On December 23, Matrix Resurrections, the fourth part of the legendary science fiction series about the heroes Neo (Keanu Reeves), Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and Niobe (Jada Pinkett Smith), will hit cinemas. In keeping with this, developer Epic Games has created a playable tech demo in the Matrix universe. In the new Unreal Enigne 5 – the matrix itself, if you will:
The Matrix Awakens shows what future games could look like
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The Matrix Awakens – Footage
The Matrix Awakens: An Unreal Engine 5 Experience
shows what with the awakening
With the new Unreal Engine, it is technically possible how games might actually look one day. The demo embedded above starts with a non-playable sequence in which Keanu Reeves can be seen alternately as himself and in the role of Neo.
At the same time, animated and real Keanu keep swapping places. It’s most impressive on the scene, as Keanu Reeves talks about actors’ pursuit of eternal youth (at around 2:30). Animation and reality can hardly be distinguished from one another here.
Various other tech demos also show how good games can look in Unreal Engine 5, for example here in a jungle that is reminiscent of a next-gen Crysis:
Jungle demo in Unreal Engine 5
Looks like next-gen Crysis
It is hard to believe that the subsequent chase actually originated in a game engine. This is certainly also due to the cinematic skills of director Lana Wachowski, but what the Unreal Engine 5 does here is simply impressive. Especially when you consider that the tech demo is not running on a high-end computer with RTX 3090 but on a PlayStation 5.
If you look closely, you will see that the agents are animated, but the city looks as if it was filmed. From 8:25 a.m. onwards, the camera pans over the virtual city, showing all the technologies used.
Nanites and lumens make it possible
In order to represent Neo, Trinity and Niobe so realistically in Unreal Engine 5, elaborate 3D scans of the actors were created. In the playable part of the demo (from around 10:00 am) the so-called MetaHuman Creator
, in which the playable character IO, all agents and residents were created.
In addition, the chaos physics system, nanites and lumens are the main focus. You can find out more about the techniques in our overview article:
Unreal Engine 5
Everything about technology, nanites and lumens
How can I play the tech demo?
The Matrix Awakens is provided by Epic Games for free. However, not on the PC, but initially only for the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X. The tech demo has been offered for preload for a few days and is playable from today, December 10th.
When will the first real games in Unreal Engine 5 come?
To do this, the final version of the UE5 must first appear. The release is planned for the beginning of 2022. A first full-price title could be the first-person shooter Stalker 2, which is due to appear in April 2022. There are also other games known that rely on the Unreal Engine 5.
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