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The Matrix Online Launches

Posted by Zonk on from the red-pills-for-everybody dept.

Another large, commercially built virtual world has launched. The MMORPG Matrix Online, based on the popular Matrix movie series, is now online and accepting red pills. From the launch announcement: "...a specialized role-playing live events team at Monolith will assume the roles of the actual Matrix characters and support the continuation of the game's storyline through choreographed interaction. Players will meet, battle and eventually team up with the familiar characters on high-profile missions or at player-organized events."

8 of 77 comments (clear)

  1. ya but by nocomment · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Where's the OS X version?

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  2. Any Good? by superpulpsicle · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Anyone know if this is as good or better than WoW now that it isn't in beta?

    On the other hand isn't this the only MMORPG that doesn't feature wizards, medieval and sci-fi theme, making it alittle unique?

    1. Re:Any Good? by Paul+McMahon · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Anarchy Online was one of if not the first Sci-Fi themed MMORPG.

  3. No Matrix for me, thanks. by Seumas · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Too bad you have to buy a physical copy of the game from a store. If you could download it and play immediately, I'd be logging in right now and giving it a shot. Even if I had to pay $20 for the download. But I'm sure not going to bother paying $50 for a box copy, wait several says, install it, find out (like every other MMORPG) that it doesn't keep me interested very long and then dump it after a couple weeks.

    1. Re:No Matrix for me, thanks. by _xeno_ · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Yeah, I know. The only reason I got World of Warcraft when it was released was because they released a downloadable open beta that allowed me to try the game out for free. If I hadn't played it then, I probably never would have gotten it. Likewise my brother has a friend who's going to get it after playing the game on my brother's account for a while.

      Unfortunately they aren't doing something similar at release. (Although they do have the "trial passes" that Collector's Edition owners can give out.) It really would be nice to see free trials for MMORPGs. (I think a couple of smaller ones offer downloadable trials, but I can't remember any details and don't really want to go searching. :)).

      I'm not willing to shell out $50 for a game that I can then only play a month without shelling out more cash. Since I got the free trial with WoW via the open beta, I was willing to pay for it at launch.

      --
      You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
  4. all signs point to crap by say__10 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    got a friend who did the beta, said the graphics were sub par and the combat system was pathetic. So ill take the pill to save me money from shitty MMORPG's and keep on with CoH...

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    Home of the midwest loser - www.say-10.net
  5. My impressions from beta by aztektum · · Score: 4, Interesting
    I started beta testing last Nov. and the gameplay is nothing special. Although the simplicity and familiary work in its favor by avoiding a steep learning curve.

    The community is probably one of the better ones, based on past MMPGing experiences. Not too much snobbery from players that reached the top echelon. It's bringing in a lot of the "Fast N Furious" type crowd too, compared to alot of the "I got a lvl. Uber Dragonslayer in D&D" crowd I've run into in other games.

    Their big "whiz bang" feature, "Interlock" combat, was still really nothin' special and performed terribly when I last "jacked in" (a week before beta shut down). Basically you buff up your character in close combat skills/modifiers and in melee combat the camera goes on auto pilot, zipping around to give you "Matrix-like" views of the action. There were terrible lag issues still, where you and your opponent would some times stand there facing each other with nothing happening, then suddenly one of you is dead.

    Visually the game is pretty good. It looked more polished and runs better than SWG did on my computer when I played that, but doesn't perform as well as City of Heroes. Although unlike CoH, there aren't "instanced" mission areas. You just walk in and out of buildings w/ no load time.

    I was disappointed playing as a hacker. It just doesn't seem hacker enough to me. Your special attacks are visualized as lightning bolts and weird glyphs that spasm around your target. I would have preferred seeing the characters twitch or blur or do something more in line with the movies. It feels a little more magical and less like you're actually hacking The Matrix.

    I never got passed lvl 20 before a big update which would see a character wipe, so I don't know how hard it is to advance after that, but it's easy to get into and level up at lower levels. It isn't as lean as CoH, but it also isn't constant maintenance and grinding like SWG.

    If fills a niche for those that aren't into swords and sorcery without breaking any fresh ground.

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    :: aztek ::
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  6. Does the Hall Standard Apply to Matrix Online? by superultra · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Remember how Jason Hall, once founder of Monolith (devs of Matrix Online - MO) and now head of the WB games division, went on some tirade about quality games a year ago?

    Reviews haven't hit the web yet, but I wonder if Hall will hold his former company to the same standards he threatened. From advance press, my guess is that the Matrix Online will be sufficiently underwhelming to get any kind of decent score. So what happens then? Will Jason withhold royalty to his own friends and former co-workers?

    Postscript: Ironically, didn't WB also just announce a second Matrix game by Shiny? Hall is still in charge right?