The film The Matrix and its two sequels are real touchstones within the gaming community. Though they undoubtedly draw inspiration from a number of other sources, the synthesis of Kung Fu, firearms and leather trenchcoats in a dystopian future is very familiar to most gamers. Add to that the fact that the world of The Matrix actually represents a kind of massively-multiplayer-game-gone-wrong and you can see that it makes perect sense to actually try to make an MMO out of the franchise. Today we"re featuring a clip of the game"s combat action and a short interview with producer William Westwater.
IGNPC: Tell us briefly how the combat system works. Is it the traditional round-based, rules-governed format as most MMOs?
William Westwater: Fists. Blocks. Throws. Insane aerial martial arts. That"s the heart of the Matrix movies -- and The Matrix Online as well. The combat system melds the best of MMO team strategies and ranged combat with a unique mano-a-mano fighting system that we call Interlock. We wanted the visceral oomph of a twitchy punch-em-up without losing the feeling of a good role-playing game. That meant even if the Internet had no lag, we didn"t want to make a game all about fast thumbs -- your character"s skill is the biggest determining factor in what moves you can use and how much punishment you can take. However, against even opponents, strategic knowledge decides the victor.