The Matrix: Path of Neo Level Walkthrough Ever Had a Dream, Neo? Blurring the lines between dreams and reality, Neo encounters Morpheus in the Lafayette Hotel. Neo must choose either the Red Pill or the Blue Pill. Take the Red Pill to see how deep the rabbit hole goes. Neo finds himself in a strangely familiar setting, facing a series of ever-increasing challenges. There's no strategy here – it's a test to see how long you can survive on your wits alone. This test will determine your difficulty setting. They're Coming for You, Neo Neo must escape from MetaCortech. Morpheus can guide you via cell phone, but you must do exactly as he says. To escape MetaCortech, you must sneak around the office cubicles, copy machines and filing cabinets without being spotted by Agents or Security Guards. Listen carefully to Morpheus' instructions, and look for the green prompts to guide you. Some employees may help you along the way. When you reach the office that leads to the scaffolding, you have no option but to fight your way in. Make a break for it, shoving aside anyone that gets in your way. Once you've made it into the office, you must make a tricky traverse across the building's ledges and scaffoldings in an attempt to get to the roof. You'll lose your phone along the way, cutting you off from Morpheus' assistance. Use the lift to rise up a few floors. Unfortunately, Agents will spot you and shut it off. You'll need to jump to a wooden scaffolding platform. That's easier said than done, though… Shove aside any police officers that get in your way, and get some help from a construction worker to rise up a few more floors. The Police and Agents are relentless, though – you'll have to creep along the ledges, avoid an Agent and drop down to a freight elevator roof to finally get to the top of the building. More Security Guards appear on the roof – you'll need to get past them, through a door and back into the building. You're safe. For now. He's Heading for the Street Head down a flight of stairs to the storage room. Police wander the shelves and stacks of boxes, searching for you. You'll have to sneak around them (or fight your way through them) to the other side of the building to reach the next set of stairs. Take the stairs down and find an open door that leads you back into the office spaces. Police are still patrolling the floors, and the elevators are closed – once again, you'll need to traverse the office undetected and find another staircase that might lead you down to the street. Take the stairs down as far as you can, then head back into the offices. Unfortunately, you'll be cornered by Agent Smith and a pair of Police officers. Escape into the server room, dodging or shoving aside anyone in your way (watch out for the Agents, though). Now, it's a race to the next staircase, through the bottom-level warehouse and the street below. They're hot on your tail, so don't stop for anything and keep your eyes peeled for the exit signs. Eventually, you'll reach Trinity and a quick getaway. Kung Fu Training Aboard the Nebuchadnezzar, the Operator puts you through the paces of the rebels' training programs, starting with Kung Fu Training. Listen to the Operator's instructions as he downloads new skills and fighting moves into your cortex, and pay attention to the on-screen prompts. Make your way through the underground complex, taking out the kung fu soldiers along the way. The Operator will offer you a bonus weapon for using stealth instead of just barging your way around – that weapon will come in handy. The final challenge is a tournament – last-man standing wins, but you'll have to get past the boss… Sword Training The next training program focuses on melee weapons and fighting alongside allies, as Trinity joins you for a little exercise. The Swordsman is a tough opponent, blinding you with flashes and confusing you by summoning mirror images of himself. Again, your best bet is to listen to your allies' advice about fighting moves and strategies. Winter Training Things go awry in this training level – a haunted pagoda that's coming apart at its coded seams. Smash through the paper walls, avoid the dangerous streams of raw code and battle any enemies that you find. Search the rooms and perhaps you'll have a showdown with the shimmering spirit that haunts this place, and you'll earn a new move for your repertoire. The fight eventually moves outside to a quiet winter garden and a final showdown against samurai and ninja training programs. Aerial