The Matrix is an illusion. It appears to be America at the turn of the 21st century; a vast mega city and an adjacent mountain range. In truth it is a virtual, digital world that humans experience through feeds running directly to their nervous systems. These humans experience an artificial life in the Matrix, unaware of their real state.

The events in the aftermath of the Matrix movies tie into the game after Neo visits the machines and a truce is made – free humans (“Red pills”) can even awaken the sleepers (“Blue pills”), although too much of this would threaten the Matrix. It’s one of the ambiguities the Matrix films boldly allowed to stand. Another: Neo’s fate. He seems to have died in the battle with Smith. But the Machines do not return his corpse.
This disturbs some people, and their actions set the story of The Matrix Online in motion…

With the Matrix Online set after the events of the movie, it is as, you can imagine, different than the ultra slick and polished world that we enjoyed in the movie. For some, this can be problematic. I, for one, was looking for the beautiful glass towers that we saw in the first one, the ultra spit and polish to a point where it was almost too perfect. So when I logged into the Matrix online, I was curious as to when urban blight had moved into town. The buildings were in disrepair, cars on the streets, not many people either. Apparently Smith and Neo really jacked things up in their final battle.