PS2 - The Path of Neo | Done

During the winter break I picked up "The Matrix: Path of Neo" for the PS2. The PS2 is a generation of consoles that I totally missed.  I remember playing the PS1 at friend's houses, then those friends went to Sega's Dreamcast for the subsequent generation of consoles, so the PS2 is a total mystery to me.  Since this game isn't backward compatible on the xbox (it also shipped on the OG xbox), I thought I'd give it a try on PCSX.

The game seems like an amalgamation of the three original Matrix films.  About half of the game is the first movie (the movie I remember the most, by the way), and the second half is the other two.  The game features full motion video cutscenes from the movies, which is a good way to remind you of the overall plot, with a variety of missions in-between that are both part of the movies, and are brand new for this game.  Some of the missions are interesting, and some are total filler (IMO).  Early in the game you end up learning a lot of skills, and in order to do this you need some filler content in virtual dojos, old Chinese houses, and mafia hide outs. I mean, OK, Neo/the player needs some way to learn new matrix skills, "learn kung fu," and put those to practice before you get unleashed to fight the various matrix agents. 

There are some questionable choices made. In the second half of the game you are in this weird construct in the matrix (after fighting the Merovingian, I think) where your enemies are giant anthropomorphic ants (grabbed a screenshot).  Like, WTF is this?  I was fine with the topsy turvy, MC Esher-style construct where down is up, left is right, and doors don't always work (and you need to find your way out), but give us some enemies that make sense!

I did find it funny that the Wachowskis inserted themselves into game, in the form of Atari 2600-style characters, where they tell you that the ending in the movies (Neo sacrificing himself) isn't what you're getting because you do want that big payoff of a big bad at the end of a game.  So the big bad that you got was a GIANT Agent Smith made up of smaller Agent Smiths, and scrap metal, cars, debris, and so on from the Matrix.  That was a fun battle, and it looked a bit like an arcade style battle.

Overall Thoughts

Despite the questionable filler content at times, this was not a bad way to relive the content of the first trilogy.  For days I had Agent Smith in my head saying "Mr. Anderson..." I also really liked that you can play as someone who's learned all the fighting skills in the Matrix and can put those to use.  I wish there was a modern day Matrix game.  Ah, and the end credit music wasn't too shabby.  Overall a 7/10.