Since I'm doing reviews right now, I might as well review this one, because no one seems to see the problems I have with it. I don't know...though the game got a bit of praise, it still didn't come together right. I was expecting a joyride of thrills but I didn't...quite...get what I asked for.
GRAPHICS: The ONLY things graphically impressive are the clothes Ghost and Niobe wear. The environments were not done with much care, and believe me, they weren't. As the name of this review implies, yes, there are literally a lot of glitches inside this game, such as distant objects disappearing and objects just changing shape after coming in close to them. There are also points where you see huge globs of flames, but they are not even close to impressive. In order to give the impression they are big, their directions are fixed to the camera, so if you turn, the fires will turn in match to the camera. Also, for those who know the Matrix series well, you'll know how bullet trails look. You won't see that here. Though the motion blur during your Focus moments is decently done, the bullet trails aren't. Instead of actually making a trail following a bullet, there's a white zig-zag of smoke following a silver stud. The bullet trail is actually HANGING off the bullet as it follows it, not like the real bullet trails that actually jump out of the bullet to show it ripping through the air at the speed of sound. The motion-capture is also limp and lackluster...when characters run, it looks like they're running on a high-speed treadmill, and when they fight, it looks like they're dancing. Hit detection also sucks badly, because punches and kicks don't necessarily have to connect in order to make damage (though that's what it looks like...punches and kicks don't connect. When they do connect, your body goes right through their character models).
SOUND: Pretty decent, but I don't know why people are missing the fact that the music skips at given points (the PS2 version, anyway). And, no, the disc wasn't scratched. It was practically brand new. One of the songs actually repeated it's ending once as the song ended. The music is supposed to be randomized so each song sounds different every now and then, but it was done better even in the N64 games. However, the music is based on the Matrix movies themselves. At the point where you're running from the Smith clones, you'll actually be hearing the song that played as Trinity was running from the Agents during the opening sequence in the original film. Gunshots sound realistic, too, such as the handguns, which actually sound like the blazing gunfire coming from the guns in the films.
GAMEPLAY: Play through the first 20 minutes of the game and you'll automatically be in awe. Play through the first 2 hours and you'll start getting sleepy. Yes, gameplay is repetitive through the whole game. The game basically relies on shooting enemies and dodging their bullets along the way. That's another glitch...when you're dodging bullets, you're telling the game you're SUPPOSED to be dodging them, so if you're flipping around in Focus mode and bullets are flying through you with 10 bullets a second, they'll go right through you and they won't hurt you. You'll start thinking about that after a while of gameplay. There is not auto-targeting system, either. You basically position yourself so you see an enemy and shoot. That probably won't bother you because of the game's play style, but be sure to go into Focus mode often. It's the only thing to save your life, since some enemies have dead accuracy. However, the first set of enemies at the beginning of the game are so stupid you shouldn't even waste bullets. You can just fight them with hand-to-hand combat, which is another element of the game. Sick of shooting people? Beat them up instead! Also, driving missions are terrible. Ghost's side of the driving missions are easier, but as Ghost, you'll have to suffer the dreaded driving mission where you chase the plane through the canyon. Your car LITERALLY glides all over the place after hitting bumps and curves, so if you hit one little bump, expect your car to go flying down the street a few meters.
STORY: This is actually the side story next the Reloaded's story. You play as Niobe or Ghost (minor characters in the Matrix sequels) and see what their jobs were while Neo and company were playing Catch with Smith and the Merovingian. The events in the game actually take place after the "Final Flight of the Osiris" mini-movie, and 3 days before the events in Reloaded. In fact, the first mission in ETM follows what the Osiris had to do before the unfortunate happened to them...one of the crew members (it was a woman, I forget her name) was jacked into the Matrix and was to send a package with information warning that the machines were getting on the offensive. It goes to the post office, and this is where ETM comes in. In a nutshell, the story actually creates the balance that adds up the plots of the later films.
