Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy

Deriving most of its content from the Bourne Identity film, if you’re a fan on an action packed foray into the world of amnesiac spies then Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Conspiracy by High Moon Studios is for you. Offering a pleasant amount of combat diversity, this title is an odd but interesting mix and match of action for the player to enjoy.

Gameplay

The gameplay is pretty straightforward. You move from point A to point B while encountering enemies along the way; you’ll encounter a mini boss half way through the mission and a main boss at the end. This game is a mish mash of different genres, it has shooting sections, a driving mission and it has a great deal of close quarters hand to hand fighting that I have to admit, were actally quite satisfying to play.

The shooting sections are a run of the mill cover shooter style, the enemy hit boxes are a little inconsistent but ultimately they serve a purpose and convey what they need to. Where the game shines is in its close quarters combat scenes, with a combination of X and Y button bashing to get destructive combos to defeat your enemies. There are finishers in these scenes that are really satisfying; the punches have a nice weight to them with nice sound effects and the enemy combatant reacts properly to being force fed a knuckle sandwich. There is also a semi-destructible environment that I found really helped the whole ferocious feel of Jason’s efficient fight style. Destroying your enemies by beating them against tables, hitting them with crowbars, throwing them against bookshelves and other such moves are all awesome power moves but when you damage the environment too, it really feels nice and tickles that part in your brain that makes you feel powerful.

It plays quite similarly to Uncharted: Drakes Fortune with those 3rd person shoot ‘em up scenes and a huge amount of action. It just lacked the charm of the protagonist and the depth and intrigue of the story. A great deal of the game is completing quick time events, most of which result in immediate death if failed and provides no alternate route for victory. Frustrating to some but definitely adds an element of intensity to the action scenes.

The Look

The game doesn’t look too bad to be fair to it. Ignoring the fact they couldn’t get Matt Damon’s likeness and switched Bournes model to some interchangeable and relatively indistinguishable white guy, we still know who we’re controlling. The world and settings are of an acceptable standard in style and detail but I often found I barely had enough time to even look at it with the mad action fest that occupies most of the games run time.

The game chooses not to focus on long held camera shots and elects to adopt the fast paced editing style prevalent in the films. Sure, its choppy look gives a strong frenetic feel to the combat but it can also make the fights hard to follow.

The Story

Yep, I’m pretty sure there is one but the developers are following the movies which were hard enough to follow themselves sometimes. Essentially, the Story is apparent and its fine but it’s really not what the game wants you to focus on. It’s a lot of Bourne travelling around and kicking ass and I’ve got no problem with that.

Pros

• Awesome and engaging action
• Satisfying fight scenes

Cons

• Convoluted plot
• Any realistic person would have died during the first mission