The Matrix Awakens Gameplay & Exploration
0The Matrix Awakens: An Unreal Engine 5 Experience is an astonishing glimpse into the future of video game graphics. That much I expected, but here's what surprised me: this technical demo is strangely touching in its message and presentation, particularly for any of you who are old enough to remember watching The Matrix back in 1999. And perhaps more surprising, is how The Matrix Awakens inadvertently highlights the limitations of play as we know them today.
If The Matrix Awakens proves anything – a free download is available right now for PS5 and Xbox Series X – it's that we are now staring down the barrel of photorealism. This Unreal Engine 5 experience isn't hovering on the purview of the uncanny valley so much as it is diving straight into it, particularly in the moments where a pristinely rendered 57-year old Keanu Reeves breaks the fourth wall to walk us through digital recreations of the Matrix's most famous sets. It looks good, it looks weird, and it made me a little uncomfortable – it's interactive storytelling operating at a level of visual fidelity that we've never seen before.
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