*Apologies ahead of time, this is a very long review and I have no idea how to upload pictures to make your eyes not bleed from all the text*
Who am I...? Am I a remorseless killer? Or am I a tortured assassin whom has just been programmed to kill? This is the question posed toward our main protagonist. You are Jason Bourne, the 30 million dollar weapon, trained by the government for nothing other then performing the most difficult assassinations. Going up against insurmountable odds, Bourne has been bred for any situation that he is thrown into, which is pretty evident given all the abilities he is equipped with to deal with the task at hand. Sounds for the makings of a pretty entertaining game, and it doesn't disappoint. Thankfully, High Moon Studios, the creators of The Bourne Conspiracy, don't fall into the pitfall of a movie videogame tie-in by making this a pseudo prequel to the movies, shining some light on missions before we take over for our favorite amnesic assassin. Hearing that reason alone should make anyone want to hear just how compelling this conspiracy is.
At the beginning of the game, you awaken to find yourself aboard a fishing vessel off the coast of Marseilles. Why you are here, who you are, what you do, nothing comes to mind but as you proceed through the game, all this slowly, but surely, comes back to you, whether or not you actually believe these are your memories is up to you, but one things for sure, there are a whole lot of people who want you dead. The game is based off of key sequences in The Bourne Identity but for life expectancy's sake and to help flesh out the story, they include flashbacks of previous missions in Bourne's life. All of the missions are great fun and getting some insight on just how effective Jason Bourne is on missions and on the run helps lend to the fact that you are in control of a 30 million dollar weapon. But how well does the game actually play?
The game handles itself phenomenally in its hand to hand combat most of the time. Bourne can lay down some serious hurt with just his fisticuffs alone and sometimes you think that the enemies would realize this and not charge blindly at him to try this tactic, but when they do, all the better for you. You have two means of attack-light and heavy- and you can string them together into three consecutive attacks, leaving you with eight combinations. There is also a block button which will be used for the harder difficulties. Along with these light and heavy punches, there are also kicks, which if held down, you will send a high velocity kick right into the chest or face of your opponent knocking them back quite a bit, its also unblockable making it key to tie this in with boss battles. At first, only eight combinations seem like nothing, but in practice, you will actually be grateful there aren't more. Since most enemies keep you on your toes during these hand to hand fights, you'll be trying to find your way past their defenses anyway.
Surprisingly, High Moon Studious managed to capture the brutal and visceral feel of the fast paced combat sequences of the movies. Each punch has a satisfying thud and crack across your enemies face. Another thing that keeps the combat flowing smoothly and keeps the action pumping is the implementation of a solid idea known as Takedowns. Takedowns are used with the simple press of the B button which have you either breaking your adversaries face/arm/leg/any part of the body you can think of with something within the environment or just your own bare hands. But in order to use said Takedown, one must have "Adrenaline". Adrenaline is attained by either shooting or beating the living hell out of an opponent. That being said, i'll jump to my next point about the environments. Just about everything in your environment has some sort of takedown applied to it, whether its ramming an enemy's face into a railing or pole or taking a pen and jabbing it into the oncoming fist of that boss you've been fighting off for the last 5 minutes. Which is another thing that takes center stage in this game.
Bosses. You hate them with a passion but they all hold a place in your heart no matter how hard(or easy) they are. The bosses in this game all have their own fighting styles and are keen to learning your moves just as well as you are theirs. This helps make for some pretty interesting boss fights since some can last for quite a while considering how offensive or defensive you make your Bourne. These fights make for some real fun and at the end of just about every level, they will put you on the edge of your seat trying to get in that last hit for the K.O. The music also helps the mood because towards the end of the fight you'll be at dangerously low health, bruised and battered, with the next fist being your last chance at life or death and the music will be at a pulse pounding crescendo and you use that one last takedown on the boss and you live to fight another day. However, nothing is perfect and the only gripe I have with the hand to hand combat system is that if you are in a shoot-out and for some reason are bum rushed by an enemy, you'll disarm that enemy and then are free to all the other bullets coming from his friends to hit you and put you down. It would be nice if the idea of putting your enemies back to their bullets worked, but sadly it doesn't. That about wraps up the fists of fury portion, now onto the gunplay.
