Metacritic Games

Enter the Matrix (Playstation 2)

Merciless Agents stalk your every move. You'll dodge their bullets. Defy gravity. Break all the rules. Explore the hidden depths of the massive dreamworld that has enslaved the human race. How far down does the rabbit hole go? Are you ready to find out? Are you ready to Enter the Matrix? Enter the Matrix features awesome gunplay and spectacular martial arts that bend the rules of the Matrix, insane driving and stunts, and the chance to pilot the fastest hovercraft in the fleet. This game isn't just set in the Matrix universe - it's an integral part of the entire Matrix experience, with a story that weaves in and out of The Matrix: Reloaded, the sequel to the Academy Award-winner. Enter the Matrix is the story-behind-the-story. [Infogrames]

Atari
Action, Adventure, Fighting, Driving
Players: 1
T (Teen)
Developer: Shiny Entertainment
Released May 14, 2003

Overall Metascore

This is a weighted, normalized average of all individual scores given by critics, on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

62 / 100

Critic Reviews

85 Game Informer
The Matrix vibe is in full effect, and I can give you my personal guarantee that you won't be able to put it down until you've seen all the new footage. [June 2003, p.100]
83 Play Magazine
All is not perfect in Enter the Matrix, but for its few flaws, the game delivers what it is meant to: a very convincing experience inside The Matrix that looks, smells, and feels like... The Matrix. [July 2003, p.76]
81 Games Radar UK (Pre-2006)
Yet another licence that fails to deliver in the same way as its celluliod counterpart but a tasty, violent adventure nonetheless. [PSM2]
80 PSX Nation
Every single kung-fu move that I had hoped I could perform, I can. Every single slow motion cinematic I had hoped would be present, certainly is. And every single story detail I could have hoped for is present and accounted for.
80 Yahoo! Games
Seems to split its aim between hardcore "Matrix" fans and experienced gamers; if you find yourself with a foot in both camps, you may well find this one of the most faithful movie-to-game experiences in recent memory.
80 Maxim Online
The game is by no means a weak attempt to cash in on a franchise...Gamers not only get tons of extra movie action but also get to run, kick, and shoot in a fully realized Matrix universe.
80 GameShark
Hardcore Matrix fans will definitely love this game and find it everything they expected. For everyone else, ETM won't be anything more than an average game that seems too similar to many other titles already out there.
80 TotalGames.net
When we hear the words “movie” and “license” we automatically start sharpening knives. In this case we were to busy moistening to the sight of total and unashamed gun-porn to want to draw blood. Yes, we feel ashamed.
75 Entertainment Weekly
Wants to be so many different games that it doesn't excel at any one of them. [13 June 2003]
72 IGN
A decent game... The fundamental flaw with this game is that it looks and feels slightly unfinished, from the unpolished textures to the bad camera and sparse level design.
72 GamingTrend
That's the key problem with Enter the Matrix...it feels so 2+ years ago.
70 Game Over Online
While the original plot and movie footage are an interesting look into the backstory between The Animatrix, Reloaded and the original film, the lackluster action, replayability and glitches severely hamper this title from truly being great.
70 Cincinnati Enquirer
Enter the Matrix isn't a perfect slice of interactive entertainment, but it does provide at least a dozen hours of action-packed fun and serves as a clever vehicle to expand on the events in "The Matrix Reloaded."
70 Gamer.tv
Fans of action titles are almost certainly also big fans of The Matrix, and will be disconcerted by such a pallid tie-in.
68 GameZone
Due to repetitive and extremely linear gameplay and an overall lack of polish, Enter the Matrix ends up being not all it could have been.
67 Cinescape
While Enter the Matrix ties in really well with the movie franchise, it isn’t much of a game.
64 GameSpot
The game's story isn't strong enough to stand on its own, and the gameplay simply doesn't save it, making the game worth a look for hard-core fans of The Matrix films, but a buggy disappointment for just about anyone else.
60 Official U.S. Playstation Magazine
Take the red pill. And by "take," I mean "rent." [Aug 2003, p.96]
60 Armchair Empire
A prime example of a good idea gone bad. If it weren’t for the annoying controls and the ho-hum nature of the game it would actually have been pretty good, but as it stands unless you are a huge fan of the movies this game isn’t worth buying.
60 PSM Magazine
Hand-to-hand combat within the game requires zero skill. [Aug 2003, p.31]
60 GamePro
Lovers of Le Matrix should play just to see all the official Wachowski peripheral story stuff—it’s really quite cool, and actually adds to the story—but the PS2 game was jacked out of its own development Matrix too early.
55 GameSpy
PS2 owners get the worst console version of a weak game.
50 All Game Guide
Fans of "The Matrix: Reloaded" will want to jack in for the stylish focus moves and original movie footage that fleshes out the events depicted in the film. Everyone else, however, will want to pull the plug and run to the nearest exit.
50 Gamestyle
The main problem beyond the visual execution is the poor overall level design, which is one dimensional and linear.
43 Electronic Gaming Monthly
In more than 20 years of playing games, I have never seen a console game as obviously unfinished and rushed to market as Enter the Matrix...This game is a complete mess, and that's the only complete thing about it. [Aug 2003, p.114]
42 Game Revolution
The PS2 version is the ugliest, with the Gamecube a close second and the Xbox looking the best, but even the green machine version won't be winning any awards.
40 Eurogamer
It is blighted on so many levels by the blundering stupidity of its malformed stillborn design that recommending it is beyond us. The blue pill never looked so tasty.
40 GMR Magazine
As passive entertainment, ETM isn't bad...As interactive entertainment (as a game, that is), this Matrix is quite simply spectacularly average. [Aug 2003, p.76]
33 Gaming Age
The implementation here is nearly a complete waste, considering the richness of the universe involved. Lousy controls, sterile and anemic environments, and weaksauce driving environments all pull down the good work done in the sound, character graphics and new footage departments.
30 GamingWorld X
If anything is to be learned here, it's that the Wachowski Brothers are not gamers -- this title is proof of it. If they really were, they would never have allowed this mediocre title to have been released. The game is buggy, has bad graphics, and terrible controls.

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