Mexen
Member
Developed by: Shiny Entertainment.
Published by: Atari
Platforms: PC, PS2 and XBOX
Released: November/December 2005.
PLOT
Originally posted by Wikipedia
This game allows the player to participate in many of the major action scenes in the films. Most of these sequences, picked by the movie directors themselves, are taken from the first film in the series.[2][3]
At the start of the game, the player is hacker Thomas Anderson, and does not possess any of the powers that the character will later discover as Neo. As the game continues, players learn new skills and techniques, equipping Neo for the final showdown with Agent Smith. These additional skills may be levels and in the main game. Many of these skills are used by Neo in the trilogy, including the bullet dodge, bullet stop, and flight. A number of weapons are available in the game, consisting of both melee weapons (including various types of swords, staves, and escrimas) and firearms (assault rifle, submachine gun, pistol etc.).
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GAMEPLAY
Video (PC)
Originally posted by Giantbomb
The Matrix: Path of Neo combines aspects of the beat-'em-up and shooter genres. As in the films, Neo is proficient in both martial arts and gun play, and can switch between them on the fly in combat. Neo has both a quick attack button that can be mashed repeatedly to create a combo, and the length of that combo increases as the player progresses through the game. Neo also has a stun attack button, which, if the enemy doesn't resist the blow, can turn into a powerful grab attack move that deals massive damage. The game's melee combat features no "Lock on Targeting" system; instead, Neo can attack in any direction, throwing kicks at enemies behind him and punches to enemies next to him. When surrounded by two or three enemies, Neo can instigate a "link attack" which deals damage to multiple foes. By timing the use of the stun button at the right moment, Neo can "link" with two or three opponents. Pressing the quick attack button at the right time will do heavy damage to all opponents inside the link attack.
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PERSONAL IMPRESSIONS
When I first played PoN nearly a decade ago, it easily became one of my favourite games of all time.
I enjoyed the gameplay and other additions to the plot such as actually learning Kung Fu.
The Focus meter and progression of Neo's abilities were fantastic as was reliving through personal favourite moments from the movies, e.g. The Agent Smiths encounter from Reloaded.
So how does the game hold up today? Well, graphically, it could use a touch but it doesn't take away from the experience.
Gameplay is still largely fun with the odd glitch (pun unintended) here and there.
Progression (of powers) is still satisfying and makes for great and oftentimes immersive set pieces.
Perhaps the qualms I have today, as mentioned earlier, include the graphics which imo, have not aged that well. Personally, the experience isn't marred but there are definitely noticable moments.
The ending this time around was a little fun but only because I knew what to expect to begin with. I still feel as if this was a cheap way out.
Overall, I still enjoyed the game and felt, after talking to a Twitter acquaintance for a while that this great game truly deserves a remake.
Feature-wise, I'd like to see a more well thought-out ending and incorporation of the Animatrix (maybe side quests).
A graphical overhaul would be awesome too.
Worthy of mention is Enter the Matrix, which many fans hail as the better of the two.
Personally, I'm open to it too receiving the same treatment although I cannot go into details because I played very little of it.
PoN has its critics and rightly so because the trilogy its based on has its critics as well. But even as a game, some have spoken out on how badly implemented certain features were. To each his own.
I'd still recommend this game but what an awesome thing, if we actually got a remake.
SCREENSHOTS
I was talking to someone about this game recently and how a remake would be great. Particularly, we talked about what engine would be best suited for it amongst other things like who should develop it and what changes would work.
So, MatrixGAF if a Path of Neo remake were to happen:
- What engine would be best suited for it?
- Which developer would you want working on it?
- What would you add to the game (features etc)?
- What would you remove?
Any other input is welcome.