Enter The Matrix

[Sonic]

Anyone picking the game up tommorow? I've got a buddy who's going to pick it up after he played it at an EB that wasn't supposed to have it on display. I hope the game plays good as it should be one of the bigger titles of the year. I'll probably give first impressions of the game some time tommorow. I'm not at E3 like I expected to be so I have plenty of time on my hands.

I saw the movie tonight for a sneak preview. The movie was interesting, a bit confusing, but overall I think it was nicely done. It's sure to piss a whole lot of you off, as it did me, but November 5th should solve that problem.

 

[Deepak]

Any planning to watch this movie first show first day??

 

[Sonic]

I have no plans to watch the movie again tommorow. But you should, that is if you're not at E3.

 

[Ozymandis]

I just got back from an advance showing of Reloaded

Supposedly the game will have 720p/1080i support on Xbox. Can anyone verify that this is the case if they pick the game up tomorrow?

 

[maskrider]

I just got back from an advance showing of Reloaded

Supposedly the game will have 720p/1080i support on Xbox. Can anyone verify that this is the case if they pick the game up tomorrow?

The HD games database has the game listed as supporting 480p/720p/1080i and 16:9.

Check here

http://hdgames.net

 

[Ozymandis]

Sweetness, looks like it really does support it then. I want to get EtM, if just to see how good 1080i looks

 

[BoddoZerg]

I dunno, everyone I know who's played "Enter the Matrix" says that it sucks ass.

 

[zurich]

Just rented it today, this is one of the worst games ever made. I can't believe it had the budget it did (and squandered it), or got so much hype (for that matter). No wonder there were no reviews pre-release heh.

edit:

Like I'm not kidding when I say this game SUCKS, a total 3 out of 10 (rented the PS2 version).

- Loadtimes are often and long (~15 seconds). Sometimes the levels take longer to load than to clear, and I'm NOT joking.
- Graphics are HORRIBLE. The screens you saw cover up the N64-quality levels (not kidding). Max Payne owns the shit out of this game.. I'm talking octagon polys for car wheels (yes), ridicuously low res textures, and an ABUNDANCE of rendering errors. Clipping errors, see-through walls, double sided polygons (anyone who has used Maya or similar knows what I mean), in half the cutscenes the characters don't have shadows, etc. The only saving grace are the character models which are remotely mediocre.
- Animation is terrible. VF2 was better..
- Music is non-existant. There's about 3 different tracks in the beginning levels, then afterwards its the SAME SONG over and over and over and over again (no joke).
- The sound engine is broken (atleast on the PS2 version), with voices echoing loudly atleast 2 or 3 times during most cutscenes. Thank god for subtitles.
- Collision detection is.. well, not there.
- Gameplay is literally a run from point A to point B, nothing interesting. Driving is tedious at best. Half the time you're running around trying to figure out where to go, because all the level suse the same textures cut and pasted ad nauseum.

The only half decent thing about this game are the controls, which are decently friendly.. they atleast make the "game" playable.

I seriously have no idea how this one made it out the door. Isn't Shiny supposed to be a respected developer? This game is a pile of stinking shit. Easily the worst I've played this generation.

The only reason why my buddy and I rented it was to see the 'hour' of movie footage.. well, don't expect.. heh, anything. No Matrix special effects, just Ghost and Narobi talking. They even cut out the effects of them going through the phone.. thats how bad it is.

God can I say anything worse about Enter the Matrix? I cannot believe 4 million copies were shipped to retail.. definitely the bomb of the year. Bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad!

Graphics: 3/10 (N64 quality in many, MANY places.. first gen PS2 in most others).
Sound: 3/10 (broken sound engine, looped music throughout the entire game, voice actors sound hung over)
Gameplay: 4/10 (combos and bullet time can be entertaining at times, but the core gameplay just fucking blows ass. Run through muddy texture [you can count the different textures on one hand] sewer from point A to point B, wonder where the hell to go, then load for 20 seconds, repeat 5 or 6 times).
Presentation: 6/10 (ONLY rent this if you really want to see the extra footage from the movie. An interesting concept, that is, making the game a sidestory to the movie).

Overall: 3.5/10

This game will just leave a sour taste in all the other movie studios mouths and set a bad, BAD precendent. I feel sorry for whoever financed this title.