BOTTOM LINE: Rent this game first. If you're not satisfied after 5 days, take it back. Otherwise, if you think you can suffer through what I just mentioned above and still enjoy the game, buy it if you will. 6.75/10, and that was actually being nice.
GRAPHICS: The ONLY things graphically impressive are the clothes Ghost and Niobe wear. The environments were not done with much care, and believe me, they weren't. As the name of this review implies, yes, there are literally a lot of glitches inside this game, such as distant objects disappearing and objects just changing shape after coming in close to them. There are also points where you see huge globs of flames, but they are not even close to impressive. In order to give the impression they are big, their directions are fixed to the camera, so if you turn, the fires will turn in match to the camera. Also, for those who know the Matrix series well, you'll know how bullet trails look. You won't see that here. Though the motion blur during your Focus moments is decently done, the bullet trails aren't. Instead of actually making a trail following a bullet, there's a white zig-zag of smoke following a silver stud. The bullet trail is actually HANGING off the bullet as it follows it, not like the real bullet trails that actually jump out of the bullet to show it ripping through the air at the speed of sound. The motion-capture is also limp and lackluster...when characters run, it looks like they're running on a high-speed treadmill, and when they fight, it looks like they're dancing. Hit detection also sucks badly, because punches and kicks don't necessarily have to connect in order to make damage (though that's what it looks like...punches and kicks don't connect. When they do connect, your body goes right through their character models).
SOUND: Pretty decent, but I don't know why people are missing the fact that the music skips at given points (the PS2 version, anyway). And, no, the disc wasn't scratched. It was practically brand new. One of the songs actually repeated it's ending once as the song ended. The music is supposed to be randomized so each song sounds different every now and then, but it was done better even in the N64 games. However, the music is based on the Matrix movies themselves. At the point where you're running from the Smith clones, you'll actually be hearing the song that played as Trinity was running from the Agents during the opening sequence in the original film. Gunshots sound realistic, too, such as the handguns, which actually sound like the blazing gunfire coming from the guns in the films.
GAMEPLAY: Play through the first 20 minutes of the game and you'll automatically be in awe. Play through the first 2 hours and you'll start getting sleepy. Yes, gameplay is repetitive through the whole game. The game basically relies on shooting enemies and dodging their bullets along the way. That's another glitch...when you're dodging bullets, you're telling the game you're SUPPOSED to be dodging them, so if you're flipping around in Focus mode and bullets are flying through you with 10 bullets a second, they'll go right through you and they won't hurt you. You'll start thinking about that after a while of gameplay. There is not auto-targeting system, either. You basically position yourself so you see an enemy and shoot. That probably won't bother you because of the game's play style, but be sure to go into Focus mode often. It's the only thing to save your life, since some enemies have dead accuracy. However, the first set of enemies at the beginning of the game are so stupid you shouldn't even waste bullets. You can just fight them with hand-to-hand combat, which is another element of the game. Sick of shooting people? Beat them up instead! Also, driving missions are terrible. Ghost's side of the driving missions are easier, but as Ghost, you'll have to suffer the dreaded driving mission where you chase the plane through the canyon. Your car LITERALLY glides all over the place after hitting bumps and curves, so if you hit one little bump, expect your car to go flying down the street a few meters.
STORY: This is actually the side story next the Reloaded's story. You play as Niobe or Ghost (minor characters in the Matrix sequels) and see what their jobs were while Neo and company were playing Catch with Smith and the Merovingian. The events in the game actually take place after the "Final Flight of the Osiris" mini-movie, and 3 days before the events in Reloaded. In fact, the first mission in ETM follows what the Osiris had to do before the unfortunate happened to them...one of the crew members (it was a woman, I forget her name) was jacked into the Matrix and was to send a package with information warning that the machines were getting on the offensive. It goes to the post office, and this is where ETM comes in. In a nutshell, the story actually creates the balance that adds up the plots of the later films.
BOTTOM LINE: Rent this game first. If you're not satisfied after 5 days, take it back. Otherwise, if you think you can suffer through what I just mentioned above and still enjoy the game, buy it if you will. 6.75/10, and that was actually being nice.