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Despite the license being much more logically suited to the MMO treatment than perhaps anything before it, MxO isn't too different from other games of this type in regards to what you'll actually be doing. You start the game as a newly-awakened "red pill" -- that is, a human who's learned that the world he lives in is actually a sophisticated computer simulation perpetuated by a group of sentient machines. The series' fiction posits that humans aware of the nature of the Matrix can learn to affect all kinds of fantastical changes to its "reality": they can create objects out of thin air, leap over tall buildings, and become masters of any given subject in the blink of an eye. MxO takes this concept, and runs with it. Characters start the game with comparatively modest capabilities, but as they progress, their ability to "load" into themselves various abilities increases. In effect, they can become more deadly in combat, or more adept at "hacking" The Matrix's underlying code (which can have numerous applications).
Though the number of abilities available to you is pretty limited at the outset, the game equips you with the basics to effectively play any sort of traditional MMO role. You can heal yourself and other players, summon an automaton to fight for you, launch low-grade "viruses" at enemies, and, of course, engage in hand-to-hand and ranged combat, all with decent effectiveness. As time goes on, however, you're going to find yourself having to focus on a single discipline, due mostly to the limited number of abilities you can load at any given time. You also end up having to pay increasing amounts of "Information" (MxO's catchall currency, used for upgrading stats and abilities, as well as purchasing items) for new skills, which quickly curbs your ambitions of being a jack-of-all-trades.
If you have a good machine running it, MxO certainly looks convincing.
At the game's outset, all characters are lumped into the "Awakened" category, which grants them all the aforementioned abilities. Only after gaining a few levels and acquiring some of the basic skills can they start to explore some of the more focused roles. There are three basic career paths available, all of which branch out into more specific roles as you progress through them. Operatives are the combatants of the game, and martial artists, assassins, and gunmen all fall in this category. Hackers are MxO's equivalent to magic users, encompassing all variation of nukers and healers. Coders, finally, are fairly dedicated crafters, as well as support characters.
Provided you put in the time and money to acquire abilities to pursue multiple career paths, MxO is equipped to make transitions painless. Changing your loadout is as easy as visiting any of the numerous "Hardlines" (which take the form of phone booths scattered throughout the world), accessing the loading area, and swapping abilities around. You are forced to allocate points into certain attributes every time you level, though, so you're going to be naturally better at certain things than others; someone who's focused their entire career on hand-to-hand combat will most likely have stats to reflect this, for instance, so they may find themselves a bit lacking if they decide to pursue more cerebral paths. But those who enact less drastic changes will usually find themselves fairly effective in their new roles. Once you get a few levels in you, you can also viably pursue dual paths that are both effective, and versatile. It's not uncommon to see, for example, a fully accomplished martial arts grand master who's also a decent healer.
