The Hype: A MMORPG based on the hugely popular Matrix movie franchise? And it would continue the story after the wildly underwhelming finale to the third film, The Matrix Revolutions? What fan wouldn't want to play this and find out exactly what happened to Neo? What Happened?: The Matrix Online was essentially an ambitious failure: Monolith Productions promised a lot, but couldn't live up to it in the execution. Yes, the graphics and sound helped evoke the look and feel of living inside the Matrix, but the plot felt wildly undercooked and throughout the four years the game was in operation, it didn't link into the movies as crucially as fans were sold on. The gameplay itself is utterly generic MMO fare, and even the Matrix-esque combat feels weirdly dull after a few hours of play. The servers were never hugely populated either, so the game would frequently feel like some pale fan-sourced project rather than an officially licensed project. Also, it was unlucky enough to arrive shortly after World of Warcraft, and though it limped on for four years, it was eventually shut down in 2009 and has been largely forgotten ever since.
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.
