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The Matrix: Path of Neo Review: It is Worth it?

The Matrix: Path of Neo box art

The Matrix: Path of Neo Review: It is Worth it?

The Matrix: Path of Neo is an interesting title in the way of the Matrix storyline. First released in 2005 by legacy publisher Atari. The player will follow along the journey under the black shades of trench coats and tiny sunglasses. The player will visit familiar locales and run into some familiar faces. However, a lot of the outcomes will ultimately be different. There are also some more occurrences that happened between the movies that help mold Neo into who he is or was. There are a lot of reasons to hate Matrix series video games and today this review will break down if The Matrix: Path of Neo is worth buying.

Shiny New Graphics

PoN is crisp and clear and provides incredibly detailed models of its on-screen counterparts. Atari and Shiny Studios really put their back into it. The many, many animations that occur in the game, from jumping off a wall and then firing round after round from your M-16 into the chest of a security guard to grabbing 3 enemies who are surrounding you and using their bodies as weapons to whack each other, are all flawless.

The most beautiful aspect of this game definitely belongs to the level design. All the levels feel open and spacious, giving Neo plenty of room to execute his many, and devastating, attacks. The way each level looks is flawless. The bitmaps used to skin every inch of a level were as crisp as could be.

Interesting Sound Design

Neo from the matrix in the rain
Neo’s didn’t end once he escaped the Matrix.

Next, is a look at the sound, which was interesting, to say the least. It’s impressive that the Matrix actors did their own voice-overs, but also got the Wachowski brothers themselves to make an appearance. There were times though when Neo spoke and it was questionable whether it was Keanu Reeves or not. I believe that due to some slight alterations to the storyline, the feeling and expression that the actors portrayed didn’t have the same impact as they did onscreen. Conveying similar emotions in a videogame has proven to be a bit more difficult than on the silver screen.

Deeper Storyline

Path of Neo is much much more than a simple sequel. Shiny has been given the Herculean task of basing an entire game on the three Matrix movies played entirely from the perspective of Mr. Anderson, the one, Neo himself. To do so they’ve had input and collaborations with the Wachowski Bros and increased the size of the team threefold from the group that worked on Enter.

PoN has everything. Flying (Dave Perry says “You will earn the ability to completely fly as the game goes on”), bullet time, acrobatics, melee combat, martial arts, training, and the list goes on from there. Certainly, rabid fans of The Matrix were disappointed that Neo wasn’t a playable character in a game that revolved entirely around him. As Vaughn mentioned below, just what the hell good is a game that doesn’t feature the character it’s based on? Shiny sold 6 million copies of the Enter The Matrix game even though they knew that people were going to be upset. After Path Of Neo, most players consider it all water under the bridge. Enter The Matrix was a tech demo compared to the majesty of this one.

Final Thoughts

Despite some issues that come with the PS2’s limited hardware capabilities. PoN is by far one of the greatest Matrix games to date. Easily worth running down and getting a copy of the game.

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