A Matrix-themed showcase demo for Unreal Engine 5
The Matrix Awakens Demo is a free simulation title for PC developed by Epic Game. It serves as a demo and showcase piece for the company's Unreal Engine 5. It provides gamers a glimpse of the graphical power and fidelity that future games can offer with the new game engine.
Similar to Unity, the Unreal Engine 5 used by The Matrix Awakens is a platform that's specific to game development. The former has been a popular choice for smaller or independent developers. While the latter is the go-to for most large-scale game studios for producing AAA games and franchises.
Unreal Engine 5 awakens
The release of The Matrix Awakens Demo coincided with that of The Matrix Revolutions, which no doubt helped hype the movie even more than it already was. It's basically a short game that is a hybrid between action gameplay and a simulator of sorts. It features appearances from Neo and Trinity from the original film trilogy, as well as a new character named IO, developed using Unreal's MetaHuman creator tool.
The arrival of the demo has two main impacts on the industry. The first is that it gives gamers hope and hints at a possible new Matrix game. The second is to showcase the capabilities of Epic Game's new Unreal Engine 5. The new game engine boasts plenty of new editing and artist tools that help create expansive, realistic, and immersive worlds—with better raytracing support.
Just be aware that it's a demo and not a full-fledged game. This is evident with its short playthrough, clocking in at just under half an hour. Also, it was originally adeveloped with game consoles in mind first. The performance of the PC port is sub-optimal, to say the least, and could really use more tweaks and optimizations for it to take advantage of the hardware on tap.
A sign of great things to come
The release of The Matrix Awakens Demo comes two-fold. It brings hope of a possible new Matrix game. While the other is that it provides gamers a preview into the power and capabilities of the new Unreal Engine 5. Despite being a demo, it paints a nice picture of the future that both the gaming industry and fans of The Matrix franchise can look forward to.
