The Matrix: Path of Neo [PS2]

Everyone wants to be the hero. When fans were given the chance to Enter the Matrix two years ago they found it wasn't quite wonderland, in part because Neo was off limits. But Shiny and Atari have finally given the people what they want: a vision of Keanu Reeves (or his sound-alike) in full trenchcoat, with enough combat abilities plugged in to take out a legion of Agents. The question is, should we have been more specific in our wishes?

Path of Neo does exactly what the title suggests. The story follows Thomas Anderson from zero to hero, though most of the emphasis is on the latter. Shiny uses gameplay, film footage, and creaky new cutscenes to tell the tale, with the Wachowskis apparently overseeing the whole thing. There's a lot of remixing, rearranging, and rewriting here, and some diehard fans will be amused or upset by the significant changes made to the ending and a few other story points. We'll keep mum, mostly because the NDA tells us to.

PlayStation2 owners should revel in the fact that Path of Neo looks and feels best on their console. While Sony's hardware generates a relatively smooth framerate, the Xbox suffers a real stuttering problem, and the PC has an absolutely terrible control set. Forget about getting anywhere without a gamepad, as the keyboard just isn't made for The Matrix, or vice versa.

But even under the best of circumstances, this is one rough-looking game. Models are jagged, environments are frequently bland (except when outdoors), and cutscenes vary widely in quality. It's hard now to take seriously all of Shiny's claims that Enter The Matrix suffered from being rushed, because the studio has had all the time in the world with this one and it still looks shoddy. The near-DVD quality footage from the film only rubs salt in the wound, as players can easily perform a side-by-side comparison throughout the game.

While it's obvious that Shiny wasn't trying to one-up the films in visual terms, combat is something else altogether. The familiar bullet time mechanic is in full force here, powering an impressive catalog of moves and combos. Every move from the movies is here, along with quite a few that weren't. Neo can flip off walls, punch a foe in the face while holding a sword, flip the blade into the air, and catch it to stab the bad guy, all without creasing his leather.