The Matrix is a complex series of movies that deals with existential, philosophical questions that have danced around the minds of great thinkers for centuries. The Matrix video games, however, are all about slow-mo kicking and shooting through waves of enemies while doing sick backflips.
The history of Matrix video games is an incredibly brief one, with only four official video game titles ever being released. And with one of those, The Matrix Online, technically no longer being playable, that leaves just three chances at a good interactive Matrix experience. Thankfully, each one of these three does offer something unique, something that Matrix fans will definitely want to experience for themselves before the upcoming Matrix Resurrections hits the silver screen.
Enter The Matrix
The first Matrix game, Enter The Matrix, was released in 2003 for PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC, and GameCube. The game centers around Niobe and Ghost, characters that make brief appearances in the Matrix sequels. While the clunky controls of the game make it a difficult one to play nowadays, it was a decent first attempt at bringing the fast-paced action and iconic "Gun-Fu" of the movie to the video game medium. However, Enter The Matrix's real draw is its story and characters.
As previously mentioned, the game sees players control either Ghost or Niobe, fellow Zion rebels that plug themselves into the Matrix in an attempt to recruit more to their effort. What's particularly unique about Enter The Matrix is its use of cutscene cinematics and voice actors. Both Jada Pinkett-Smith and Anthony Wong reprise their roles for the game, adding a little cinematic flair to the otherwise stilted dialogue and set pieces of the game. The cutscenes of the game use live-action footage, with the footage essentially acting as a whole separate movie spinoff as it was filmed alongside Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions with the same high budget, sets, actors, and special effects.
While the gameplay might not be anything to write home about, fans of the series will definitely want to play the game just to experience these cutscenes, as although it doesn't add much to the core narrative of the franchise, its character and world-building give the Matrix universe some additional depth.
The Matrix: Path Of Neo
A few years later, The Matrix: Path of Neo was released to the same range of sixth-generation consoles and PC. Rather than tell an original story, this game aims to retell the movie trilogy, adding a few extra tidbits and narrative details throughout. Before discussing anything about this game, it's important to say that the Path of Neo is an incredibly, incredibly cheesy game. But that's half of the fun.
As each movie in the trilogy is stretched out to encompass at least a handful of missions, the developers had to get a little creative. So while some missions make complete sense, following Neo's virtual training as the game's tutorial and fighting a hundred Agent Smiths in the Burly Brawl, some missions are just straight-up comedy. One moment players will be fighting Agents in a hallway, the next they'll be throwing human-sized fire ants into the void during a dimensional-shifting Merovingian level. But the absurdity makes this game extremely fun and keeps it engaging even 16 years later.
Thankfully, Path of Neo's combat is also pretty solid. While it does definitely get repetitive quite quickly, there are plenty of unlockable abilities that should keep fans of the series playing. Where Enter The Matrix tried to make its action realistic, Path of Neo embraces its absurdity and emphasizes slow-mo combat, wall-running, bullet dodging, and pulling off wildly overpowered combos. That being said, some levels in Path of Neo, especially its boss fights, can outstay their welcome very quickly, refusing to end for what seems like an eternity.
Saints Row 4
Okay, this technically isn't a Matrix game, but, all the elements are there. Saints Row 4 not only features a Matrix-style parody of a plot centered around the crew being plugged into a simulation, but many of the unlockable powers in the game are pretty similar to those wielded by our favorite shades-wearing computer god.
Within the first few hours of the game, players are given the ability to fly, along with super speed and power that freezes objects around them. It's not completely Matrix-related, but players can dress themselves up in a trench coat, throw on some shades, zip around a city, and punch enemies into the sky. If it were up to some fans, that'd be the perfect Matrix action game.
The Matrix Awakens
The newly released The Matrix Awakens: An Unreal Engine 5 Experience is a technical wonder. Acting as a tech demo for "true next-gen" games, Awakens gives players a glimpse at what the future might hold for this new generation of video game consoles. The tech demo opens with a thrilling car chase sequence that allows the player to shoot at oncoming Agents. While the sequence is brief, and the gameplay is extremely limited, the scene oozes with classic Matrix charm, mostly due to the phenomenal lighting that perfectly imitates the original movies.
Upon completion of that first sequence, players are then given an open world to explore. There's not much to do, but some technical demonstrations of night-time lighting and crowd AI can be found by using the in-game map. The Matrix Awakens certainly won't scratch that Matrix video game itch, but the technical elements showcased in the game are very exciting.
The Matrix Awakens: An Unreal Engine 5 Experience is available on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.