I don't know why they make a big deal about breaking free from the Matrix, it turns out it's actually not that hard at all. As one player has discovered while playing the recent tech demo, The Matrix Awakens, it's pretty easy to get off the intended path and explore the city for yourself.
As shared by @tesfayeswetsuit on Twitter, you can knock yourself off the road if you drive fast enough and crash into a wall. The player in the video does this right near the river, rolling the car into it and completely out of bounds.
However, it turns out there are no actual water physics in this Unreal 5 engine experience. This means that, instead of sinking, you just start driving on the river as if it's the road, but now you're free to roam wherever you please. In doing this, it was discovered that you can make your way over to the skyscrapers in the distance, although they'll have few features of course, and not much collusion.
This isn't surprising at all given the wild amount of detail put into the areas you're actually meant to explore. In the free roam photo mode, you can zoom in and out of spots in the vibrant city without any visible rendering or buffering. Every nook and cranny is full of life, giving fans a taste of what a next-gen Matrix game could look like.
For now though, we have the upcoming film to tide us over. The Matrix Resurrections is set to hit theatres December 22, and is the first film in the franchise since The Matrix Revolutions back in 2003 - a hiatus of almost 20 years. For US viewers, it will be on HBO Max on the same day as the theatrical premiere. Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss reprise their iconic roles as Neo and Trinity, and actually made an appearance at The Game Awards this week to promote The Matrix Awakens.