>> The Matrix Online preview
>> 03.24.05
Publisher: Warner Bros. and Sega
Dev: Monolith
Release: Just went gold. Should be on store shelves.
As it stands: 8.8/10
Support grade: A-
First off I hated the second two movies of the Matrix trilogy, and online games at best until now leave me, well... ho hum….
Until now,
The Matrix Online (MXO) is without a doubt the most addicting gameplay I have had online. I have been with the beta since approximately November and each publish has gotten consecutively better,
The game begins much like the point in the Matrix where you are plucked from the Matrix itself by Niobe and her hovercraft crew. At this point the character creation begins. You choose your base attributes and your residual image and once that is accomplished you are pulled from the Matrix and you start your training.
Combat training took a little while to get used to. In the beginning I thought it was really a mess, with the combat interface hovering over your character and your opponent. But it really does work. Especially once you get to higher levels and skills. The combat itself is what you would expect from a game based on the Matrix series: hard, fast and exciting.
Head butts, groin shots, running up an opponents body and firing point blank into their chest, spin kicks, gun fu it is all here. And it is beautiful to watch.
The world itself is immersive. Almost every building is able to be entered, and almost every door. The world spreads out and to date I have not yet found the boundaries. The third dimension is well represented here. Once you are able to get the Hyper-Jump skill, you can leap from the street to rooftops, and rooftop to rooftop. Heights are also accessed through the use of ladders and pipes. Almost every NPC will talk to you. Take your time and explore. It is worth the journey. In a surprising move during one of the last patches, you can even turn on/turn off lights in rooms.
Leveling up is quick and easy, though at level 8 you lose your protection and begin to take damage to your belongings when you are killed. The beginning missions you get from your controller all benefit the cause of Zion, but later on you get the choice to work for the Machines or the Merovingian. Working for one faction will cost you points from the other two. (Before you ask, I work for the machines. The only have our best interest at heart don’t you know?)
As stated earlier the three factions are Zion, the Machines and the Merovingian. Your controller for each faction has his/her own personality, though all the missions seem to be the same, just from different points of view. One person you might have to save for Zion, you might have to kill for the Machines or the Merovingian.
Information (money) is easily come by in the Matrix, you can do the time honored, kill and loot of an NPC (of which often times I have received 60,000 from just them) or you can take missions and get paid from the factions. Loot is just as easy, and many times you can get unique items from an NPC. Though… make sure whenever you are in a building to check any safe, box, desk, dresser, etc. Many times items are found just lying around, waiting to be found. A note on loot: if you receive something you know you are not going to use, recycle it for the money. I don’t understand why, but the system keeps insisting on giving my male character female clothing. What I don’t understand even more is why the male NPC I just killed would have a hot pink cat suit on them in the first place. I guess it’s not for me to wonder why…
Abilities are bought with information, but many abilities require you have to be at a certain level to buy. Even if you have the information to afford Kung-Fu Mastery, but are only at level 2, the system will not allow you to purchase it. Many abilities have precursors that you have to have before you can equip, for instance: Soldier needs both Body Shot and Overhand Smash before you can equip the Soldier ability.
Finally, for me a game is only as good as the story behind it. MXO is not just about leveling up and amassing money and loot. The Brothers W have hired Paul Chadwick, most famous for his comic Concrete for Dark Horse Comics, to write the first year of the events of the game. The theme for the first year is “Peace and what people will do to destroy it.” Many subplots will run through each year under the umbrella of the overall storyline.
Keep your Star Wars, World of Warcraft, Everquest and EQ2, for me on March 23, 2005 I will be taking the red pill and going down the rabbit hole.
Walk through and join me… if you dare.
Previewed by Bill D. West
