After teasing a new storytelling experience earlier this week, more details about The Matrix Awakens: An Unreal Engine 5 Experience were revealed during The Game Awards 2021. The tech demo of the game engine Unreal Engine 5 shows all the impressive power of the new game development tool, and, luckily for fans who are excited to watch The Matrix Resurrections in theaters, the interactive story also allows players to dive deep into the virtual world.

As the new footage reveals, The Matrix Awakens is an open-world interactive experience that lets players explore the Matrix at their own pace. Thanks to Unreal Engine 5, players won’t have much trouble feeling that they are indeed interacting with what the Matrix is supposed to be, as the graphics of The Matrix Awakens are so incredibly polished that they look real. This leads to scary questions such as: how do we know the world we live in is not a simulation? That’s exactly the feeling this new interactive experience wants to evoke, and from what we can see in The Game Awards presentation, The Matrix Awakens is very successful.

Although the interactive story is a game, The Game Awards presentation of The Matrix Awakens underlines how the experience is close to moviemaking. That’s because the story players get to try out right now was written by original The Matrix co-creator Lana Wachowski and developed with original film collaborators John Gaeta, Jerome Platteaux, and Kim Libreri. So, while The Matrix Awakens is being used by Epic Games to show the impressive processing power of Unreal Engine 5, the game is more than a gimmick and will allow fans to get bits and pieces of information connected to The Matrix Resurrections. It’s no wonder Reeves and Moss are part of The Matrix Awakens, reprising their roles of Neo and Trinity, respectively.

the-matrix-awakens-trailer-unreal-engine
Image via Unreal Engine

RELATED:‌ New ‘The Matrix Resurrections’ Trailer Shows History Repeating

Wachowski directs The Matrix Resurrections from a screenplay she wrote with David Mitchell and Aleksander Hemon. The Matrix Resurrections cast also includes Neil Patrick Harris, Jessica Henwick, Christina Ricci, and Priyanka Chopra Jonas. Mitchell has previously said The Matrix Resurrections works as a standalone entry in the franchise, although he cannot reveal how that might work without spoiling the surprises in store for fans. In Mitchell’s words:

“I cannot tell you what this film is about, but I could explain what it is not. It’s certainly not yet one more sequel, but something autonomous that contains however the three Matrix that preceded in a really ingenious way. It’s a very beautiful and weird creation. It also achieves a couple of things that we do not see in action films, meaning it subverts the rules of blockbusters.”

The Matrix Awakens: An Unreal Engine 5 Experience is available right now for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, entirely for free. The Matrix Resurrections will be released in theaters and on HBO Max on December 22. Check out the new trailer below: