This is an enhanced review of The Bourne Conspiracy, which means you will see extra features such as audio clips, videos, and possibly other surprises that are not usually found in other reviews. This review contains segments of an interview with Rory Mcguire, the lead game designer at High Moon Studios and of The Bourne Conspiracy.
We mentioned last week that we went to High Moon Studios to get an early glimpse from the game - The Bourne Conspiracy. What we failed to realize was the amount of time it looks was put into this game, which we can easily see from our first play through of the game. From the opening scenes in Paris, we got the idea that this wasn’t just a game, but also a movie - with a lot of time put into the cut scenes, which are reminiscent of the Bourne films, minus Matt Damon.
Before we started our review, we wondered if Matt Damon was going to be in the game, since he was the face of the movie series, starring in all three Bourne films. Yet, as you can probably tell at this point, he isn’t going to be, and can get your answer in the audio clip…
As for the game itself, when I first played the game, I played on the Trainee (easy) difficulty. Let me warn you in advance, do not bother playing this game on Trainee. It will take away any fun factor that the game offers, since the fun part is the challenge that the game offers when playing on a Agent - Assassin (medium - hard) difficulty. Between the gun fights, to switching to hand to hand combat simultaneously, you’ll be facing different types of fighting throughout the game.
Lets not confuse the statement I just made. The game offers a unique approach to the combat system, but not too much variety. You have the two types of fist punches, the two kicks, the blocking system (holding A), and can do up to three punch combos. However for those looking to chain together more than three combos, will be disappointed, because instead of having a variety of attacks, more emphasis was put into the different finishing moves, and attack cinematic for bosses. The cool part is that everything can be used as a weapon when in the hand to hand combat mode. I mean everything, throwing the enemy into a copy machine, paintings, picking up fire extinguishers. It makes the game interesting, since I am usually accustomed to getting bored with the same “ending” to a battle in other types of games.
The shooting in the game is also a bit limited. You can switch off between two types of weapons, a hand gun, and an assault rifle or shotgun. Yet, no grenades, and no rocket launchers. We also didn’t encounter any sniper type rifles, at least outside the cut scenes. You may want to adjust your settings a little bit so you can handle aiming a bit easier. The cover system also works well, using a similar Gears of War type style, press A to duck, and press A again to get out of cover. Sorry though, the game doesn’t have any blind fire.
The graphics flow with the fast gameplay, having debris flying off the buildings, paintings falling, glass bottles shattering, all going on while in these hectic firefights, where the AI is slowly getting closer to you, following commands being made by bosses at some points. Not the best graphics in the world, but they seem to fit the gameplay very well as the Bourne character looks realistic enough, along with the other characters. The AI is very good, and very “aware,” knowing where you are, and moving closer and closer for the kill. So as your health meter is slowly going up, while hiding behind a pillar, the enemies will start working smarter to force you out, getting right in your face if they have to.
Despite the game being limited in some senses - no multiplayer, lack of weapon choices, and the fact that most major elements of the game take place during a cutscene (which will require you to hit either A, B, X or Y in time), the game is enjoyable, especially for the Bourne fan. It does a wonderful job mixing both gameplay and movie into one, giving The Bourne Conspiracy a nice unique feel. I mean, nothing in the game is revolutionary, yet so long as the game is fun, who cares!
When purchasing the game, keep in mind that the lack of multiplayer somewhat takes away the replayability that the game might have offered. The decision depends on the amount of time you will put into the game. If you can put in about five hours a day for a straight week, you may be able to beat the game on even the hardest difficulties. Yet, if you are going to be trying to score 1000 points on the achievements, you may want to spend more time on the game, as some of them will require some more effort, such as the 90% accuracy achievements.
All and all, we enjoyed the game, and are still playing it. We are interested to know what you all think though. If you picked up the game, would you recommend it to others?
The review was done on the Assassin difficulty of the game.