Training Can you beat Morpheus' high score in this timed survival battle? This is a straight-up, no-holds-barred fight to the finish. You'll need to unleash all of the skills you've learned so far to reach the highest scores. Weapon Training It's not all about kung fu and samurai swords. It's also about guns. Lots of guns. The Operator re-works your skill set to focus on how to use firearms. The peaceful quiet of a Chinese tea house is shattered when a pack of gunrunning gangsters starts shooting the place up. Take out the bad guys and follow the boss downstairs, taking advantage of your (temporary) unlimited ammo and bigger and bigger guns. After reaching the bottom level, the boss will reverse course and head back upstairs. Follow him for the final confrontation and bullet ballet. Dojo Training So, you know Kung Fu, huh? Morpheus wants you to show him. This will be your toughest fight yet, but even though he has experience on his side, Morpheus is not nearly as fast or as strong as you can be if you free your mind. And if that doesn't work, head into one of the side rooms and pick up a melee weapon. After the fight, Morpheus will lead you outside for a special challenge – a race to a ringing phone that will test all of your jumping, climbing and wall-running abilities. Use all of your skills to clear the gaps and beat Morpheus to the phone. Déjà Vu: It's a Trap After a trip to the Oracle, the rebels return to the Lafayette Hotel and suffer a crushing betrayal at the hands of Cypher. Working with Cypher's information, the Agents, with police and SWAT teams in tow, trap the rebels with a series of "déjà vu walls." Neo is separated from his allies and must find his way alone to the wet wall and an escape. The hotel is a maze of hallways, made worse by walls that appear out of thin air. Look for opportunities to smash through decrepit walls and into other rooms, hopefully surprising Police officers (who are just as confused as you are by Matrix code being re-written on the fly). Eventually, you'll meet up with Apoc, just in time for a final shootout. Be sure to grab the Grenade Launcher. You'll need it later. Storming the Drain Morpheus sacrifices himself to save Neo, while Trinity leads the rest of the rebels to the hotel basement and the waterway tunnels below, with SWAT teams in hot pursuit. Neo must first open a barred passageway with a demolition pack recovered from a SWAT team. Those demo packs come in handy several times during the level, as Neo breaks open barred passageways, and takes out support beams to open other avenues of escape. At one point, an Agent separates Neo from the rebels with yet another déjà vu wall. Neo must tangle with the Agent on one side of the wall while Trinity re-opens the passageway with another well-placed det pack. Neo's best bet is to keep dodging the Agent's attacks, or tossing the Agent off the ledge to his death – a temporary death, that is, as the Agent keeps possessing fresh bodies. With Neo leading the way, the rebels can eventually escape the waterways and climb back to the surface. Lobby Shooting Spree This is it – the signature gun battle of the Matrix trilogy. With Morpheus in the hands of the Agents, Neo and Trinity attack the Government Building. The battle comes in waves, each more dangerous than the last. Perhaps the most dangerous of the lot are the Riot Police, with shields that make them impervious to bullets. You'll have to get in close and find a way to knock the shields out of their grasp. Morpheus' status is reflected by the on-screen meter. You must outgun and outfight the opposition as quickly as possible. With the enemies dead, it's time to blow the elevator. Rooftop Assault: Dodge This Neo and Trinity take the "express elevator" to the building's roof. After a brief tussle with SWAT units, a more significant threat emerges – an Agent bent on destroying the rebels once and for all. Teamwork is the name of the game in this encounter. Alone, neither Neo nor Trinity are a match for the Agent, and even if Neo succeeds in tossing the Agent into an electrified transformer or off the roof of the building, the Agent can simply jump into another body from the waves of SWAT and Riot Police being dropped to the roof by helicopter. In order to survive, Neo and Trinity must work together. Neo can draw the Agent's fire and dodge bullets with a newfound ability. While the Agent focuses on Neo, Trinity can get close enough to deliver a killshot. Neo and Trinity can then turn their attention to taking