Enter the Matrix revolves around the characters Niobe and Ghost, the captain and first mate, respectively, of the Logos (a hovercraft similar to Morpheus and co.'s Nebuchadnezzar). Those of you who have seen Reloaded will recognize both of these characters, although they don't have big parts in the movie. The game begins as Niobe and Ghost must enter the Matrix in order to get to the post office to pick up an important drop box that was left by a crew member from the Osiris, another ship. The Osiris is the ship in the Animatrix short Final Flight of the Osiris which was shown with the movie Dreamcatcher earlier this year (and will soon be available along with the other Animatrix shorts on DVD). You can choose to be either Ghost or Niobe, and depending on which character you chose, you will have branching paths and different cut scenes. As you play the game you will run into other characters from the Matrix Reloaded movie like Morpheus, Trinity, Neo, and others.

There is a mix of kung fu fighting, shooting, and driving/flying gameplay that you will encounter in EtM. The majority of the game is played on foot, and each character has a multitude of fighting moves you can use, as well as a good variety of weapons to pick up. There are much fewer driving missions, and the game ends with a flying sequence, and unfortunately neither one of these modes is as fun as the on foot portions. The game is played from a third person view point; there is an option to switch to a first person view, but you can only look and shoot from this viewpoint. There is also a cool little hacking feature in the game with which you hack the Matrix in order to get messages from the characters, unlock cheat codes, give yourself weapons, and even unlock a two player fighting mode.

Thankfully, the gameplay in EtM is pretty easy to pick up and play. To move your character, you use the left analog stick while the right analog stick is used to switch to the first person view. The Y button is used for punching, the B button is used for kicking, and the A button is for jumping. If you press the punch and kick buttons together, you can perform throw moves against enemies. The X button is the action button with which you can do such things as open doors and block enemy attacks. To fire guns you may pick up you have to press the black button; this took the longest to get used to because of its placement, but once you get used to it, it will be like second nature.

A fun part of EtM is the focus feature. Focus, otherwise known as bullet time, is just like in the Matrix movies when time slows down/stops so that the characters may pull of spectacular moves. For those of you that have played Max Payne, focus in EtM is just like the bullet time feature in that game. To use focus, you have to pull and hold the left trigger, but you have to be careful as the meter will drain pretty quickly if you hold it for too long. Luckily, though, the meter will replenish itself over time. At the start of the game, you only start with a limited amount of focus, but as the game progresses, you gain more and more focus time.

Each character is modeled after their real life counterpart and the results are quite good, but unfortunately the same can't be said for some of the other graphics in the game. Many of the backdrops in the game, such as the Chateau and "hall of doors" have been faithfully recreated and will be instantly recognized by players who have already seen Reloaded. On the other hand, some of the car models, for instance, don't look too hot, which is a disappointment, but doesn't really hurt the game that much. The camera at times can be a real pain, thanks to some frustrating angles and a lack of control over it. Overall, the graphics look pretty good, but they just don't hold up very well against a lot of other games on the Xbox.

The voice acting in EtM is well done and each character in the game is voiced by the real actor. The one exception to this is the Oracle, for which the original actress unfortunately recently died and as such was unable to voice her parts in the game. Each weapon sounds like its real life counterpart, which is always good (after all, who wants their M16 to sound like a cap gun?). There is some licensed rock music that you will hear during the driving sequences of the game, and the rest of the game features original music from the movies. There isn't much else to say about the sounds of EtM except they are well done and help add to the overall Matrix experience.

Finally, there is over an hour's worth of footage, written and directed by the Wachowskis that involves characters from both the game and the movie. Playing the game and then watching the movie can give you a better understanding of what is happening with the overall story, which is cool because most movie-based games don't have that level of interactivity and connection.

I was hoping for a good Matrix game and that is what it turned out to be. I have been impressed with what I have played and I am glad it turned out as well as it did. The game is by no means spectacular, but for fans of the movies, it shouldn't disappoint. The game is a bit on the short side, clocking in at about 7 to 8 hours for the first time through, but there are three levels of difficulty which can add to the replay value. Add in the branching paths for choosing a different character, and the game warrants at least one additional play through. While not a "must buy," the game is definitely at least worthy of a rental.