Four walls and several pillars, all covered with a shiny gray paint. Part of the room seems somewhat hypnotic, bringing images of a supernatural world to mind. The view is purposely crooked, changing with the action but staying close to the target at all times. Two security guards enter and without a second thought I spring into action, deflecting their attacks and pummeling their chests with rapid, impossible reflexes. The stunned guards collapse and fade away as a green glow crosses over their body, erasing their existence in one quick swift. This world – it's so familiar, so unique and, despite the dangers, so appealing to those of us seeking more excitement in our lives. This is the world of The Matrix.

The Matrix: Path of Neo is a new, interactive iteration of Neo's journey to become The One. For moviegoers this means altered story elements, scene compilations that are cut and pieced together differently than they are in the original trilogy, and an alternate ending created by The Wachowski brothers. For gamers this means new gameplay, new fighting scenarios, and more bullet-dodging action.

The game begins as previously described. I'm not sure if Neo's having a dream here or if this is supposed to represent the rest of the saga, but the opening battle is not how the story begins. As you know it begins with Neo at a computer screen where he receives Trinity's infamous message. A few short sequences later and it's time to decide which pill to take. When Agent Smith and his Smith clones come for Neo at work, you can allow yourself to be taken into custody, which Neo does in the movie after losing the courage to climb to the roof of the building. Sound like a bad idea? Why not try something else? Continue running for a new scenario that could put an end to Neo's life long before he gets the chance to fulfill his destiny.

Choice plays a major role in this game. Enemies, whether human, robotic, or mythical and mind-boggling like Agent Smith, have many weaknesses that need to be exploited. Security guards are a common foe early on, and in almost every circumstance you may choose to eliminate them silently one by one, or attack them all simultaneously with everything you've got.

Unlike the previous game, which was simplistic in form but frustrating in every other respect, Path of Neo gives us a lot to master. Learning the basics isn't too hard – some of them are bound to come naturally through trial and error. Neo can defeat his enemies through rapid punching, painful kicks, and powerful throws.

Each of these moves are executed with one or two quick actions. Throwing, for example, is done by pressing the B button to grab the enemy, followed by a pull of the left analog stick in the direction opposite of your opponent. Combos are prevalent and relevant, combining multiple hits and multiple attacks for a plethora of deadly combinations.

The controls are a little choppier than I had hoped, but overall the game has a good, highly effective control system. Neo jumps with the A button, runs with the left stick, etc. That's old news. The new (and good) news is that, after about 30 minutes of practice, flips, rolls, dives and wall runs become really easy to perform. Guns are drawn by pressing into the right analog stick, allowing for quick access to your arsenal while tapping the other buttons. This sounds negligible I'm sure, but in combat these features go a long way in making the experience as immersive and as seamless as possible.

It's been hard to get excited about current-gen graphics since Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 were unveiled, but that didn't stop Path of Neo's artists from doing what they could with the technology available. The textures on the characters' faces, especially Morpheus (whose polygon model is based on the actor that played him the movie, Laurence Fishburne), is unreal. Neo looks like Keanu Reeves, Trinity looks like Carrie-An Moss, and Agent Smith has that same creepy quality that emanates from Hugo Weaving.

Aside from the controls, which are good but still need perfecting, Path of Neo is held back by repetition and a flawed camera system. The camera moves smoothly and seems to work well when you're walking or running through an open area. In comparison to other games with flawed camera systems Path of Neo doesn't seem that bad. Come close to a wall, particularly a corner, and you could run into problems. All walls and characters become transparent when the view is obstructed. The problem is that every action, including attacks, is related to the camera and thus become harder to perform when the view is messed up. It's not always easy to correct the view, increasing the frustration.

The Matrix: Path of Neo is a better, more balanced and more action-packed game than its predecessor. The combat is nothing short of being awesome and worthy of all the comparisons to the movies that gamers will make when playing. Story segments are long and very involved. It's interesting to see how the Wachowski brothers jumbled together old clips with voice tracks from different portions of the films. It has its flaws, but they're more easily overlooked than the nonsensical gameplay introduced in the first game. This is the path the previous game should have taken.

Gameplay: 8.0
Big on combos, fast moves and bullet-time attacks, The Matrix: Path of Neo is an entertaining brawler. Attack any foe at any time just by pressing the analog stick in the direction of the enemy plus one of the attack buttons. Prince of Persia was successful at doing this with swords; now a game is successful at doing it with fists. Matrix fans will instantly get into the familiar scenarios, environments, and the new combos (some of which are considered a secret). My only serious gripes are the camera system and the game’s repetitiveness. No brawler is free of repetition, so expect to press the same buttons and fight the same enemies a zillion times before the story ends.

Graphics: 8.5
The backgrounds and character models look great, you can tell that from the screens. Something only die-hard Matrix fans will pick up on is how Neo moves like Neo. His animations are very close to the way he moves in the film. Even the way he runs, strangely enough, is the same. Now that’s detail!

Sound: 9.0
Excellent, realistic sound effects backed by a Matrix-inspired soundtrack. Pay close attention to the level of depth within the sound as objects are destroyed. Listen to the way the sound changes as Neo walks on different surfaces. Also note the voice-overs and how they’re edited differently to sound close, far away, amplified through a speaker – whatever the situation calls for. Very impressive.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 7.9
I wasn’t blown away by the altered story, though I might’ve been if Revolutions hadn’t changed everything we knew about The Matrix. Nonetheless this is a good, well-executed concept with the re-telling of a classic story that doesn’t fail to entertain.

Overall: 8.0
The Matrix: Path of Neo should redeem the series in the eyes of gamers and give moviegoers a reason to take a second look at the trilogy. I don’t need another movie, but this game has me hungry for more sequels. The bullet-time, wall-hopping, Agent Smith-butt-kicking gameplay comes closer to matching the film’s battles than any game before it. That goes for any movie game with ground battles – Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, etc. With Path of Neo I felt like I was a part of the action. Repetitive or not, this was an experience I couldn’t pass up.