out the helicopter, preventing more troops from arriving. Finally, Trinity can hijack a heavily armed helicopter to pull off the rescue. Helicopter Rescue While Trinity flies, Neo dishes out the damage with the helicopter's side-mounted chain gun. Neo must beat back the opposition, which includes SWAT troopers, Soldiers with rockets, enemy helicopters and even Agents tossing pieces of office equipment. You have to be careful – the chain gun can overheat and temporarily stop shooting. Not what you want happening when a rocket is headed your way. You'll have to fire in bursts and use Focus abilities for accuracy. Once Trinity settles the helicopter in front of Morpheus, Neo must take out the Agents guarding him, without shooting Morpheus in the process. The rebel leader eventually finds the strength to break his bonds and leap to safety. Subway Showdown Before Neo can jack out, a vengeful Agent Smith returns and cuts Neo's hard line and his escape route out of the Matrix. Neo turns and faces his enemy in a one-on-one showdown. Neo keeps growing in power, but he's still no match for the leader of the Agents. The only way out of here is to use the environment to your advantage and toss Smith in front of one of the oncoming trains. It'll take skill and just the right timing to defeat him. Finally, Neo is successful, but it's only a temporary victory, as Agent Smith jumps to a new body, smashing Neo straight through a wall. Lucky for Neo, a wall collapse separates him from the murderous Agent. Neo heads down into subway tunnels in search of another exit, only to find something even more strange in the depths of the Matrix. Stuck in the Loop Neo is trapped in a massive bug in the Matrix system – a seemingly haunted subway train, operated by a broken-down program. First, you'll need to grab a token for the Conductor, near the entrance to the platform. Make your way to the back of the train toward the phone, jumping over a broken floor and Focus-running down a seemingly endless train car. The Operator tells Neo how to break out of the loop – when the train pulls into the Balboa Station, Neo has to hit the emergency stop button, but only when the rotating train car is right-side-up. You'll need to enter and re-enter the train car until it's oriented in the right direction. When you have that done, wait for the Conductor’s announcement and then hit the stop button. Once he's off the "crazy train," Neo goes from bad to worse. Agent Smith returns again with a platoon of heavily armed Soldiers. It's a massive gunfight in the train station, and Neo's only exit is to jump onto a set of flatbed train cars as they pass through the station. The flatbed cars will carry Neo to the exit, where he can make it to the surface. The Chase: I Need an Exit With Agents in hot pursuit, and jumping from body-to-body, Neo is in a footrace through an urban market. Don't stop for anything in the race through the market (hint: keep making left turns), until you reach a door at the end of an alley with a neon sign pointing the way. Next, race through the apartment building's halls. When you see an open door, take it. Bust through the apartment's sliding glass door to get onto the balcony and back to the alleyways. Make a few more turns, bust through the barricades and listen for the Operator's direction to take a fire escape up two flights to room 303. He is the One Unfortunately, Smith gets to the exit first, mercilessly shooting Neo right through the heart. But where Neo falls, the One is resurrected in his place. There's still one more battle – a final fight against the three Agents, crashing through walls and possessing fresh bodies from homeless men living in the decrepit Heart O' the City Hotel. Neo is able to destroy Smith as the first part of the Matrix trilogy comes to a close. Red Pill Rescue In the six months between becoming the One and the end of the war, Neo was able to free more minds than the rebels had freed in the previous six years. Unable to stop Neo, the Machines turned their attention to those within their grasp. Sentinels set a trap for one of the rebel ships, and from the ship’s mainframe, they extracted a list of Potentials – people just beginning to awaken to the fact that the Matrix is an illusion. The only thing that stands between the Red Pills and death is Neo. Red Pill Rescue is a series of missions in which Neo must rescue these Red Pills before they fall into the hands of Agents, Police, Soldiers and Exiles. Each Red Pill is unique, and