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.
News source: ign.com
