Enter the Matrix
Enter the Matrix is a video game and part of The Matrix series (this game, The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, and The Matrix Revolutions, and The Animatrix are all written and directed by the Wachowski brothers). It was developed by Shiny Entertainment (Infogrames) ATARI and WB interactive entertainment for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube game systems and for the PC. It was released in North America on May 15, 2003, the same day as the release of the film The Matrix Reloaded. It reportedly cost over $30 million to make, one of the most expensive games ever developed. It sold one million copies in its first eighteen days and 2.5 million over the first six weeks.
Enter the Matrix is played from the perspective of Ghost or Niobe, members of the same group of rebels as Morpheus, Trinity and Neo. Niobe is the Captain of the Logos, the fastest ship in the rebel fleet. Ghost is the ship's weapons guru, and is a deep-thinking, philosophical assassin. The game takes place in the same universe at roughly the same time as the events in The Matrix Reloaded. A character may walk out of a scene in the film, only to walk into a scene in the game. The game features martial arts, firefights, driving, a simulation of bullet-time, agents morphing into people, running on walls, a 'hacking system' that allows the player to hack into the game (or his/her character), exploring and unlocking secrets, weapons, maps, and skills, and includes appearances by Neo, Trinity, Morpheus, and a chance to pilot the hovercraft.
The player learns that Neo is not the only target of Persephone's predilection toward trading kisses for esoteric information; Niobe and Ghost are both put into positions where they must submit to her whims in order to gain critical information that she offers them in return for their favors. Significant also to the continuity of the Matrix universe is the first appearance of actress Mary Alice in the role of the Oracle (Gloria Foster, the original actress, died of complications related to diabetes during the editing of The Matrix Reloaded). The game includes a film sequence specifically explaining her change of appearance as a result of an attack on her by The Merovingian, a malevolent character introduced in The Matrix Reloaded, appearing also in the game (see the Merovingian kings for thematic background). Another film sequence reveals that the Merovingian's attack was facilitated by a sacrificial trade with the compassionate program Ramakandra. Allowed to occur by the Oracle, the Merovingian acquired the codes for the Oracle's external "shell" and in exchange, he gave Ramakandra's daughter Sati her freedom and safety in the Matrix, despite her lack of purpose in the machine world.
Enter the Matrix is possibly the first video game ever to stand on its own as a integral part of a series of films. Many previous movies have been adapted as games, but in this case the plot of the game expands upon the Matrix Reloaded story. Enter the Matrix includes two hours of live action 35 mm film footage not seen anywhere else in the series as well as about 1,000 martial arts moves and full motion videos captured directly from actors often under the supervision of the Matrix fight scene choreographer Yuen Wo Ping. However, despite the heavy hype surrounding the Matrix movie franchise, the game was generally panned by critics. Metacritic, a movie and game review site similar to film's Rotten Tomatoes, reports that the game has an average review of 64 out of 100.