some of them can help Neo on his mission. The missions can be played in any order, with each Red Pill marked as safe once the mission is completed. The Key A Club Kid somehow gets a hold of a “magic key” that can open any door and access the Industrial Hallway – the back doors of the Matrix. The naïve young girl finds her way into the Merovingian’s twisted den, Club Hel, where she’s captured by a group of Exiles. After arriving in Club Hel, Neo must take on Big Ugly and his crew of Dobermen on the dance floor of Club Hel, and then lead the Red Pill upstairs to the Coat Check room. In the Coat Check room, it’s a gun battle with a crew of Dobermen. Fortunately, the Red Pill will open up the weapon’s locker and keep feeding Neo weapons to grab. After the fight is over, Neo and the Red Pill make their escape through the Industrial Hallway. The Red Pill destroys the key that has caused so much trouble. The Healer A Chinatown herbalist is able to break the rules of the Matrix and turn ordinary herbs into powerful healing programs. The incredible healing power makes him a target of the Agents. First, Neo must locate the Healer’s shop. After convincing the Healer he is no threat, Neo leads the Healer to the street, where a gun battle erupts between SWAT teams and local gangsters. As Agents start to seal off Chinatown with déjà vu walls, the Healer leads Neo through a back alley exit toward the safety of an elevated train station. It’s a running fight beneath the tracks with more troopers. Fortunately for Neo, the Healer can boost Neo’s health at key moments, while Neo can take advantage of another of the Healer’s strange abilities – the old man is somehow impervious to bullets. After a final showdown with an Agent, the Healer makes a safe getaway. The Librarian More bugs in the system – a Librarian discovers that restocking the shelves is anything but ordinary. Agents arrive to, ahem, straighten out the situation, and Neo must rescue the frightened woman before she’s captured. As the Librarian climbs to the upper floor, Neo must take on Agents that start to possess the bodies of the Library patrons. Neo must take on the Agents while at the same time, make sure the Librarian is safe from attack. The Agents retreat and regroup, while Neo must chase after the Librarian among the shelves of books and back rooms of the Library. The frightened Red Pill eventually leads Neo to the Library’s main hall, where a wide-open gun fight ensues. Neo must clear the room of enemies before he can lead the Librarian to safety. Skull's Lament Neo arrives just in time to save an unusual young Artist with fighting skills that rival Neo’s own. SWAT troopers and Agents are about to arrest the Artist when Neo arrives. Neo gets the drop on the SWAT team in the exterior hallway and must fight his way to the Artist’s front door. Suddenly, the dead body of an Agent comes flying back out of the loft door. What could do that to an Agent? Neo enters the loft and meets Chuang Tzu. First, Neo must prove his skills to Chuang Tzu in a one-on-one fight. Chuang is a tough opponent, perhaps even tougher than Agents. Once Neo has proven himself, Chuang Tzu accepts Neo as an ally -- just in time, too, as more troopers and Agents arrive to threaten the Red Pill. Neo and Chuang Tzu fight side-by-side to clear the loft of enemies and complete the mission. The Security Guard To the average joe, Neo’s powers within the Matrix can be absolutely frightening. The Security Guard is one such person, driven a little insane at seeing Neo bending and breaking the rules of the Matrix illusion. Neo must chase the frightened Security Guard up the steps of the church tower, stopping to deal with SWAT and Riot Police that have arrived to arrest the Security Guard, but are now turning their attention to Neo. Once at the top of the tower, a déjà vu wall appears and closes off access to the stairway. Neo arrives to find the Security Guard, gun drawn, with a manipulative Agent urging the Red Pill to shoot Neo. Neo must fight the Agent, but as always, the Agent can jump into a new body, as more SWAT units arrive, crashing through the windows of the belfry. Neo can use the environment to his advantage, crashing massive bells down upon enemies. With the threat taken care of, Neo can lead the Security Guard back down the tower stairs. The Captains Meeting Niobe calls a meeting of all the Captains to share the news of a new threat to Zion, and Upgraded Agents crash the party. Neo must cover the Captains’ exit from