Before Warner Brothers shelved MultiVersus temporarily last year, I found myself having a wicked time with the vibrant, cartoony fighter. There were some rough edges to file down, mainly surrounding its grindy battle pass, but mechanically it was super satisfying. However, the game’s roster still needs some oomph to take it to the next level. Warner Brothers owns one of the greatest movie franchises around, starring none other than the legend himself Keanu Reeves, so naturally, The Matrix’s Neo absolutely needs to be added into the game when it returns.
MultiVersus could genuinely become one of the best fighting games out there, purely for its characters. While much of the game’s roster is rooted in DC Comics heroes, beloved animated shows, and even prestige TV like Game of Thrones, there’s room for bigger and bolder fighters. Neo is a no-brainer choice in this regard, but I will add, I’m a little biased. That’s because I’m a gigantic fan of The Matrix franchise. Yes, even the highly underrated and masterful The Matrix Resurrections. I’ve even got a Matrix tattoo, which sits above a John Wick tattoo. I think you get the picture.
But adding Neo isn’t just something I need to appease me in lieu of a new PS5 game set in The Matrix universe. Neo’s abilities are breathtaking, but learning how to use and counter them would be an excellent challenge. I bet when you think of Neo, you imagine him freezing bullets in the air from The Matrix Reloaded, or flying away during The Matrix’s climatic moments. That’s on top of his incredible knowledge of martial arts and weaponry. Thinking about the Château fight in The Matrix Reloaded gives me goosebumps without fail, and taking that level of badassery into MultiVersus would be enthralling.
Incorporating Neo’s hand-to-hand expertise is ripe for devastating combos, but naturally, his powers would need to be nerfed to an extent. That means no Dragonball Z style battles, as seen in The Matrix Revolutions. But deflecting enemy attacks or projectiles, briefly using flight to evade attacks, and correctly implemented slow-motion can work. Each fighter within the MultiVersus tier list comes with different perks, giving you and your friends certain buffs in battle. Elements like the aforementioned usage of slow-motion can be worked in here, at the cost of sacrificing other aspects.
Throwing Neo into the game’s roster also means developer Player First Games can lean on Warner Brothers’ archives to conjure up amazing maps. Arenas set in a machine riddled Zion, the Burly Brawl park, the Merovingian’s Château, or the iconic Mega City helipad where Neo dodges bullets for the first time are ripe for wild fights. And none of this would be out of place. MultiVersus’ developers have already alluded to more adult-focused properties like Breaking Bad getting in on the fun – which would be great news, in particular, for this Walter White mega fan we spoke to many moons ago.
Diving into The Matrix franchise yields limitless possibilities. I’ve not even touched on Hugo Weaving’s Agent Smith as a playable character, but we all know that’d go extremely hard too. Nevertheless, I’m excited for MultiVersus to hopefully claim a place among the best games of the year. The competition is tough, though, especially with excellent co-op games like Helldivers 2 to contend with.
The foundations of a special fighter are here, but Warner Brothers needs to support it properly with some magnificent post-launch content – something it’s neglected with its more recent games.