Creators ofThe Matrix(no longer a trilogy, sinceThe Matrix 4trailer dropped), the Wachowski sisters are well-known to be furious consumers of pop culture. Shiny Entertainment’s Dave Perry, who led development of bothEnter The MatrixandThe Matrix: Path Of Neo, once told IGN that the Wachowskis “seemed to have seen every movie ever made”.RELATED:The Matrix Online MMORPG ExplainedThe Wachowskis themselves also told IGN that they spent “crack-den amounts of time” playing games. It’s fair to say that games were a massive influence on theMatrixfranchise, and there are many games that fans would do well to check out if they want to fully explore the series’ roots.
10Hell: A Cyberpunk Thriller
This early CD-ROM title took advantage of the technology. It involves liberal use of FMV sequences and a huge amount (for the time) of digitized speech performed by reasonably big names like Dennis Hopper, Stephanie Seymour, and Grace Jones.
It hasn’t aged at all well, but the similarities withThe Matrixare abundant. In this game, Hell is actually a virtual reality construct built to threaten and punish an oppressed populace. The protagonists must rescue and recruit trapped individuals from Hell, much as Morpheus and his crew rescue people from the Matrix.
9Marathon: Durandal
The Wachowskis are big fans of theHaloseries, but their fandom of Bungie dates back to before the studio broke big with Master Chief and co. The sisters actually wanted to produce a gamealongside the first movie, and Bungie was one of the developers they approached regarding the project.
This was beforeHaloexisted, so it’s likely that the series that inspired them wasHalo’s spiritual predecessor, theMarathontrilogy. Just likeThe Matrix,this story features rampant AI as a central theme.
8Death Jr.
This early PSP third-person action game stylistically has more in common with themovies of Tim Burtonthan those of the Wachowskis. However, Lilly Wachowski is known to be a big fan ofDeath Jr. regardless.
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Ina 2006 Gamespot interviewfollowing Foundation 9’s acquisition of Shiny Entertainment, Foundation 9 CEO Jon Goldman revealed that Lilly was a fan of the game. Lilly was in a minority in that respect, asDeath Jr.wasn’t generally well received, but it just goes to show what “well-read” gamers the Wachowskis are. Fans who want to exploreThe Matrix’sroots should give it a shot.
7Messiah
Shiny Entertainment’s ambitious action-adventure was not a great critical or commercial success in itself, but it would ultimately open up an extremely lucrative opportunity for the company. It’s an action game with a cyberpunk setting and religious, chosen-one-ish themes, so it’s easy to see why the Wachowskis loved it so much.
The Wachowskis pursued Shiny for some timebefore finally striking a deal to makeEnter The Matrix.The game went on to sell almost 6 million copies andgrossed $250 million, making it by far the biggest game in Shiny’s history.
6Beneath A Steel Sky
This cult classicpoint and click adventurehas numerous similarities toThe Matrix, and is even cited asan influence on the movieby IMDB. If there’s any direct reference toBeneath A Steel SkyinThe Matrix, then it must be very subtle. When GameRant approached developer Revolution Software, they had this to say:
“While we couldn’t claim that theMatrixmovies (or comics that came before) were borrowed from or inspired byBeneath A Steel Sky, the idea of the hive mind, and simulation theories run all the way back to George Orwell, and beyond. But we would like to think that we contributed to the zeitgeist that made these topics intriguing to pop culture at that time, and would be humbled if the Wachowski sisters had indeed played, and were inspired by our video game.”
5Tenchu: Stealth Assassins
At the timeThe Matrixmovie was in development, this cult classic wasthe Wachowskis' favorite game. So enamoured were they withTenchu: Stealth Assassinsthat they travelled to Tokyo and visited the offices of its developer, Acquire.
During the hours they spent at the company’s offices, they told studio head, Takuma Endo, that the action inTenchuwas exactly “what they wanted to reproduce” inThe Matrix. It’s not much to look at now, but back in 2008Tenchudid have exceptionally acrobatic combat, and some elaborate finishing moves.
4Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty
Alongside Bungie and Shiny Entertainment, Hideo Kojima was another candidate in the running to develop a tie-in with the firstMatrixmovie. That game never got off the ground, but after Kojima sawThe Matrix, he wrote to the Wachowskis to tell them how much he loved it.
They replied that the first game they’d played after finishing upThe Matrixhad beenMetal Gear Solid, and soon afterwards the trio met foran interview with Famitsu magazine. In the interview, Kojima revealed that “what I was planning to do in my next project, they pretty much made into a motion picture.” That next project wasMetal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty, which features some veryMatrix-esque action sequences that fans should appreciate.
3Splinter Cell
When development began onEnter The Matrix, Shiny Entertainment president Dave Perry quickly learned just how obsessed with games the Wachowskis were. In a2000 interview with GameSpy, he recalled Lana Wachowski mentioningSplinter Cellamong several other games she had recently bought and played. Perry said that the Wachowski’s love of games made working with them much easier.
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Perhaps Lana was drawn toSplinter Cell’sMatrix-esque, green-glow color scheme, or its acrobatic, high-tech action. Or maybe she played it simply becauseit was a fantastic game, and because she apparently plays every game that’s out there.
2Tabletop RPGs
The Wachowskis lovedtabletop gamesjust as much as video games, and spent many a weekend playingDungeons & Dragonsduring their teens. They even created their own tabletop RPG called High Adventure, and latercompared playing D&D to the filmmaking process.
There have, of course, been dozens of officialDungeons & Dragonsvideogames (most notably theBaldur’s Gateseries), but for an authentic insight into what inspired the Wachowskis, nothing beatsTabletop Simulator. Except playing actual tabletop RPGs on a real table with real people, of course.
1Final Fantasy VII
In 1997, the Wachowksi’s ought to have been too busy with pre-production ofThe Matrixto have sunk hours into that year’s biggest game. But when the similarities betweenFinal Fantasy VIIandThe Matrixare highlighted, it’s hard not to wonder if they found the time to play it.
BothFinal Fantasy VIIandThe Matrixcenter on a gang of underground resistance fighters in a cyberpunk city, battling against abuses of technology while being pursued by mysterious special agents who wear black suits and dark sunglasses. This is probably a case of “great minds think alike,” but the comparison is intriguing nonetheless. Those who appreciateThe Matrix’s central themes will no doubt get a kick out of this game.