the meeting by first defeating the Upgraded Agents -- more powerful versions of their predecessors that can actually regenerate their own health – and a team of SWAT units and Riot Police backing them up. After dealing with the threat, Neo gets a call from Link, telling him that several Captains need Neo’s help. Captains Rescue Like the Red Pill Rescue, the Captains Rescue is a series of missions that can be played in any order. Each Captain is in dire straits and needs Neo’s help immediately. Neo must neutralize the threat and lead the Captains to safety. Captain Roland The Captain of the “Hammer” is trapped in an abandoned Warehouse by swarms of Soldiers. His hard line is located in an upstairs Control Room, but he can’t get to the upper level without help. Neo must operate an industrial crane to give Roland a boost. First, Neo must take out the Soldiers on both levels, and block the enemy’s entrance to the Warehouse by shooting out the support beams of a platform positioned above the side entrance. Next, Neo must get up to the crane’s control panel, either by using an elevator or using his antigravity jump ability. Neo must first lower the crane to Roland and then lift the Captain to the upper level. With Roland on the upper level, more enemies arrive, so Neo must get back down to the Captain and take out the enemies. The path seems clear, but a Riot trooper armed with a grenade launcher blocks the path to the hard line and drives Roland back to a hiding place. Neo must draw the trooper’s fire away from Roland, while fighting off more Soldiers that arrive on the upper level. Link comes to the rescue, calling Neo on his cellphone with word that the Operator has been able to hack into the crane’s control panel and has re-wired the crane into a weapon that can take out the sniper with the grenade launcher. Under fire, Neo must get back up to the crane, where he can send the crane smashing into the Control Room window, killing the sniper. After Neo mops up any remaining opposition, Roland can make it to the hard line. Captain Ballard With SWAT and Soldiers all over Ballard, Neo arrives just in time to prevent the Captain from being ambushed in a large commercial kitchen. Neo must grab a shotgun and blast the opposition to clear Ballard’s path. Unfortunately, the SWAT teams detonate an elevator that could’ve led Ballard to safety, which means the pair must go another way, back through the kitchen and the restaurant. Neo must punch a hole through waves of Soldiers bent on killing the pair, culminating in a battle in the swanky nightclub against a squad of dug-in Heavy Soldiers. But before the rebels can leave, Ballard gets a panicked call. More Agents have arrived. Neo and Ballard must tangle with the Agents on the nightclub dance floor for a final battle. Captain Niobe Morpheus’ love interest is trapped on the bottom floor of a cylindrical sewer junction. Neo leaps into the fight, knocking the SWAT team aside like bowling pins. Niobe is damn glad to see Neo, and tells the One that her exit is upstairs, actually back the way Neo came in. Before they can leave, the three Upgraded Agents drop to the junction floor. It’s a closed system – there’s nowhere Neo can go where the Agents can’t follow. Neo and Niobe must fight side-by-side against the Upgraded Agents. The path seems clear once again, but the Agents move to three more bodies, as more SWAT units arrive to cut the rebels off from their exit. The Agents start to tear apart the walls, hefting stone blocks to hurl down at Neo. While staying out of the way of the falling blocks, Neo must clear the middle two levels of the junction of enemies and destroy the door mechanisms to shut off the SWAT team’s access, which clears a path for Niobe to move upward. At the top of the junction, Neo must take out the three Agents one more time. Morpheus and Trinity Neo shipmates were able to reach their car, but the pair has been ambushed by heavily armed Soldiers. A shot from a grenade launcher has destroyed their car, and the pair is trapped in an alleyway. With a helicopter hovering ominously overhead, Neo drops from a high balcony to the alley below, surprising a trio of SWAT officers creeping up behind Trinity and Morpheus. Neo must first take out the Soldiers to lead the pair down the street, and then help the pair defend the position against waves of attackers that have been sent to attack. In a last-ditch attack, an Agent possesses the helicopter pilot, and plunges the chopper toward the