The Matrix movies were one of the most unique and well-known movie franchises of the 2000's. Naturally, such a popular franchise garnered enough traction to be digitized in the form of several video game releases covering everything from bullet-time action shooters to arcade-like flash games.
The Matrix universe made its way from film to game disc several times both before and after the release of the third movie, The Matrix Revolutions, in 2003. In total, two third-person action games and one MMORPG were created between the years of 2003 and 2005. Despite all three games garnering lukewarm reception from fans and critics, there are unique and interesting aspects to them that have attracted fans. However, these more well-known releases aren't everything the Matrix gaming world has to offer. There are other, more quiet games tucked in the ancient recesses of the internet.
The first major release of a Matrix video game came in 2003 with Enter the Matrix. The third-person action game stood out in its time thanks to the collaborative efforts of developer, Shiny Entertainment, and the Wachowskis, creators of The Matrix. The Wachowskis contributed massively to the development of Enter the Matrix, writing an original script and creating live-action footage to act as the game's cutscenes. In spite of all that, however, Enter the Matrix made no great impressions as a finished product. Reviewers scored the game poorly, and fans were disappointed the game neglected to feature Neo as a playable character, instead putting the player in the shoes of two of The Matrix's side characters, Captain Niobe and Ghost.
Enter the Matrix would prove to be only the beginning for Matrix video game releases. The franchise's second foray from film into the digital world, The Matrix Online, is perhaps the most notable and well-remembered Matrix game. Rather than another third-person action game, The Wachowskis chose developer Monolith productions to create an MMORPG that would continue the story of The Matrix where the movies left off. Much like, Enter the Matrix, The Matrix Online received weak reviews when it released in 2005. Despite that however, it maintained an extremely niche, loyal fan base that continued to keep the game alive until services for the title closed in 2009.
The final major release of a Matrix game came later that same year, with Shiny Entertainment's second attempt at an action game, Matrix: The Path of Neo. Players finally got to take control of Neo himself in a Max Payne-style third person shooter. The game followed the same basic plot as the movies, with an extremely odd alternate ending to the story, and gave players access to a number of the stylish, slow-mo abilities Neo shows off in The Matrix movies. However, Path of Neo still followed in the footsteps of its predecessors as an extremely flawed release.
There is one final example of a Matrix video game, however. Between 2001 and 2009, the official Matrix site, whatisthematrix.com, hosted a number of arcade games. Many of these games are still accessible via the Wayback Machine, and require Flash to play. These are fairly simple, pixelated flash games with basic titles such as Pill Game and Trinity Game. They're nothing special as far as video games go, but they are a relic from a near-forgotten era of online gaming. Browsers like Google Chrome are disabling Flash this December, meaning many small games like these are likely to get left behind. Perhaps, with the upcoming release of The Matrix 4, a new era of The Matrix video game titles will come to fill the void.