 

[clem64]

 

[DemoCoder]

Could be a bug a Shiny's progressive mesh determination. Shiny has always been big on the concept of dynamically scaled geometry detail.

There's no way the car wheels were designed with that level of detail. More than likely, it's improper selection of geometry LOD.

I do not see the same problems on my XBox version, and frankly, the in-game models are higher res than the average console or PC title.

What sucks is the blending of the motion captured movement. Shiny is not the right company to design a game that consists mostly of Kung Fu. Should have hired Team Ninja, Namco, or AM2.

 

[Geeforcer]

Could be a bug a Shiny's progressive mesh determination. Shiny has always been big on the concept of dynamically scaled geometry detail.

Agreed, but it would take all of, I don't know, 1.5 second of playtesting to catch this bug.

 

[zurich]

Could be a bug a Shiny's progressive mesh determination. Shiny has always been big on the concept of dynamically scaled geometry detail.

There's no way the car wheels were designed with that level of detail. More than likely, it's improper selection of geometry LOD.

I do not see the same problems on my XBox version, and frankly, the in-game models are higher res than the average console or PC title.

What sucks is the blending of the motion captured movement. Shiny is not the right company to design a game that consists mostly of Kung Fu. Should have hired Team Ninja, Namco, or AM2.

Demo, I would have gotten the Xbox version if Blockbuster had it.. they had about 15 copies of the PS2 ver, 0 GC, and 0 Xbox

Anyhow, I'm just stunned. I sort of had a hunch that the PC/Xbox ver might have been the lead development system (due to Shiny's PC roots), and the PS2 version was just a bastard child that got pushed out the door.. don't know. But it's BAD. Can you believe the framerate dips below 30 too? Man.

Oh, and as for the car, heh, thats the only LOD model you see (on the PS2)

 

[rabidrabbit]

What happened to that MS / Shiny deal?
Wasn't MS supposed to get a 'better' version of Matrix, with online support and others.

 

[London Geezer]

the game got a 8 out of 10 in the official PS2 mag this month.... saying the game would deserve a 9 if only the gameplay were a bit deeper.....

can't believe it's that bad... i thought the animation looked pretty cool from the videos i've seen...

 

[BoddoZerg]

From what I've heard, the PC version looks just as bad...

This game goes to show that what looks cool in pre-release videos may not be so great once its released.

 

[London Geezer]

From what I've heard, the PC version looks just as bad...

This game goes to show that what looks cool in pre-release videos may not be so great once its released.

yeah but that car.... i mean that is BAD...

 

[BoddoZerg]

It looks like the "square wheels" is NOT just a PS2 problem...

I can't believe Shiny would let that slide. As one user review says, "SQUARE WEELS!!". How the heck can any self-respecting dev house allow that to happen, on at least TWO different platforms??! That's just awful.


Reviews from the GC version:
http://www.videogamereview.com/reviews/Nintendo_GameCube/Action/Action-3546.asp

SQUARE WEELS!! comon how long would it take you to sort that out really. and whats with being able to see people running through walls?? this was a problem back in the days of goldeneye on N64

Graphics: Quite simply piss-poor. If this is new generation graphics then we must be going backwards in technology. For a high tech premise like Matrix, its almost a pre-requisite to have high quality graphics. Blocky characters, Robot like movement and lack of cproper collision detection

Bland textures, and strange layout of some levels leads you to believe you are playing a tech demo of Enter The Matrix, and not the final build. However, the sad truth is, you are.

Reviews from the Xbox version:
http://www.videogamereview.com/reviews/Microsoft_X-Box/Action/Action-3528.asp

Niobe's hair is awesome. It looks totally realistic. But that's where the good graphics stop. In the opening level, there is some nice detail on the walls. I think the designers had some ambition at that point, but then they decided as the levels progressed, to take down the graphics, add a lot of muddiness and fog, make a driving game that is the most horrific thing since those little fixed LCD racing games they made a few years ago that cost $20 where the screen would only change when the bars change. Where am I going? Is that a car in front of me? Am I supposed to turn left? What's that awful sound my engine is making? Why is that plane dumping boxes in front of me? Are the police officers driving those cars on crack because they don't do anything but hit other objects and roll around? Is that a steering wheel. The helicopter scenes are also pathetic and ridiculous. I am blown away at how horrible the graphics are. They ruin the game.