street. Hovering dangerous in the middle of the street, the Agent riddles the trio with machine-gun bullets. Neo must turn the grenade launcher on the helicopter, destroying it before the Agent can crash it into Trinity and Morpheus. Seraph’s Apology Neo is finally summoned to meet Seraph, the guardian of the Oracle. As Seraph says, you do not truly know someone until you fight them. To get to the Oracle, Neo must pass Seraph’s tests. The Teahouse The first test is simple – a hand-to-hand battle in Seraph’s teahouse. But the battle soon moves to other territory. The Chinese Market The “gentlemen’s disagreement” moves atop tent poles above a Chinese Market. As the market catches fire and begins to burn, Neo must leap from pole to pole in order to defeat Seraph. The key to this fight is recognizing when Seraph becomes vulnerable to attack. Savvy players will keep evading until just the right moment to strike Seraph, toss him off a pole and into the fire. If Neo defeats Seraph here, the fight moves once again to a new location. The Movie Theater Seraph and Neo land in a darkened movie theater, where a lone heckler sits watching a familiar scene. While the heckler tosses out insults, Neo and Seraph enter the third round of their fight. Neo’s best bet is to pick up a broom or a mop and turn it into a weapon. At the end of this fight, the pair “break the fourth wall,” so to speak, landing back in Seraph’s teahouse for the final round. Teahouse Redux Neo’s final fight against Seraph is the most difficult, as Seraph pushes Neo right to the limit, unleashing all of his skills. The player must vary his attacks, as Seraph quickly adapts his defenses to counter Neo’s blows. If the player is successful, Seraph agrees to take the One to see the Oracle. If not, well, perhaps Neo isn’t the One we seek after all… The Burly Brawl This showdown pits Neo against literally hundreds of copies of Agent Smith, in one massive fight in the Oracle’s concrete, tenement park. It’s a survival battle where Neo must see if he can keep his head above the waves of Smiths. The fight starts out with Neo squaring off against a handful of Smiths, which quickly turns into a massive crowd of Smiths. Neo’s best strategy is to use the steel poles placed around the edges of the park in order to control the crowds of enemies. The poles also offer the quickest end to the fight – using Focus and Special Attack to knock Smiths into the surrounding buildings, which collapse and take out even more Smiths. The Frenchman Neo’s next step in the trilogy is the rescue of the Key Maker from the dungeons beneath the Merovingian’s chateau. With Persephone’s help, the rebels free the Key Maker, but encounter the Merovingian’s goons in the Great Hall. As Trinity and Morpheus flee with the Key Maker, Neo stays behind to “handle” the Exiles. The fight in the Great Hall is all about melee weapons, as various items are plucked from the walls and used in the fight. Neo takes on Vamps and Dobermen, using all the skills he learned to this point. After the fight, Neo must search for a way out of the Chateau, and must begin searching the dungeons. But before he can get far, he’s tackled by a Doberman, who comes crashing through a wall, knocking Neo into a side chamber, where a pair of Exiles torture a third – a roguish-looking witch. Neo must defeat the Dobermen and free the Exile, who recognizes Neo before leaving in a huff. Neo moves on through the dungeons until he arrives at a room with several doors. The seemingly omniscient Merovingian then tells Neo that “myths and nightmares” lie in wait for him in the next stages of this “grand game.” Distorted Dimensions The next phase of Neo's journey through the Merovingian's realm takes him into a twisted, distorted, Escher-like landscape floating in an endless, starry sky that stretches in all directions. Gravity is relative, stairways lead in strange directions and strange insect-like Exiles lurk around every corner. The level also offers a huge amount of exploration – many secrets are hidden throughout each "face" of the level. At level start, walk straight ahead and you will dead end at a door. Walk through the door to get to Face 1. Face 1 Jump left, onto the large main arena area. Follow the sunlit windows to your Left (adorned with elaborate paintings) and follow that hallway to the end and turn Right. Open the True Door to take you to Face 2. Face 2 You start off facing off against a new enemy -- the Insectoid. Defeat it, and continue your exploration. From