»The Matrix: Path Of Neo (new stuff)«

August 15, 2005 - From everything we've witnessed at Atari's recent press event, Path of Neo will be the most successful attempt to immerse gamers in The Matrix franchise yet. The last console release was Enter the Matrix, a side story that was unveiled before the second and third films. The title was held to a very tight timeline and while it posted some impressive sales numbers, it was critically panned (though not by us, as our own Chris Carle thought it was pretty neat). This time around developer Shiny Entertainment is trying to give gamers the ultimate Matrix experience and so far everything seems to be going according to plan.

Our Pre-E3 preview of Path of Neo focused on some of the amazing technical advances that the developers have made. Normal mapping was achieved on the PS2 and hundreds of Agent Smiths were crammed onto the screen at once. We were already impressed with the visuals, but graphics are only a small part of an action title. With this viewing we were able to delve into the combat and upgrade system.

In case the name didn't tip you off, The Path of Neo presents the full Matrix story by focusing on the godlike protagonist played by Keanu Reaves. Forget Ghost and the rest of the supporting cast, this November gamers will finally play as "The One." Not only have the Wachowski Brothers re-cut the trilogy to focus on Neo's story, they've also added a ton of content that just couldn't fit in the constraints of a film trilogy. For example, the game begins with a trippy dream sequence as Neo dozes in front of his computer. The setup is a premonition of the famous Lobby fight from the first film and it also decides how difficult the rest of the game will be based on a player's performance. A rookie gamer will quickly die on the first enemies that appear and be set on easy, but a veteran player will face a hoard of challenges ending with agents and tough opponents for the rest of the game. It's a novel idea that is fully backed by some excellent stylized combat.

Neo has the ability to pull off all of the combat techniques displayed in the film -- including the ability to bend backwards and dodge bullets, and later stop projectiles completely. There are a plethora of attacks that are listed for players in a nifty combat menu along with hidden moves that link together strings of brutal hits. We watched as Neo flipped behind a SWAT team member, stripped him of his weapon, and delivered the fatal shot. The most impressive moments occur when Neo is surrounded, though. The game already has so many animations that switching directions during combat results in Neo realistically delivering a blow in another direction instead of swiveling to face the enemy. So he might throw a backhand to intercept someone behind him, and then redirect his weight for a punch on the other side. The intended result is a fluidity that makes every encounter appear as though it were individually directed by the Wachowskis.

sounds really, really good, but i dont like this idea of level changing while fighting, because that means when you get stuck on a level, insteed of improving you just have to act rubbish so there levels go down, then you can open a can of whoop ass on 'em (in slow-mo)

i wonder if u can fly

Probably...but only when they want you to

it suxs its dropin afta my birthday.. gest ima gonna have 2 ask for money so i can cop lata

i'm totally psyched about this game too but i'm really hoping they get it right this time. enter the matrix was ok, but they messed up too much for it to be a classic. the best part of it was the fighting system which was very cool.. unfortunately it was also totally unnecessary since you can completely obliterate nearly everyone (bar a few "bosses") by simply button mashing. playing enter the matrix was only fun when you gave all those useless swat team members a chance just so you could show off your coolest moves. i guess this is my biggest worry about the new game since i'm sure the fighting system will be in a similar vein (although hopefully vastly improved). i did read something in a ps2 magazine where they said they were able to clear an entire room of enemies without looking at the screen, so it sounds like this will still be a problem. on the bright side, you ALWAYS look frickin' cool with all the moves they have Neo doing, so some people might not mind.

personally, i hope they manage to make the game challenging as well as cool. obviously, have easier difficulty settings for non-hardcore gamers, but i like to see a game that rewards hard work, so hopefully the ULTRA-cool moves will be harder to pull off.

hell naw i disagree.. i hate that shit.. like all the dbz budakais u gotta type in 15 diff buttons to do one move.. forget that..

no, its not about hitting 15 buttons to do 1 move.. it's simply about requiring timing and reflexes to defeat enemies, not simply blindly mashing the buttons and killing everyone in the room without effort.

try it in enter the matrix.. just mash the attack buttons against any of the regular swat, police or security guards and i guarantee not 1 of them will stand a chance against you... that's no fun.

of course, there should be some good moves that are easier to pull off, but what's the point in having the coolest moves just happen with no effort? then you're not really "playing".. you might as well watch the movie instead!

