The Matrix franchise remains one of the most ambitious and influential sci-fi franchises in cinematic history, but many elements of its story spread beyond the big screen. Over the course of three movies, fans followed the dual worlds of Zion and the Matrix as the conflict of man vs. machine unfolded in both realities. While the primary focus of the first movie remained the conflict within the Matrix, between humans and the Agents, emphasis was also placed on the harsh realities faced by the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar in their struggles against the machine army led by the Sentinels.
Going into The Matrix Reloaded, viewers were quickly exposed to more of the world both within and out of the Matrix, including other “red pills”: crew members from the other vessels within Zion. Niobe, the captain of the Logos, calls together a “crisis meeting” of her fellow shipmates, captains, and crew, to inform them of a transmission believed to be the last transmission of the Osiris that she and her first mate Ghost were able to retrieve. The transmission warns them that in three days, a machine army of 250,000 Sentinels will penetrate the walls of Zion. Where did this transmission come from, and how did Zion get their hands on it?
As The Matrix Reloaded takes places six months after the events of the first movie, there is a gap in the timeline not accounted for by the movies themselves. This gap is addressed in two fashions. The first form is the animated compilation The Animatrix, which contains a short detailing what wound up to be the Osiris’s final mission and broadcast. The retrieval of the broadcast itself, however, was answered in the video game Enter The Matrix.
Enter the Matrix Explains the Last Message Of The Osiris
In Enter the Matrix, players take control of either Niobe or Ghost of the Logos, the two of them having been sent on a mission to retrieve the last transmission of the Osiris. After jacking into the Matrix with Sparks as the Operator, players choose their character and begin their mission in this third-person action game, starting at a post office where Thaddeus, captain of the Osiris, left a package for the inhabitants of Zion before his death. Players explore the post office before finding the package in a PO Box, and with the package in hand, Niobe and Ghost stage an escape under hot pursuit.
The game shifts to a driving segment as police officers begin to turn on the heat in their pursuit in order to steal the package. The escape culminates in a platforming segment across rooftops as an Agent provides the final obstacle for the Logos crewmates. As Niobe and Ghost reach the ringing phone at the end of the path, they return to their ship, unplugging from the Matrix to open the retrieved package while sharing the broadcast to Jason Lock, the head of Zion’s defense force. After the shared broadcast, the decision is made for a “full recall” of all Zion inhabitants plugged into the Matrix, leading to the events that open The Matrix Reloaded.
Enter the Matrix is not a fondly remembered title in the franchise. Between its sloppy controls and subpar graphics, even for the time of its release, it is often considered one of the worst tie-in video games of all time. Despite this, Enter the Matrix is a valuable piece of the Matrix franchise, telling the story of two supplemental characters and their most crucial mission, setting up the events for the second movie in the series. The game’s flaws do not exclude it from being a notable piece of series lore, and as the world of Zion and its war with the machines began to expand, the stories told within The Matrix would do the same.
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