where you started, jump onto one of the two floating large platforms (left or right). Follow the winding staircase and to the top. From there, you will see three doors. Take the right-most door to Face 3. Face 3 You start off against two Insectoids -- take them out quickly. After the fight, look for a hallway to your left. Follow it, but instead of going to the end (turning the corner), wall run or jump up, which will take you to an upper area. From there, walk straight ahead -- you should see a floating block with a single door frame ahead of you. Walk to the edge of the floor, and look over the edge. You will see a secret staircase, which leads you to the True Door to Face 4. Face 4 Walk down the staircase in front of you to the water fountain arena. Get close to the gates to find the Rogue Witch, and help her with her plight. Be careful with the multiple Insectoids that have dropped in to ambush you! The Rogue Witch needs you to help her find a way out. Go over to the stone block (nearby) and use Neo’s telekinetic ability (Focus + Evade) to move the stone block and uncover the pressure plate, which opens the exit for the Rogue Witch. Stand on it to open the exit for her. But before you can reach the exit yourself, the gates slam shut. She will look for an alternate way to open the gates for you, but in the meantime you’re stuck in another ambush! Defeat / fend off the new wave of Insectoids as best you can – remember they hate fire – and after some time, your ally will have found a way to open the gates for you. Quickly go through the now-open gates and open the True Door to take you to Face 5. Face 5 You arrive in front of giant fire pit, and four Insectoids dropping in for a surprise. Dispose of them as best you can (use the fire pit to your advantage (throw them in there), and from there, take either staircase up to the second floor. Once you reach the second floor, turn around and look over the area above the fire pit. You will see two doors in the back area (on small platforms). Jump to the left-most door, which will take you to Face 6. Face 6 You arrive on the final Face with another ambush of multiple Insectoids. Defeat them, and from there, head left. You will see some floating blocks with a door at the very last block. Jump to that door and you will be teleported to floating area above all of Face 6. You will see a door in front of you there. Take that, and it will take you to the final hallway. Go straight to the end and take the final door to exit the level. Downside Up The next phase of Neo’s journey through the endless chambers of the Merovingian’s domain takes him through the lair of the Vamps and the Dobermen. Hallways connect several rooms, with each room containing a unique challenge. In the first room, Neo must deal with Vamps who take to the ceiling and hide just out of sight behind floor-to-ceiling pillars, before dropping in on him and blasting with guns of all kinds. In the second challenge, a group of Vamps and Dobermen lounge about a twisted torture chamber. The third room is a multi-leveled, circular playroom of sorts, with more Exiles lurking in each nook and cranny. But this IS the Merovingian’s domain, after all, and just when Neo thinks he’s survived the challenges, the powerful Exile re-orders the code of the chambers, depositing the player back where he started and raising the stakes on the three challenges. This time, things are more dangerous, with Vamps literally bursting out of their hiding places to attack the player. The torture chamber becomes an electrified hazard. Finally, the last chamber becomes an arena, where Neo must face the Vamp Prime. The Witch Finally, as the Merovingian says, the pawn has reached the far side of the board, and Neo is at the end game. The Rogue Witch has been captured, and is slowly being tortured by a new enemy – a purple-clad Witch Boss that wields powers similar to Neo’s own. Neo must find his ally from among three identical copies, and can rescue her with his telekinetic powers (hint: true to her independent nature, the Rogue Witch is the one that isn’t exactly asking to be saved). If Neo does find the right ally, she will join Neo in a final battle against the Witch Boss, who starts pulling the room apart and hurling huge objects at Neo. With the Witch Boss finally defeated, Neo can make his escape, just in time to save Morpheus and the Key Maker from a head-on collision with a semi-truck. Tuned Out The Key Maker reveals his purpose – to lead Neo to the Source, where