Enter The Matrix Preview

Several readers point out the new preview of Enter The Matrix over at Gamespy. The staff there got a chance to play a near-final version of the Shiny-developed game, minus the hour of new movie footage that'll be included when it ships on May 15th for PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, and PC. Other previews (such as this one at Gamespot) have been positive, if slightly guarded. Do you know kung fu?

methinks....

[mrpuffypants]

A lot of places have been talking about how cool the game is but IMHO, based upon looking at the screenshots and the video clips on TechTV, the game looks like it was made about 2 years ago.

Sure the animation may be kickass, but the polygon count just looks really low and the characters aren't that detailed in the shots I've seen.

While the gameplay is important and obviously focused on more with this title than other movie/game ports, I hope that they haven't dumbed down or forgotten about the graphics in the process

Re:methinks....

[seinman]

Good. Maybe it'll run on people who don't have top of the line systems. I can't afford a new machine just for games, and unfortunatly, that means I can't play many of the games released over the last year or two. I wish more companies would make games with not so great graphics, so that people like me can still have our fun.

Re:methinks....

[mrpuffypants]

Well, but I bought the core components of my system about 1 year ago and just incrementally upgrade things like the graphics card, RAM, proc, etc...

Hell, carmack has said that they are targeting Doom 3 at the GeForce 3-level of graphics technology. I don't think that having 2 year old tachnology really kills all your options for games.

Fun is fun, but good looking fun is funner :)

Re:methinks....

[Alpha_Nerd]

This is the PS2 version...

Re:methinks....

[Lshmael]

I think controlling your character is going to be interesting, especially in light of the wall-running, backflipping, somersaulting, cartwheeling antics shown in the screenshots.

Re:methinks....

[Scrameustache]

Ever played Devil May Cry? : )

Re:methinks....

[prockcore]

A lot of places have been talking about how cool the game is but IMHO, based upon looking at the screenshots and the video clips on TechTV, the game looks like it was made about 2 years ago.

Well those shots are all from the PS2 version, which is by far the shittiest of the 3 versions. I'm more interested in screenshots from the GC or PC versions.

I agree.

[nobodyman]

The engine definitely looks dated. Probably a function of decision to design a game that would be released on PC and the three consoles simultaneously. I'm sure that the PC version has better graphics than, say, the gamecube version, but I'm guessing that they had to shoot at a lowest common denominator with respect to the core engine. From that point, they probably just bumped up texture resolution on the platforms that could handle it and maybe added a couple additional graphical touches.

However, the graphics are good enough for me to forgive everything if the game has good gameplay and and an engaging story. I'd like to see how the wachowski's (sp?) fair in this medium. On a side note, I hear that they insisted upon the main actors doing their own mo-cap recording.

Re:I agree.

[ddd2k]

Probably a function of decision to design a game that would be released on PC and the three consoles simultaneously.


Or just another no-talent game company trying to rip some quick easy cash off a new hit movie.

wonder how good it will be.

[DigitalUnderground]

Hope its better then other movie to Video game games. all the ones so far have sucked.

Re:wonder how good it will be.

[jedigeek]

That's a rather sweeping statement. What about the Indiana Jones games LucasArts did? And the Die Hard Trilogy?

The Matrix franchise looks like it's trying to exploit different formats for their strengths, not simply create a crap game to cash in on the name. The Animatrix was a good example of this.

In fact, the game takes place after The Last Flight Of The Osiris, so even if it's not an amazing game it will at least expand the Matrix universe slightly for the hardcore fans.

Carefull not to view the trailer

[icemax]

According to whatisthematrix.com [whatisthematrix.com]:

Did we mention there is enough material in THE MATRIX: RELOADED to support yet more than is currently released? Good, because the number of trailers are growing, daily, and they are in full assault-mode rotation on numerous television stations. Fast cuts and faster glimpses of things yet not seen are tauntingly found in each of the numerous spots. Should you see them? No. The best way to see THE MATRIX: RELOADED is cold, with no pre-knowledge (besides, of course, the small underground '99 film, THE MATRIX).

With that said, be carefull viewing the trailer for this game. Lots of plot is revealed, and if you are a true movie-suprise purist, you might have some plot divulged ;)

More previews

[jedigeek]

Eurogamer also had a preview [eurogamer.net] last week which was positive:

After three hours in Enter The Matrix's company, we're quietly confident that Shiny has come up with a flexible and intuitive combat system that will save it from being yet another movie tie-in disaster. It's clear that it's not absolutely perfect in several respects, but kudos to all concerned for going to so much effort to provide one of the best movie-game experiences we've seen.

Not sure about this

[Kithkill]

I like Shiny, and Dave Perry's a smart cookie. But it looks a bit below-par with respect to what people expect from their next-generation consoles these days. Some of that flight stuff looked almost like it was running on a PSOne. Gameplay is King, and I'm hoping that's where it'll really shine, and the sheer wealth of Matrix plot/info/goodies will probably make it worth a play anyway. But it'll be a shame if the computer game (for a film effectively based around a computer game) doesn't live up to the stan