This mobile Counter-Strike clone looks good, but it's filled with frustrating problems
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SHOULD I PLAY MATR1X FIRE?
Skip it, unless you’re in desperate need of a Counter-Strike 2 clone. Matr1x Fire tries to bring Counter-Strike gameplay to mobile, but it’s not entirely successful. Its visual quality and style are impressive, but the lack of originality and technical problems make it an incredibly frustrating time.
TIME PLAYED
I played Matr1x Fire for two hours. I’ve played nearly a dozen matches so far, with each one lasting anywhere between nine and thirteen minutes. I stopped playing a little earlier than usual because the game got too technically frustrating and I just wasn’t having any fun with it.
WHAT’S AWESOME ABOUT MATR1X FIRE?
• It’s Counter-Strike 2 on mobile. The only real reason anyone should play Matr1x Fire is if they can’t play Counter-Strike 2 on PC. That said, if you have other options, you should play something better like Blood Strike or Arena Breakout. I’m not a total hater of copy-paste games, but this mobile clone is terribly designed.
• Visual quality. I was actually a little surprised by how good the visuals looked in this game. Some character models look a little plastic-y, but they’re very detailed and generally impressive. The colors are vibrant, and the environments use texture and shading to make every battleground pop.
WHAT NEEDS IMPROVEMENT IN MATR1X FIRE?
• It’s a technical mess. Matr1x Fire has so many technical issues that it’s nearly unplayable. It took forever to log in, there were mid-game crashes, and there was constant lagging. This has to be one of the worst-performing mobile shooters I’ve played in my entire life, and that’s saying a lot.
• Not original. Matr1x Fire is a blatant copy of Counter-Strike 2. It duplicates iconic maps like Dust 2 and Inferno and alters just enough to avoid copyright infringement. It also brings over basically every weapon from Counter-Strike 2, changing up the look and name just enough to make them somewhat unique.
Oh, and it doesn’t just rip off Counter-Strike 2. Matr1x Fire also copies the kill announcer animation from Valorant and the ping sound effect from Apex Legends. I’m not furious that it lifted elements from other games, but I am disappointed by the complete lack of originality. I wish the game had a little more creativity to it. Matr1x Fire could have used Counter-Strike as inspiration and made a game that wasn’t just a clone.
• Not entertaining at all. Maybe it was the technical issues, but Matr1x Fire just wasn’t fun. I love a good mobile shooter, but it just feels like the developers behind this game copied Counter-Strike 2 without thinking about how it would translate to a smaller screen. None of the map designs are optimized for mobile, so there are way too many hiding spots, boxes, and corners to check and clear. There are also nineteen weapons in total, including pistols, which overcomplicates gameplay and makes combat a little stressful.
Of course, none of this would be an issue in a PC game, because players can easily navigate areas with a mouse and keyboard and figure out weaponry pretty fast. But since this is a mobile game played on a smaller screen with much, much quicker matches, this complexity is detrimental to the game as a whole. I really tried to like this game, but it just felt like a bland clone put together with no real care.
PLATFORM TESTED
Android via Samsung Galaxy Ultra S22 5G phone.
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