Content review for this game:
Pertaining to content listed in the upper left corner of this site.

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Mild Language: There are 8 uses of h**l, 7 uses of d**n 4 uses of a**, 1 use of b***h, 1 uses of SoB, 6 uses of s**t, 1 use of God d**n, 2 misuses of God, and 1 misuse of Jesus. Also, civilian postal workers in the first level say "Jesus!" in surprise, when you come across them.

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Suggestive themes: During a brief scene, after Niobe has boarded a plane and rescued a fellow operative, an agent shows up. The now free operative takes a parachute, looks at the agent, gives him the finger with both hands, and then jumps off the plane.

Note: The next scenes are live action, with the same actors from the movies. These live action cutscenes were filmed during the making of The Matrix Reloaded, and are interspersed within the game's story.

In one scene, a side character (who is one of the main villain's wife), has the power to know the overall status of someone's relationship with their lover if she kisses them. Niobe comes upon this character while looking for Ghost, who has been taken captive. The woman says she'll tell Niobe where he's being held, if Niobe kisses her and does it like she's kissing the one she loves (it's the only way she can tell). Niobe reluctantly concedes and quickly kisses the woman on the lips. The woman says that wasn't near good enough, and Niobe will have to do better if she wants Ghost to live. Niobe tries again, and this time they kiss quite heavily for several seconds. The woman is then satisfied, and tells Niobe Ghost's location. This exact scene happens if you are playing Ghost, but he's the one who kisses the woman instead, as the roles are switched, and Niobe is the one taken captive.

A brief scene shows Trinity (main character in series) and Ghost talking. She asks Ghost when he's going to get a girlfriend. He responds by saying that he practices Onanism, and then says, "Celibacy is a hands on job," obviously referring to a certain sexual act.

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Violence: Enter the Matrix follows the plotline of The Matrix Reloaded, but from the perspective of side characters Niobe and Ghost. The violence is (of course) in the style of the Matrix trilogy. If you're reading this review you've probably seen one, if not all of the movies either entirely or partially. So you know that this game is full of mass collateral damage, some questionable actions (fighting police), slow-mo, lots of guns, kicking butt, and plenty of large explosions. However, unlike the movies, there is absolutely no blood or gore, and though you do fight and kill people/police, the overall violence feels arcade-y, disconnected, and pretty unrealistic.

You will be fighting hundreds of enemies like police, swat teams, agents, and vampires. When you first pop in the game, you have the option to either start as Ghost or Niobe. Both will be going through almost identical levels (there are some separate ones), but they do play out in a slightly different perspective. Both characters can use melee attacks like punches, kick, grabs and blocks. You can also pick up an assortment of guns from enemy bodies and use them against the live ones. There is, of course, the ability to go into focus mode, where time slows down for you (not the enemy) while you fight or shoot. This mode will give you enhanced abilities for both melee and guns. You can also (rarely) sneak up on enemies and choke them to death.

Specific scene of violence:

In one level your enemy is exclusively vampires, and since you can't kill them with melee attacks or guns, you'll end up using a wooden stake to finish them off. When you use this stake, the character will plunge it square into the vampire's heart, resulting in a somewhat sickening squishing sound on impact every time you kill a vampire.

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Closing comment: This is a pretty good action/fighting game, with a very fun combat system and some cool levels. There are a quite a few problems though, like bland, low-res graphics; somewhat clunky controls; the game is short, and the last level is one of the worst in gaming history. However, you can play through the game with both characters, and other than the first few levels, their individual objectives are entirely different there on out. The game is violent, but as I said, it's all very arcade-y, there's no blood/gore, and other than the stupid (and brief) female-female kissing scene, there really isn't anything too offensive in the game (though there is moderate language). And if your kid has seen one or all of the Matrix movies, you have nothing to worry about, as it's much more mild than the movies. I recommend this game for ages 14+