By Justin "Mendel" Gould

Nestled away in an inconspicuous office park, Monolith Productions appears like any other office building when you look at it from the outside. If you didn’t know who Monolith is or what they are doing, you’d likely assume it was nothing special.

Go inside however, and it’s a beehive of activity. This week, Matrix Online Stratics was invited in for two days to meet and talk with the men and women behind the curtain of The Matrix Online. Warner Brothers and Monolith showed us the door and I walked through it without the slightest hesitation.

Walking through the section of offices where Matrix Online work is being done, you immediately gain a sense of how serious everyone is about the game. Peek in the open door of anyone – a programmer, world designer, character artist, animator, community team member, anyone – and you will see someone intently hunched over their computer working on some aspect of the game. If you step in and talk to those same people they will chat with you and proudly show off a few tidbits of what they’re working on (when they’re allowed to that is), but you can tell they’re itching to get back to work. Unlike that normal corporate office building, you won’t see anyone idly surfing the web, waiting for time to go home. Each one of these people is obviously doing what they love, proud of what they do, and passionate about creating something amazing.

That passion is even clearer when you experience the game first hand, as I was allowed to do during my visit. I have read every interview and preview article, looked at every screenshot and watched every gameplay movie. The interviews and articles offer only the slightest glimpse into the awesome depth of the game. Currently available videos and screenshots don’t even begin to expose the richness of detail in the game world. You cannot be told what The Matrix Online is; you have to see it for yourself.

I learned much about The Matrix Online through both playing the game and interacting with the developers over the course of my visit. For now, I will only submit this: The Matrix Online is quite possibly set to revolutionize the massively multiplayer online genre, and will almost assuredly be a smash hit.

Stay tuned to Matrix Online Stratics. In the coming weeks and months, we will have much to reveal about the game. We will answer your most pressing questions and provide insights you will find new and informative. Rest… the answers are coming.

Justin “Mendel” Gould
Associate Editor, Matrix Online Stratics

Be sure to check out our interview with Toby Ragaini along with our second, detailed follow-up article.