The Matrix: Path of Neo Comparison Finale [PS2 vs PC]

Part 3, the final part of my complete, in-depth comparison of a somewhat overlooked Matrix game from 2005 and one of Shiny Entertainment's last projects, The Matrix: Path of Neo, PS2 vs patched PC version. I doubt it'll come as a surprise that I decided to work on this video while waiting for the upcoming Matrix 4: Resurrections movie, as I wanted to revisit the trilogy, but also play through and get to see just how lackluster the PC port is (which I unfortunately played first for many years), which itself is ported off the already inferior Xbox version.

During the 6th generation of games, many titles were developed on consoles firsthand, particularly the PS2, known for its massive pixel fill rate and rendering capabilities of some really neat VFX, including superior lightning and shadows than Xbox and PC. Then said games would get ported over to Xbox and PC, in worst case by third-party teams, but in this case Shiny themselves were responsible for the ports. Yet whether due to time constraints, technical limitations or differences in hardware, the PC port looks awful, whereas Xbox is inferior in many ways but slightly improved in others. This is a prime example of an issue that plagued the entirety of 6th gen. I am by no means blaming the developers and neither should you, since the more post-processing effects native to PS2 are involved, the harder it is to maintain them when transferring the game to another piece of hardware, especially if said hardware is incapable of rendering them properly. Hence, if a remastered PS2 game comes out, there is a 90% chance it will still have inferior graphics, some more noticeable, some less (examples of such cases are Silent Hill 2-4, Devil May Cry 1-3, Metal Gear Solid 2, GTA trilogy, Prince of Persia trilogy, etc.).

As for Xbox, since it basically consisted of PC parts and had DirectX 8.1 API, it was much compatible to port over to PC. Seeing these differences, I felt like it was my duty to expose the inferior versions for what they are, and to emphasise the importance of playing the proper version whenever you can. Making these comparisons takes ages, so I really hope you'll enjoy the video, and perhaps spot some details I missed!

The PS2 footage was captured via Elgato HD60 Pro on OBS at highest quality. I used OSSC, since I don't have Retrotink.

Levels: 0:00 Captains Rescue: Captain Roland 3:47 Captains Rescue: Captain Ballard 9:07 Captains Rescue: Captain Niobe 12:33 Seraph's Apology 17:02 The Burly Brawl 22:04 The Frenchman 29:58 Distorted Dimensions 37:29 Downside Up 44:20 The Witch 49:43 Tuned Out 55:30 Ministry of Smiths 58:20 Taking the Floor 1:01:48 Mr. Anderson, Welcome Back 1:06:24 Aerial Battle 1:13:36 This is My World 1:15:58 Extras & Credits ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxIwTh7AI5A