me at a MASSIVE disadvantage, close quarters combat becomes suicidal) if I'm anything but the server... ON A FUCKING LAN. (And strangely, when I'm the server, ONE other guy gets fucked by lag. Very strange.) Of course, we've tried the latest patches.

The Matrix is just another cash-cow franchise.

[Spanky The Dolphin]

The Matrix is just another cash-cow franchise.

A cash-cow that some fans are trying to turn into a golden calf...

[2000AD]

Now, the question is, you're in the Matrix: what do you do? Camp agents? The primary objective of the Zionists seemed to be freeing minds from the Matrix, now it's going to be...what? Fighting for freedom? Inside the Matrix? Uh...how? Oh, sure, there's going to be combat, but does this mean that you could be walking down the street, going to talk to somebody, when all of a sudden Agent Johnson pops out of nowhere and kills you? Reason? "AGENT TRAIN TO ZONE!"

According to the Gamespy E3 articleon M:O :

On "sides" :
"more and more people are waking up to reality and choosing up sides. Some people - called "Zionists" after the last human city, want to break the matrix and reclaim the real world. Others, seeing the devestation of reality, cast in their lot with the machines and fight to keep humanity in their virtual prison. Deciding which side to join will be one of the first decisions a player has to make. "

On missions:
Regardless of which side the player chooses, Zionists or machines, missions will be available for the taking. Missions apparently will take place in a Matrix "sub-system" - a seperate area where slightly different rules apply - including bullet-time in combat. Apparently only one group from each side will be able to access a specific mission at any one time and they may compete with each other to either complete it or prevent their opponents from doing so. According to Williams, this is to maintain a dynamic game flow and keep people from standing around doing nothing waiting for a particular mission to spawn.

On Agents:
As the demonstration ended and I picked up my belongings and got ready to return to E3, Williams did offer me the chance to ask any one question about Matrix Online. Without even thinking, the first thing that popped out was "What about Agents? What role do they play in the game?" He smiled enigmatically and said, "I can't tell you everything but I can tell you that Agents play roles similar to dragons in fantasy based games. Until you have built up your stats to an unbelievable level, my advice is the same as Morpheus' - 'Run!'"

[Hotfoot]

The netcode for AvP was initially pretty shitty (it may have improved since I last played, however)

AVP 1 or 2?

AvP2

[Knife]

I rented it, played it for about two days and then returned it. The control scheme on the X-box sucked ass and you couldn't change the set up. Really, with control shcemes like Halo, do we really need to toggle between gun mode and fight mode and loose massive amounts of manuverablity?

Twas sort of fun at points doing all the bullet time kung fu, but even that won't keep me interested for long.

[weemadando]

EtM had a great 3rd person combat game, but a truly shit driving and flying game.

It also had some minor inconveniences (poor aiming controls for the sniper segments) but nothing truly gamedestroying.

My main problem was that it was a shit PC port with absolutely no attempt at optimisation.

[Slartibartfast]

EtM has a great LOOKING 3rd person combat game, because the gameplay itself is quite shitty (button mashing )