Enter the Matrix - Niobe - Onboard the Logos
1Enter the Matrix is a 2003 action-adventure video game developed by Shiny Entertainment and published by Infogrames under the Atari brand name. The first game based on The Matrix film series, its story is concurrent with that of the film The Matrix Reloaded and features over an hour of original footage, written and directed by the Wachowskis and starring the cast of the films, produced for the game.
Released in May 2003, the same month as The Matrix Reloaded, Enter the Matrix was simultaneously produced with The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. While it received mixed reviews from critics, the game sold 5 million copies as of May 2004.
Enter the Matrix gives players control of two of the supporting characters from Reloaded and Revolutions, Ghost (Anthony Wong) and Niobe (Jada Pinkett Smith), members of the same group of rebels as Morpheus, Trinity, and Neo, the protagonists of the series. Niobe is the Captain of the Logos, the fastest ship in the rebel fleet. Ghost is the ship's first mate, weapons guru, and a deep-thinking, philosophical assassin. The game takes place at roughly the same time as the events in Reloaded.
Players play as either Niobe or Ghost, each of whom have slight variations during their story. Most levels involve controlling players in a third-person perspective, using guns and fighting skills to defeat opponents and complete level objectives. At any time, players can activate bullet time (called "Focus" in the game) which slows down time, giving players the ability to perform actions such as shooting in midair and dodging bullets. Some levels involve one-on-one martial arts fighting against single opponents. In levels involving vehicles, such as driving a car or piloting the Logos, the style of game play depends on the selected player, commonly with Niobe maneuvering the vehicles to avoid obstacles, whilst Ghost takes control of a gun to fight off incoming enemies. A hacking system allows players to enter codes, which can unlock special skills, weapons and secrets, such as a 2-player versus mode.
Enter the Matrix was designed, like the 2003 animated film The Animatrix, to be an integral part of the Matrix milieu. The game includes one hour of live action 35 mm film footage written and directed specifically for the game by The Wachowskis. The martial arts moves and game engine cutscenes feature actions motion captured directly from the films' actors and stunt doubles to recreate their unique fighting style, and were created under the supervision of the series' fight scene choreographer Yuen Woo-ping.
The player learns that Neo is not the only target of Persephone's predilection for trading kisses for esoteric information; Niobe and Ghost are both put into positions where they must submit to her whims in order to gain critical information. Significant also to the continuity of the Matrix universe is the first appearance of actress Mary Alice in the role of the Oracle. Gloria Foster, the original actress, had died of complications related to diabetes early in the production of The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. She had filmed her scenes for Reloaded, but was yet to complete her work on Revolutions. The game includes a sequence specifically explaining her change of appearance, as a result of an attack on her by the Merovingian. The Merovingian's attack was facilitated by a sacrificial trade with the compassionate program Rama-Kandra. The Merovingian acquired the deletion codes for the Oracle's external "shell", and in exchange, he gave Rama-Kandra's daughter, Sati, her freedom, despite her lack of purpose in the machine world. The Oracle foretells, however, that Sati will play an important role in both the Matrix and the real world.
Plans for a Matrix video game began in November 1999, following the film's release. The Wachowskis had talks with Shiny Entertainment and Konami to develop the title around this time. At E3 2000, the title was officially announced, with Shiny Entertainment as the developer and their then-owner Interplay Entertainment as the publisher. The game would be based on the then-untitled second movie and would be released for the PlayStation 2 in 2002, the same year the sequel was due to release.
On May 1, 2001, Interplay announced that the game would also be released for the Xbox, with Microsoft paying $5 million to secure a six-month exclusivity deal to release the title on the Xbox before any other console, supply exclusive content for the version, and also securing exclusive online gaming rights to the franchise, however, Interplay would remain as publisher.
Due to financial difficulties, Interplay sold Shiny to Infogrames in April 2002 for $47 million, with the Matrix license transferring over. With the delay of the now-named The Matrix Reloaded, the game was now scheduled for a May 2003 release.