Enter The Matrix, which came out just a few short years ago across all major gaming platforms, let down more than a few devotees of The Matrix franchise with its poor AI and glitch-filled gameplay. Around the same time, The Matrix trilogy, in regard to the movies, was completed. Reloaded was merely an acceptable film, and Revolutions was downright disappointing. With The Matrix: Path of Neo for the PlayStation 2, the developers have mixed things up. They’ve taken the best from all three movies, smashed them into one attractive bundle, and introduced one heck of a combat system. Plus, you now get to play as the beloved Neo.

Welcome to the psychedelic and twisted world known as The Matrix. As mentioned above, the foundation of Path of Neo is best described as a ‘’Greatest Hits’’ package. The story isn’t based on any one movie, rather bits and pieces of all three. You’ll assume control of the character Neo. After being given the choice of what color pill you want to opt, the game starts out with you being placed into an office building of some sort, where Neo will have to escape from Agent Smith and his evil clan of clones and security guards. Stealth elements will be relevant as you’ll have to tiptoe from cubicle to cubicle avoiding the enemy. You’ll then have to climb out onto a window and ascend your way to the top of the skyscraper. Following this, you will have to scurry down a bunch of staircases shoving your way to safety trying to stay away from the relentless Agent Smith and Co. Neo finally pushes his way outside to Trinity who is hauling a sharp motorbike that Neo will board and flee to shelter. An interesting beginning to say the least.

After completing the first few missions, you will be taken into the training levels. There is a total figure of six training ordeals in all, and each takes a good 15-20 minutes to finish. You don’t have to be a mathematician to comprehend how vastly long this tutorial is. It’d be a little different if you could merely skip it and proceed with your game, but, strangely, you can’t. On the flipside, these aren’t your normal tutorials found in most games. While they may not be openly linked to any type of story, they appear to play like full-fledged levels with objectives. Everything from gun training to sword training is present, and these tidbits of information you will become acquainted with will most definitely be utilized and put to use later on in the campaign.

Something I need to touch upon is Path of Neo’s combat system. Every type of combat imaginable is featured here, including sword, gun, and fist. By watching gameplay videos of The Matrix: Path of Neo, or even observing someone else playing, you’d think the engine was just your average beat-‘em-up, hack-‘n’-slash pile of garbage. What a misconception because the combat engine here is one of the deepest I’ve seen in recent memory. I’m talking mesmerizing combos, special moves, and something this game titles ‘’Focus,’’ which is just a fancy name for what most games reference to as bullet time. The controls are fairly well positioned as well, making the action seamless. I must say - a darn good improvement over Enter The Matrix’s well-below-average system.

One of the main problems I had with Path of Neo was its camera system. It will usually get stuck when you’re trying to maneuver yourself around structures. If this wasn’t bad enough, when attempting to do a wall jump via Focus, the camera just won’t keep up with the intensity of the moment leaving you blindsided and forced to slow down the pace and situate the view. Troubles like these plagued most of the game causing the level of otherwise exciting, fun-filled action to go down immensely. 

Camera issues aren’t the only technical issues found in this game. You’ve also got a truckload of invisible walls coupled with poor frame-rate. Early on in the game you will have to go out on one of those fixations that carry window washers around. Well, to put things simply, I attempted to jump off. Sure enough, I hit into a brick invisible wall. This really lowers the amount of freedom and realism. The Matrix: Path of Neo’s single-player campaign at times is a well produced bundle of joy, and at others it’s just plain frustrating due to its many technical difficulties. Even with its production faults, it has a superlative combat system that will please Matrix fans as well as hardcore gamers. 

The visuals in Path of Neo are a mixed-bag. Aspects such as atmospheric feel have been nailed. For Matrix fans, that’s probably the most important facet. The particle effects are some of the best I’ve seen, and the character models and animations follow suit. One of Path of Neo’s best effects lies within one of its training levels where you’ll have to walk on ice in a Ninja Gaiden-esque setting. The way the ice will crackle and split as you glide across is straight-up beautiful. Personally, some of the special effects found in Path of Neo I never thought the aging PlayStation 2 hardware was capable of.

Sadly, this is where reality rudely steps in and crashes the party. Path of Neo attempts too much with its visuals. There’s a considerable amount of slowdown, and the amount of clipping in the cutscenes, both in-game and movie clip, causes an unbounded amount of annoyance. What’s important is still here though. You’ve got luminous green loading screens, stylized effects galore, and enough ambiance to make you feel like you’re actually in The Matrix.

Speaking of ambiance, Path of Neo’s audio is something you will want to experience first-hand - namely the superb voice-acting, primarily because it’s mostly taken directly from the movies. Sound effects are done in unparalleled quality, too. Just as it appears beautiful to walk upon ice in this game, it sounds beautiful. Heck, it may even sound better than it looks now that I think about it. The soundtrack is outstanding as well. All of this truly does complement and help generate the unforgettable Matrix sentiment. For a game based on a movie franchise, this is huge.

Gameplay: 8.0
As stated earlier, you have to play this game to understand how in-depth its gameplay truly is. It’s chock-full of action that will thrill gamers with short attention spans. In addition to that, it has an in-depth combo system that’s sure to be a fan-favorite among the hardest of hardcore. Some may be turned off by the abnormally long training levels, but most will just hop right through them to get to the core of the game. The Matrix: Path of Neo is a very well-rounded package, and is a vast, vast improvement over previous Matrix titles.

Graphics: 7.8
Hey look, it’s Keanu Reeves! Those looking for a darn good rendition of the adored world known as The Matrix and its characters need not come any further. However, the PS2’s hardware is pushed maybe a little too far with Path of Neo’s visual effects making the experience far from perfect. The clipping found in the cutscenes won’t make many happy, and frame-rate problems only make matters worse. On a positive note, just because they tried too hard doesn’t mean they haven’t succeeded at all. No sir, character modeling, textures, and things of that nature are presented in top-notch fashion. You also have to take into account the fact that the PS2 is home to specifications that are aging quickly.

Sound: 8.6
The audio is hands down this game’s best facet. You will be blown away by the voice-overs, wonderfully produced soundtrack, and lifelike sound effects. I know I was. They’ve brought the exciting sensation of watching a movie at a theater into your living room. Movie-based titles usually lack the attitude of their big-screen counterparts, but not The Matrix: Path of Neo.

Difficulty: Medium
Missions are clear, and you’ll be guided along every step of the way. The 1-2 hour tutorial forces you to learn the ins and outs of the gameplay mechanics and this in return will assist in keeping the level of difficulty down.  

Concept: 8.0
It’s The Matrix, c’mon. The entire premise is psychedelic and at times prominently frightening. The way the Wachowski Brothers have reinvented the wheel by vigilantly placing portions of all three movies into Path of Neo to create one big journey for Neo is, simply put, staggering. Matrix followers will be in heaven. 

Multiplayer: N/A
I would have liked to have seen a cooperative mode here, but unfortunately there isn’t anything of the sort.

Overall: 7.9
At the end of the day, The Matrix: Path of Neo is unquestionably some high-quality Matrix merchandise that fans are sure to gobble up. The combat system is so deep it could be featured in a full-blown fighting game. Path of Neo doesn’t just stop at fighting though; it adds gun, sword, and numerous other weapon-based combat arrangements. Those concerned about clipping and frame-rate issues should take into perspective that the technical difficulties are quickly overshadowed by the immense atmosphere. When you couple this with the fantastic audio, you have yourself yet another above average third-person action game for your PS2.