i'm not asking for complicated things, but it's more fun when its challenging.. the standard of what people consider challenging obviously differs from person to person, but gamers who don't like it that difficult can always set a lower difficulty level, but when i select the "HARD" difficulty level on a game.. i want exactly that.. for it to be hard.. i don't think that's unreasonable.

lol i beat the etm game easy with niobe and im doing hard with ghost but i cant get past the answer the phone level lol..

if that's the level i'm thinking of.. then the trick is to keep moving.

is that the one where you're running from the agents across the rooftops?

if so, try not to stop running unless absolutely necessary.. when you run into the swat team guys inside the building, just disarm them and then keep going, no need to finish them off, otherwise the agent will be right on your ass and you'll have a hard time getting away. if the agent does catch up with him, let him make the 1st move and use a counter on him, or a focus counter if that helps.. once he hits the ground kick him across the floor while he's down and then keep running.

also does this mean you haven't played thru the whole game as Ghost yet? cuz if you haven't, then your missing out on some other cool stuff that Niobe doesn't get to do (like spar with Trinity)

i get kilt when u get to the stairs lol

Am redoing etm on the gamecube, because nearly everygame is harder on g3, AM doing ghost first, and i cant get past the level where you have to shoot down the agents helicopter

~_A Splinter In Your Mind wrote:

Not only have the Wachowski Brothers re-cut the trilogy to focus on Neo's story, they've also added a ton of content that just couldn't fit in the constraints of a film trilogy. .... a surprise ending

Sounds like we are finally getting some extra answers after all, including choosing a reload at the Architect.

Woudnt that just end the game early?

Yup but you can probably save it just before you go to the Architect and then replay it after you saw the alternate ending.

Or you can just play the entire game again

It would be just like with the difference between Ghost and Niobe in ETM. You see other things with each character.

In ETM you can skip the entire levels of escaping Smith when you loose the fight with Seraph, so the "skipping" was there too.

But who says it has to end? Maybe you get to play one or two levels freeing the new people for Zion.

I hope there isnt many levels in zion, dont see the point, I still want some

Me neither, but the freeing takes place in the Matrix offcourse.

The fight with Bane would be cool I hope

The fight with bane would be cool, i fink fighting while seeing it in the code would be good

gots me physced already.. but the bad thing is my ps2 acts gay i always get a disc read error.. even on new games.. i only got to play my madden 05 like 5 or 6 times.. its sum bullshit

don't quote me on this.. but i'm not entirely sure that the new ending will be to do with the architect's choice of doors. as is my understanding from the articles i've read.. one of the reasons for the alternate ending is because the ending in Revolutions doesn't really translate well into a video game since it involves Neo allowing Smith to "defeat" him.

like i said.. don't hold me to that, but i'm just saying don't count on the ending being related to the architect's choice.. although i have to say, that would be cool.. but who knows.. maybe the developers are just telling us that its for gaming reasons, so they can surprise us.. the only way to find out is wait til october!

~_A Splinter In Your Mind wrote:

i wonder if u can fly

i can't guarantee that you can fly, but i'm guessing they will implement - like dee said - only in "approved" areas, since being able to freely fly anywhere at anytime would be a logistical nightmare in gaming terms.. especially since it's not a free-roaming game.. i mean after all, it is "the path of Neo"!

i have seen quite a bit of footage of the game now though and i've seen that you can definitely use Neo's flying ability as a fight move. 1 of the sequences i saw involved the teahouse fight between Neo and Seraph - the clip showed Neo flying horizontally across the room into Seraph's midriff and slamming him against the wall.

other interesting things i saw included a level which recreates the seen in M1 where Neo mans the minigun on the helicoptor during the Morpheus rescue.. also some very nice looking recreations of the chateau fight, the burly brawl fight (including the Agent Smith pile-up being blown apart by Neo and Smith-bashing with the pole). there were also some interesting levels that look like nothing that was in any of the movies. i am assuming they are the aforementioned training programs since 1 of them looks kinda like a japanese setting , with even Neo dressed up in a samurai-style getup and a samurai sword.

anyway, just thought i'd share that.

Well the Wachowski's are deeply involved, so I can't hardly believe that they will let the super burly brawl end up differently.

That would truly be gay.

And knowing the Wachowski's they won't alter the story just to make some hill billies happy who want to be a hero in the end and slap Smith.

Neo is already a hero and if you don't see that you are ignorant.

There would be no point for the movie if they changed the end

Indeed.