The Matrix Online (MxO) is a MMORPG developed by Monolith Productions. It is set in the fictional universe of The Matrix and continues the story told in the Matrix series. The game began closed beta testing in June 2004, and saw a special closed beta test for pre-orders beginning in November 2004. Warner Bros. and SEGA officially released MxO on March 22, 2005 in the United States. It will be released in Europe on April 15.

Ubisoft originally planned to co-publish the game with Warner Bros., but backed out of the deal in February 2004 [1]. Many gamers believe that this was done in response to the mixed audience reaction to The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, but it was also part of a wider trend for Ubisoft to drop its support of MMOGs. This opened the door for SEGA to become the new co-publisher.

Overview

Gameplay The Matrix Online is as close to an Action-MMOG as the game as any manufacturer has come. Even still in Beta-Phase, The Matrix Online (MxO) has a streamlined and unique combat system, consisting of several different methods of attack and special abilties. Combat is where The Matrix Online excels.

Questing, a major part of any MMORPG, is hugely different from most other games in this genre. Quests, while randomly generated, are complex, multi-step affairs that contain realistic elements of the Matrix storyline. However, this system is still being created, and is unfinished as of yet.

The game consists of 4 major zones, each of which has its own difficulty level and where you have to fight in a secret war Between Zionist Humans, Exiles, and Machines. These zones are called the Slums, the Barrens, Downtown, and the International District, and it is clear that more zones (each of which contains a massive sprawl of cityscape) will be added some time after release. Players can travel through any zone by Subway, electronic Hardlines , or walking. One can move from one zone to another easily, though if one uses a Subway or a Hardline, a small loading time is required.

Rumors

Confirmed

The development team has confirmed that within the first six weeks of the game's launch, a character very important to the Matrix storyline will die. Most likely, this is Morpheus, as not many other important characters remain to be killed off. Then again, the Oracle may be killed, to be replaced by Sati.

It seems from the first monthly event that the movie characters Neo and Agent Smith will be revived via RSI (Residual Self Image)fragments and Agent PDA items collected by players.

Major Events

The first major event to occur in The Matrix Online was a "race" between the three factions to gather Neo's RSI fragments. The first faction to gather a certain number of fragments received upgraded defence statistics. Different factions won on different servers.

Winners on Servers:

First Day (April Six)

• Method: Merovingian
• Regression: Zion
• Proxy: Merovingian/Zion
• Iterator: Merovingian/Zion
• Linenoise: Merovingian
• Enumerator: Merovingian
• Heuristic: Merovingian

Second Day (April Seven)

• Method: Merovingian
• Regression: Zion
• Proxy: Zion
• Iterator: Merovingian/Zion
• Linenoise: Zion
• Enumerator: Zion
• Heuristic: Zion

Third Day (April Eight)

• Method: Merovingian
• Regression: Merovingian
• Proxy: Zion
• Iterator: Merovingian
• Linenoise: Merovingian
• Enumerator: Zion
• Heuristic: Merovingian

The second major event a week later was the appearance of "Red Eyed Agents". Apparently Agents with glowing Red Eyes, these Agents appeared out of nowhere and began attacking all humans...including those allied with the Machines that normal Agents serve. None of the three factions seems to be controlling them (though they might be secretly controlled by one for all anyone knows), and rumor persists that they work for a new 4th faction. They attacked anyone with an RSI code fragment ("contraband fragments") or anyone attempting to defend them.

Later, a message from the Oracle herself indicated that somehow "intruders" angered by the Truce are behind this, and that somehow Neo split himself up into fragments within the Matrix (he somehow knew this was needed for the future). However, the only way to put Neo's code back together is with the help of myserious programs known only as the Shapers, who are hard to find because they only appear to you when they want to. Fighting then broke out between the Organizations for control of Shapers, leading to the Red Eyed Agents capturing a Shaper in the confusion, which allowed them to create Lightening Agents, who had to be defeated.

External links

• The Matrix Online The official site with news, screenshots, and a forum
• Megacity Online The largest fansite, with news commentary, exclusive screenshots, and more
• The Matrix Online Vault (IGN MxO Vault) The Matrix Online fansite and community resource at IGN. News, interviews with community and developers, guides, screenshots, and special features.
• MxO Archive Fansite containing FAQs and general information
• Radio Free Zion A radio station that broadcasts music in-game, it. Contains a news page updated everyday about the events occuring in the Matrix from various reporters.