They begin by noting that the game is actually an hour long Matrix movie interspersed that you can't see anywhere else. They did much of the work in Sydney, Australia. Joel Silver praises the project because it has multiple mediums. Jada Pinkett-Smith (Niobe) tells the audience that The Matrix was the first project she came across that she knew she could not refuse. Larry and Andy were involved in the game script action. The brothers wanted the game to be much more than a merchandising ploy, they wanted real action. Shiny Entertainment was chosen to do the game. The brothers were involved in the writing, directing and cut of the game. Part of the reason they wanted to add the game was that there was too much material in The Matrix Reloaded to fit into a 2 hour movie; they wanted to show a piece of the story that could not fit into the movie. For example, in the game we learn more about Neo's coma. The pre-production was done in Laguna, California. Part of what makes the game stand out is that they used real actors and real performances so the video game characters actually look like actors. Larry and Andy insisted on using the same resources for the video game footage and story that they used for the regular movie. The action in the game starts 2 days prior to where The Matrix Reloaded movie starts.
Players choose to be either Niobe or Ghost when they start the game. In reality it is 2 games in 1 because choosing Niobe is a vastly different game from choosing Ghost. Larry and Andy described Ghost as an Aztec Budah killer. Sparks tends to avoid danger in the game. Part of the game involves going into the Matrix and retrieving what the crew of one of the ships has left you. The game can be described as a driving, shooting, martial arts game. The fight engine is completely new for the game. They wanted to make sure that at least a piece of the game was the in real world. The hovercraft section of the game is not in the Matrix, it is in the real world. The game as the same ending as The Matrix Reloaded but the ending is in a different location from the movie ending location. The camera moves for the video game were directed by Larry and Andy. The game has secret levels where one can go in code like Neo and Trinity. There are also secret codes and secret missions.
Much of the production for the game was done in hanger 12 of the Alameda Naval Base in a motion capture cage. They spent 6 months doing motion capture. The only things the cameras could see were the little sensors which were all over the actor's faces so that facial capturing would work correctly. All the major actors were involved in facial capturing.
In the game we see things that are not shown in the movie. In the game, Jada Pinkett (Niobe) can be see when she gets the call that Morpheus needs her during the infamous freeway chase. Lock and Niobe have more footage in the game that is not included in the movie. Roy Jones Jr talks about his participation in making the game. He said it was tricky because he had to contrate on timing to not hit someone. This was hard for him because normally he has to concentrate on timing to connect with his punches. Monical Bellucci who plays Persephone, the wife of Merovingian. She describes her character in the movie/game as a vampire like creature who sucks emotions and feelings instead of blood from human beings. The game shows something that is alluded to in the movie. We see the migration of the old Oracle to the new Oracle in the game. It is revealed that the game has 12,000 lines. In addition, there were 5,000 moves in the move tree.
Post-Production was in November 2002 at Shiny Entertainment Headquarters. Larry and Andy had extraordinary participation. Dane Davis, the sound designer/supervising sound editor in the movie worked on the game as well. One of the last things the DVD mentions about the game is that the players get to see glimpses of the third Matrix movie, Revolutions, in the game.
Click on the link below for pricing information on the XBox version of the game.
Click on the link below for pricing information on the Playstation2 version of the game.
Check our review of the original Matrix DVD on the Matrix DVD Review page.