the One can finally put an end to the war, according to the prophecy. But as Neo, Morpheus and the Key Maker traverse the back hallways of the Matrix, they are waylaid by Agent Smith, who pulls the Key Maker into a strange television superstore. With Agent Smith taunting him from every monitor, Neo must find his way to the Key Maker, and prevent Smith from turning him into yet another black-suited copy. After finding the Key Maker, Neo must dodge and evade his way down a hallway of televisions that becomes a deathtrap of flying glass, before reaching Morpheus and the Industrial Hallway. Ministry of Smiths This time, however, it’s Morpheus that becomes Smith’s target. Using the doorways as gates to other locations within the Matrix, the Agent pulls Morpheus into the vestibule of an old church. As Neo strides forward, the Key Maker whispers that he’ll “be right back” and leaves Neo to rescue his friend and mentor. As Neo enters the main room of the church, Morpheus has been cornered on the church’s upper level. Neo must deal with a trio of Smiths lurking on the church floor, and then get upstairs to rescue Morpheus. An endless wave of Smiths begins crashing through the church windows and doors. Morpheus wonders if the Key Maker has a plan to get them out of there. Just then, the Key Maker opens a door and beckons Neo toward an apparent escape. Too late, as Smith drives the Key Maker off at the last second. Neo and Morpheus must fight together to hold off the waves of Agents as the Key Maker locates another exit. Fortunately, the Key Maker drops health and focus packs to keep the player going. Eventually, the Key Maker opens a final door near the church altar, and Neo and Morpheus make their escape. Back in the hallway, the Key Maker reveals that they are still very far away from their goal, and the next encounter may be the most dangerous yet. Taking the Floor The Key Maker opens a door that leads to the Senate floor of the government, where a senator is just finishing up an impassioned speech. But before anyone has time to gather their wits, the Senate floor erupts in chaos, as dozens of Smith copies arrive and begin taking over. Neo and Morpheus grab what weapons they can and battle side-by-side while the Key Maker tries to open a door on the stage that will lead them to safety. This is a survival battle, in every sense of the word. Neo must defend his two allies and defeat wave after wave of Smiths, who keep upping the ante every step the way. Mr. Anderson, Welcome Back This is it – the final showdown with Agent Smith on the rainy streets of the Matrix. Smith has completed his takeover of the Oracle and of the entire Matrix, and Smith says, as Neo walks down the street toward the confrontation, “The rest of me is just going to watch.” There’s no escaping this fight. Dozens of Smiths line the street, and will toss Neo back into the fight if he attempts to leave. If Neo is successful at this stage, an angry Smith takes to the air, and the battle rages on. Aerial Battle Once the air, the game’s controls switch to a flight mode. Neo and Smith can circle each other as they fly through the canyons of the city buildings, each charging forward to the attack. The battle crashes into surrounding buildings and skyscrapers – look for items that can be improvised into weapons. Eventually the pair of gods tumbles back to earth, carving a massive crater in the streets below. This is My World As the Wachowskis say, “It’s time for some Hulk vs. Galactus action.” MegaSmith towers over the surrounding buildings, waving massive arms of steel and stone. Neo is going to have to find a way to turn himself into a human bullet in order to break MegaSmith apart. Use the controls to circle Smith, avoiding his attacks and any “Smithlings” thrown in your direction. If a Smithling clinches you, press Strike rapidly to free yourself before MegaSmith catches you with another swipe of his massive arms. Use the surrounding buildings for cover, and wait for openings to charge forward. If Smith knocks you back into the street canyons, he’ll start hurling massive chunks of rubble and Smithlings at you. You’ll need to avoid the rubble and the Smithlings, or smash the rubble with powerful Killing Blows. Eventually, Neo will find an opening to get close to MegaSmith again, ready for an opening to blow a hole in Smith’s superstructure. What comes after that is anyone’s guess. Let’s just say that Neo has paid his dues, time after time, and it’s no time for losers. -- fin --