MEMBER PROFILE FOR punchy
Average Overall Score Given: 3.00000 / 10
Total Forum Posts: 0
Reviews
Enter the Matrix
Overall: I always think it's funny when people give a game straight 5.0 scores and then the text of the review has phrases like "IT IS A RENTAL... It isn't worth buying" amongst multiple criticisms. Don't be afraid to use the whole scale, kiddies. The developers' feelings can take it. And for that matter, why doesn't this rating system let me put in a score of 0.0 or 0.5? What, does a game automatically get one point of credit just for booting up in my XBox?This game was an overall *big* disappointment. I can recommend a rental, but only if you are a Matrix fan (like me) and want to see some cut-scenes. If you are a slave to commercialism and you must own anything with the word "Matrix" stamped on it, watch for it to drop on ebay (it's already at $25 there). You can probably find one of those "cool" Matrix mobile phones on there, too. I've got some old math textbooks that have the word "matrix" in there also, if you're interested...
Gameplay: Who designed this control system? This is the only game I know of that uses the black button to fire a weapon. "Hmmm... using the trigger for a weapon fire is just *too* predictable." The camera sucks (where is the control?). The combo moves might be cool if they were necessary to defeat the lame AI. This is a button-mashers delight. And what about the health system? What kind of skill is required if all I need to do is wait around for my health to (quickly) go back to 100%? I didn't even play this pile of trash long enough to get to the driving scenes, but from what I've heard, I spared myself from yet more torture.
Graphics: What I don't understand is how a game like Halo, which has been around for a couple years now, is visually so much more appealing than a game that was devoted $20 million in development funds and had the experience of a few generations of previous titles to build upon? This game will likely be competing for gamers' dollars with the likes of soon-to-be-released Doom III, Halo 2, and Half-Life 2. Why should I stare at drab, unimaginative environments if I don't have to?
Okay, granted, the player models are cool, and they did some reasonably good mo-cap for the kung-fu. Too bad they didn't spend any time making the more basic movements believeable (nice arm-swinging while running).
Bullet trails... nice effect, but they shouldn't be attached to EVERY BULLET. Granted, I've never been shot at, but I'm guessing I shouldn't see white spirals trailing every bullet (recall in the movie that the only time bullet-trails were seen was when the character was using "focus" (as the game calls it) or "bullet time" (as the cinematic effect is termed)).
Audio: Thankfully, they got something reasonably well-done. At least they know how to record WAV files from their Matrix soundtracks and play them in the background. Sadly, all it takes is some decent sound-effects and background music to trick some people into giving this game a 5.0.
Suggestions: Don't let the Wach. brothers find out how you spent $20 million.
Overall Score: 3.0 / 10