While the game does have good textures, where are the XBOX textures? I know this game is ported and that very unfortunate, but, I'm tired of that being the excuse! Another problem, the fire/explosions...WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THE FIRE AND EXPLOSIONS? I understand this game is a port, but I KNOW that even PS2 and GC can do better fire/explosions than what's in this game. Remember Max Payne? That game had some good fire, and it was good on both PS2 and XBOX versions of the game. Speaking of Max Payne, remember the cool bullet holes and enviromental damage? When you shot a wall, it would react in a realistic manner, for example: tiled walls would crumble, wood doors/panels would splinter, sheetrock would pour dust, and glass would crack and finally shatter after 3 shots. After that said, why does everything in the Matrix don a light grey circle when shot? Why are the glass shards a size of 2'x3' (that's feet, not inches...they're huge)? Am I being picky? YES. Do I have the right to be? I think so, considering that Max Payne was released over 2 years ago and and looked just as good, if not better, in a lot of aspects.

I'm pleased, but the textures look PS2ish.

Graphics: Overall sub-par.

Seeing Niobe's alligator skin jacket stretched beyond recognition over her shoulders is kind freaky but still not as weird as how the characters run like a poorly done, low budget, Chinese Kung-Fu movie stunt man on a wire. Environmental textures are muddy and very repetative. The geometry of the world is okay but, still a little boring and repetative. Overall, considering how much money was put into this game, it looks really really bad.

 

[London Geezer]

all i can say is

i mean is it true they actually spent 20millions to make this game? i mean, granted most of it went to film the exclusive scenes but what the hell.....

and what's even funnier is that Official PS2 mag gave it an 8 (almost 9!!!) saying it's the best tie-in ever made

 

[BoddoZerg]

what's even funnier is that Official PS2 mag gave it an 8 (almost 9!!!) saying it's the best tie-in ever made

That's to be expected. Remember the launch of Black&White for PC?

When a game has as much pre-release hype as B&W or EtM, there is a period of "Emperor's Clothes" syndrome. Even if they don't really think the game is that good, people, especially review websites and magazines, will heap praise upon the game because they assume everyone will think the game is spectacular. During the "Emperor's Clothes" period, you will see a lot of totally illogical comments made by people unwilling to see the obvious.

For example, during the Black and White launch, many people praised the genius of the Creature AI. A few of us complained that it sucked, but we were shouted down by the masses. A month later, Lionhead released a patch for creature AI which admitted that in the v1.0 of B&W, the whole Creature Good/Evil system was broken, and creature AI was extremely buggy.

Similarly, I've seen people singing the praises of EtM's graphics, even in the PS2 version. You have to wonder why they haven't noticed the square wheels or the totally distorted low quality textures... even from pre-release screenshots you could tell that the graphics in EtM suck!

Advertising influences human beings a lot more than we're usually willing to admit...

 

[London Geezer]

what's even funnier is that Official PS2 mag gave it an 8 (almost 9!!!) saying it's the best tie-in ever made

That's to be expected. Remember the launch of Black&White for PC?

When a game has as much pre-release hype as B&W or EtM, there is a period of "Emperor's Clothes" syndrome. Even if they don't really think the game is that good, people, especially review websites and magazines, will heap praise upon the game because they assume everyone will think the game is spectacular. During the "Emperor's Clothes" period, you will see a lot of totally illogical comments made by people unwilling to see the obvious.

For example, during the Black and White launch, many people praised the genius of the Creature AI. A few of us complained that it sucked, but we were shouted down by the masses. A month later, Lionhead released a patch for creature AI which admitted that in the v1.0 of B&W, the whole Creature Good/Evil system was broken, and creature AI was extremely buggy.

Similarly, I've seen people singing the praises of EtM's graphics, even in the PS2 version. You have to wonder why they haven't noticed the square wheels or the totally distorted low quality textures... even from pre-release screenshots you could tell that the graphics in EtM suck!

Advertising influences human beings a lot more than we're usually willing to admit...

ok.... :?

thing is, this is ridiculous....i was so excited about this game and it looks like i'll have to get it anyway because i wanna see the exclusive stuff about the matrix but what the f**k....