The Matrix Online - Basic Close Combat Training video

This was a video which I downloaded from the Matrix Online site (thematrixonline.com) years ago. It is a tutorial on how MxO's close combat system works.

At some point in the past three years, the interface was changed. The drop-down tactical console was removed, the contested numbers between the opponents were removed and we received a second visible hotbar; with no more tactical console, the player must either drag-and-drop the Power, Speed, Grab, Block and Withdraw icons from the Actions menu onto a hotbar or access them directly through the Actions menu.

The move eliminated some of the clutter from the HUD, but I have to admit that the drop-down tactical menu had a machinelike charm all its own. And I do miss seeing the contested rolls between the opponents, as well as which tactic your opponent's using; if I'm sucking in a fight, it would be nice to see not only that I'm sucking but BY HOW MUCH I am sucking as well. Am I getting creamed because I'm having a string of bad rolls (leaving the possibility that my luck could change any second now), or am I being clearly outclassed (and outrolled by, say, 30 points or more on each roll) by a guy who's positively going to beat my ass if I don't withdraw or try a completely different tactic? It would be nice to know such things...or, rather, it WAS nice to know such things.

At some point they also removed the ability to detect your opponent's weaknesses with a certain Ability, and during the fight you would sometimes see a notice along the lines of "You have detected a Grab vulnerability"...and you could inflict a good hammering unto your opponent by immediately switching to the appropriate tactic. My character on Syntax (EmeraldSkye) still has that Ability, but the devs changed it to where she would have to be Level 99 to use it (not likely, since the max character level is 50)...and there's nowhere to load it in her Ability tree anyway. Dagnabbit.

(And yes, it's clearly just a thrown-together demonstration video. Notice that Kareem has Karate selected, yet she's in a Kung Fu stance. That's just one of those things the makers of game videos like this one don't expect you to catch unless you're intimately familiar with the game. ;-) )

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Matrix
• Online
• MxO
• MMOG
• karate
• kung
• fu
• aikido
• combat

[HeathbrookBadhwar]

OMg, I used to play this back in the day, The only mmo I ever enjoyed. Jumping was so bad ass >:P

[BloodyBay]

@HeathbrookBadhwar Did you ever try doing a full-height hyperjump off the top of a skyscraper (like the two in...what was it, Kedemoth?)? You'd even stick your arms out and do a flip or two on the way down. It was magnificent. :)

[HeathbrookBadhwar]

@BloodyBay Don't think I ever did that, Man I wish this game was still around. I'll have to quench my craving by watching the animetrix again. But damn man, This Game Had Awesome Music, only mmo you could block too.

[BloodyBay]

@HeathbrookBadhwar There was even blocking and counterattacking in some of the moves, too. And I don't recall any MMO which had grappling and throwing, either. Aikido was a treat; you'd get animations like someone throwing a punch at your body, and you turning the fist aside, grabbing the arm and hip-throwing your opponent.

MXO's system looked like real fighting. Nobody just stands there and lets you hit them like in most MMOs. You're moving, he's moving...it's almost like a two-person dance.

[tfcoolkid]

That was horrible

[BloodyBay]

@tfcoolkid And you're a foot fetishist with nothing worthwhile to say. Get out.

[HeathbrookBadhwar]

@BloodyBay Totally dude, I wish it was still around

[reala1234567]

MATRIX ONLINE COM BACK TO US!!!! we all miss u so much..... however part of teh shutdown was kinda yo falt because yea gave it to sony. sony kinda fucked it up. and because of that it became less populare :( i miss u matrix online (anko)