Thomas Anderson’s journey as The One doesn’t seem to end inThe Matrix, asThe Matrix 4: Resurrectionsreveals things are still amiss within the eponymous virtual reality. InThe Matrix 4trailers, viewers are led to believe that both Neo and Trinity are still trapped within the confines of the Matrix, but a new crisis will reawaken their dormant memories.
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While fans wait for the explosive sequel to arrive in December 2021, series newcomers and savants can look back at some of the hitThe Matrixgames to get a glimpse of what the Wachowski’s may have been hinting about the future of the Matrix. And eagle-eyed fans may realize they missed key details - and Easter Eggs - that may change the way they seeThe Matrixgames.
10The Official Matrix Site Used To Have Games
Anyone who’s ever been to a hit franchise website back in the early 2000s will likely remember them having games, somethingThe Matrixdid to its website way back. While the URL whatisthemtarix.com now leads to theMatrix Resurrections’main website, fans could onceindulge in classic gamesrelated toThe Matrix. These games include:
9Enter The Matrix May Very Well Be An Entirely New Film
Testament to the dedication ofcreating a large-scaleThe Matrixuniverseis the fact thatEnter The Matrixhas a whopping hours’ worth of footage fromReloaded. In fact, it seems an hours’ worth of clips fromReloadedwas created precisely to tie in with the game.
Moreover,The Matrixactors and their stunt doubles returned to voice and mo-cap their respective characters forEnter The Matrix. It’s through their participation thatEnter The Matrixhas the same fluid combat that the original cast share in the films. This level of detail may explain the game’s USD 20-million budget - making it the most expensive video game during its release.
Enter The Matrixwas released in 2003 for the GameCube, PC, PS2, and Xbox.
8Enter The Matrix Ties Closely With The Animatrix And Reloaded
Despite its poor reception,Enter The Matrixnot only serves as the series’ first foray into the video game world but perhapsa template of things to come. Unlike other video game adaptations,Enter The Matrixhas a 2003 release that coincided with the release ofThe AnimatrixandThe Matrix Reloaded. As such, it makes sense for much of its background to tie into the two media. In turn,Enter The Matrixexpands upon the stories shared by the media:
7Enter The Matrix Has Links To Revolutions
Similar to its ties toReloaded,Enter The Matrixalso contains key tidbits that provide a sneak peek at the events ofThe Matrix Revolutions. Thanks to some key game events and key cutscenes, players at the time can obtain clues as tothe fate and future appearancesof other characters:
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6Path Of Neo Expanded The Background
Given howThe Matrix: Path Of Neotransformsmuch of the films’ eventsinto a game, it makes sense for certain situations to become expanded. Aside from gamifying key fights, certain sequences get unique add-ons that further enhance both Neo and the player’s participation in background events. These include:
5Path Of Neo Changes The Key Ending
Centralto the endingof the trilogy is the hero’s sacrifice, where Neo sacrifices himself to stop Agent Smith’s rogue programming from destroying both the Matrix and what’s left of the real world.Path Of Neocompletely changes this narrative. Instead, the final battle between Neo and Agent Smith will have the game empower players into overpowering the Agent.
This isn’t a gameplay element either, but something embedded in the plot. At some point in the fight, the Wachowskis manifest as game sprites and tell the player that, for this game, Neo isn’t obligated to sacrifice himself. As such, the fight culminates in Neo smashing a city-wide construct of Agent Smith called the MegaSmith. The game ends with the Kid celebrating Neo’s success in saving the Matrix.
4The Matrix Online, Neo’s Fate, And Sarah Edmontons
While fans already know Neo is alive inMatrix Resurrections, players of the MMO had no choice but to wonder about his true fate. And Neo’s ultimate fate afterRevolutionsremaineda focal point throughout the game’s plot. At the start ofOnline, Morpheus points out that the Machines never gave Neo’s body back to them. However, the Machines also pointed out that they never got to recycle Neo’s real body anyway.
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What’s more curious is a woman waking up from a coma named Sarah Edmontons. In the game, a newspaper clipping of her mysterious awakening has a note that asks “Is this him?” Eagle-eyed players may note that Sarah Edmontons is an anagram of Thomas Anderson. Sadly, the game eventually abandoned this subplot.
3The Matrix Online Essentially Kills Morpheus
While Laurence Fishburne doesn’t reprise his role as Morpheus inResurrections,Yahya Abdul-Maleen II will take the mantle of Neo’s mentor. Whether this is similar to the Oracle replacing an external shell or a new story entirely is unknown. However, what’s intriguing is how Morpheus dies inThe Matrix Onlineyears prior.
In the game, Morpheus is convinced the Machines still have Neo’s body. In a bid to convince them, Morpheus set up bombs throughout the city that specifically target redpill players. When activated, it releases a virus that “reveals'' the code of redpills to bluepills in the area - potentially causing a crash in the system as bluepills get forced into rejecting the Matrtix.
2The Matrix Online Hints Towards Trinity’s Fate
After Trinity’s death, there remain mentions of her and her legacy throughoutThe Matrix Online. However, similar to Neo and unlike Morpheus, Trinity had no direct interaction with the plot. Interestingly, a journal from the Assassin - the program dispatched to assassinate Morpheus - highlighted a bit of his past as a recycler.
In the lore, recyclers are programs tasked to “recycle” human bodies or to liquefy them for reuse after death. Prior to his transformation into an Exile, the Assassin apparently received a command that didn’t allow it to recycle Trinity’s body. It’s not revealed who gave the directive and for what reason, and if this hintsat Trinity’s return.
When Sony Online Entertainmentpulled the plug onMatrix Online, players were left in a huge cliffhanger. After all, at the time, events in the game forced humanity and the Machines to break the Truce. However, in the game’s final moments, all player avatars presumably “died” in a mass closure. Thankfully, the game doesn’t necessarily end in a cliffhanger. As perarchives, what remained of the game’s writing team actually had an ending to the game in mind.
In the notes, it’s revealed that the renewed conflict would lead to an entirely new arrangement. Here, the Machines would program a new Matrix where humans would be free to choose their own fate. Moreover, in this Matrix, the Machines care for humans instead of enslaving them. The catch here, though, is that this new Matrix is reserved only for newly-grown humans, as the older humans would remain in the old Matrix.
The Matrix Resurrectionswill be released on July 01, 2025, in the United States.
