The Matrix: Path of Neo
From The Black Vault Encyclopedia Project
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The Matrix: Path of Neo is the second video game developed by Shiny Entertainment based on the Matrix series. Players control the character Neo, participating in scenes from the films. It was released on November 8, 2005 in North America.
In Shiny Entertainment's first licensed Matrix game, Enter The Matrix, only supporting characters were playable. It did not feature the series' main protagonist Neo, and due to its nature as an extension of the films' storyline, had few recreations of scenes in the film trilogy. David Perry, president of Shiny Entertainment Inc., has stated that Path of Neo is "basically the game the gamers wanted first time around... The Neo Game!"[1]
A total of fifty levels allow the player to participate in many of the major action scenes from the films. Most of these sequences, picked by the movie directors themselves,[2] are mostly taken from the first film in the series. The game also features a brand-new ending, because the Wachowski brothers felt the ending of The Matrix Revolutions would be a "lame" ending for a video game. Rather than an alternate ending to the Matrix storyline, the game's ending is more of a humorous non-sequitur similar to those found in Shiny's previous games, such as the Earthworm Jim series that spilt opinion down the middle in opinions about it.
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 learned both in training 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 mêlée weapons (including the katana and various other types of swords) and firearms (assault rifle, submachine gun, pistol etc).
The game also allows the player to meet many of the characters in the films, including Trinity, Morpheus and the Merovingian, amongst others.
The only true disappointment for those of you who are 'True' fans of The Matrix is that you cannot take the path of the One (Neo as it appears within the trilogy), for example Neo gets captured by the Agents (The Matrix) which then leads to them placing a tracking device within him, wheras if you are to get captured within the video came the mission is failed. This in some respects takes away the true meaning of the title 'The Matrix: Path of Neo'.
A lot of film footage is included in the game, and is shown to the player at certain milestones in the game. This footage is not only clips from the original Matrix trilogy, but also from other sources, including the Animatrix and the previous Matrix game, Enter the Matrix.
