The Matrix universe is a dark and complex one, and if you don't know about the Matrix then you've probably been hiding behind a rock in a cave on the far side of the moon for the last four years, and shouldn't be reading game reviews right now anyway - If you do know what the Matrix is then I doubt that I need to explain it to you, and we could be here a long time - but for anyone who's interested I'll try to as briefly as possible: Set a dark future, the war between man and the machines that he created is coming to a head, only one human city remains and the struggle for life continues both in the depressing real world, and in the Matrix in which most surviving humans exist oblivious to the life and death battles that happen daily between human fighters and the machine's Agents and Sentinel robots.

   

ETM is a third person adventure and plays in a similar way to Tomb Raider, or maybe more like Max Payne, the game that brought Matrix-style bullet time to console gamers first. It also has a few driving and hovercraft flying levels to add diversity. In a storyline that compliments, slightly predates and weaves in and out of the Reloaded movie, you get to play as Niobe (played by Will Smith's missus Jada Pinkett-Smith) or Ghost (Anthony Wong). This pair of gun-toting martial-arse kickers get sent on a series of missions in an effort to save Zion (the last human city). The game is divided into short episodes and you can play as Ghost or Niobe from the start. Their stories overlap and run at the same time and their levels are played via different routes - for example Ghost might give Niobe sniper cover, or Niobe might drive while Ghost leans out the window and rides shotgun. The greater part of the game consists of finding your way through the levels on foot (usually with the help of an on-screen waypoint marker supplied by your 'operator' Sparks). We don't think that it's any exaggeration to say that hand-to-hand combat has never been done so well in a fully 3D game before, and several punch/kick combos, blocks, reversals and throws can easily be perfected. We did have trouble with the default control setup though - using the black button as a fire button seems weird to say the least, and virtually unusable if you only have the large Xbox pad. The 'B' setup suited us better though (R trigger to fire) so we were soon sorted. Some of out favourite ETM moves are when Ghost or Niobe disarm an enemy and turn the weapon on them in one smooth move - it looks remarkably cool, especially when the action is slowed down with the 'focus' button (Left click). Using your limited focus, you can even dodge bullets a-la Neo, and there's something delightfully satisfying about evading a hail of bullets and disarming enemies rather than simply shooting them from afar. Just like the movies the game has a lot of gunplay and it's equally well done with a large selection of different weapons to play with, all of which can be used from the third or first person viewpoints.

   

Although we'd rather have played as Neo and Trinity, and hoped for a cooperative mode, the two complimentary playable characters and the cunning 'hacking' interface (it allows you to enter cheats, view FMV etc.) give the game a decent lifespan, and only the huge gulf between the visual highpoints and low points disappoint. Let's give you a list of good and bad shall we? The Good: Superbly modelled main characters and animation, fabbo combat and gunplay. Detailed environments that you can shoot and kick the crap out of. Brilliant movie sequences produced at the same time and with the same production values as the Reloaded movie. Master the control system and the various combat moves and it really feels cool as f… heck. The different character's games tie together superbly and when we'd finished with Ghost we couldn't wait to 'jack in' with Niobe.

And the bad: There's some poor enemy AI that results in enemies' glitching or moonrunning. Incredibly inaccurate grenade throwing is a dangerous joke. A few (not all) badly modelled characters and game-engine link sequences that look awful. Too many dark, dingy levels. The game has a very disappointing ending. And finally; we Gamecell lot were lucky enough to get sent both the PS2 and Xbox versions of ETM, and we were amazed to find that although the Xbox game looks a little tidier with its higher resolution, nothing had been done to enhance the game, and inexplicably aiming and steering vehicles is jerkier and less accurate than the PS2 incarnation. This doesn't ruin the game, but particularly during sniper sections the lack of finesse makes aiming harder, and you feel less competent than you should. This means that unlike some publications and websites, we'll be giving the Xbox version a lower score than the PS2 one.

Despite an annoying flaw and a lack of Xbox eye candy, we think playing through ETM will be a joy for fans of the movies - seldom do multiformat movie tie-ins manage to convey the atmosphere and feel of the source material so well - and The Matrix as a seriously cool and action-packed movie series to replicate. So respect, kudos, brownie points and a big girly kiss to Shiny for doing such a good job with everything from bullet trails and shattering concrete to death animations and amazing sound (including some great music). But guys: we really need to play as Neo next time…