Clearly, the gunplay wasn't at the forefront of the development teams table. Although it does work, it doesn't work well enough to warrant any true praise. Being a 3rd Person game, the shooting is of course going to be in 3rd Person. Now this is all well and good, but you have to implement a cover system with cover available at any given time in case a shoot-out does arrive right on your doorstep without so much as a hello. You can take cover behind just about any object, even if it gives you next to no cover at all and some of the things are destructible that you or your enemies decide to hide behind. Being Bourne, he should have some exceptional accuracy with any gun he picks up and for your sake, he does. Taking down enemies is fairly easy as a headshot will take him down and a few shots to the chest will also do. There are also Shooting Takedowns which I found to be pretty entertaining especially when you use a pistol because of the way Bourne moves as he pulls off all of these stunts. However, as I mentioned earlier, when you happen to find yourself in some gunfights, cover isn't always available and some cover that is, is easily shot around or flanked. These problems with cover though are few and far between and for what its worth, the gunplay does work.
One last part about the gameplay is that there is in fact, a driving sequence. The controls are tight and the use of the "Bourne Instinct" helps you out by slowing down time and giving you a little bit more time to react to that oncoming police truck that is about to ram you head on. I was pleasantly surprised by this level and found it to be a nice change of pace from all the shooting and fisticuffs being thrown down. Good thing though, High Moon Studios was acute on the idea that making another driving level would not be a good idea and left us with just this one enjoyable romp through the streets of Paris. I say this because the physics for the driving aren't the best there has ever been and the fact that your car can stop on a dime seems a bit too unrealistic, but as said before, its only for one level so it isn't particularly unbearable.
Graphically, the game offers large character models and acceptable environments by today's standards. The animations are also well done, especially making the fighting seem very fast-paced with all the punches that are being thrown. There isn't much more to talk about with the graphics except for the fact that they get the job done and then some.
The AI in the game make for some interesting gunfights and brawls. If any of the enemies manage to make it through a few of your deadly blows, they'll adapt to your fighting style and remember when to block and when to throw a punch. In gunfights, they also know how and when to flank your position which also help make for some intense shootouts, given the right amount of cover is around. They utilize cover better then you will in most cases and know when your reloading and when its time to pop out and lay down some covering fire for their buddies. The AI does what it does best, being stubborn and never backing down even though you just shot 5 of its allies down and its next.
Now its time for one of the most hated features in games these days, Quick Time Events. Harken back to the days of Shenmue which applied this idea very well into video games and now all of the games that use it just as another gameplay gimmick. Fear not though weary reader, The Bourne Conspiracy got it right. No more worrying about whether or not there is going to be giant X in your face saying "PRESS ME NOW OR DIE!". The developers were keen on the idea of exploring the "Bourne Instinct" which is basically a hint system added into the game to give you an edge against your enemies and added a hoo-ing sound, almost like a pigeon/owl sound which alarms you to get ready for the QTE coming up. Other developers should take a hint instead of just giving us the "Game Over" screen because we were blissfully unaware of the Quick Time Events in their game.
Being a review of the 360 version of the game, I feel as if I should mention the achievements. Its your standard number, 1000 points for the game and many of them are easily achieved by just playing through the game. Also, for both versions of the game, there are passports which are collectibles that unlock boss battles and concept art and things of that nature. However, in a game like this, which is based on fast-paced, edge of your seat action, having to look around for passports gets a bit tiresome. Yet I find myself unable to complain about this because nobody is forcing you to search them down.
Now that all of the bases have been covered, I leave it up to you to decide if you should buy this game or not. But at the very least, I strongly recommend a rental. If your a fan of the movies, or just looking for a thrill ride, The Bourne Conspiracy more then fits the bill for you. As for me, I'll be impatiently waiting for a sequel to this gem of a game.
I apologize wholeheartedly for making this review painfully long, but I fell in love with this game.
Who am I...? Am I a remorseless killer? Or am I a tortured assassin whom has just been programmed to kill? This is the question posed toward our main protagonist. You are Jason Bourne, the 30 million dollar weapon, trained by the government for nothing other then performing the most difficult assassinations. Going up against insurmountable odds, Bourne has been bred for any situation that he is thrown into, which is pretty evident given all the abilities he is equipped with to deal with the task at hand. Sounds for the makings of a pretty entertaining game, and it doesn't disappoint. Thankfully, High Moon Studios, the creators of The Bourne Conspiracy, don't fall into the pitfall of a movie videogame tie-in by making this a pseudo prequel to the movies, shining some light on missions before we take over for our favorite amnesic assassin. Hearing that reason alone should make anyone want to hear just how compelling this conspiracy is.
At the beginning of the game, you awaken to find yourself aboard a fishing vessel off the coast of Marseilles. Why you are here, who you are, what you do, nothing comes to mind but as you proceed through the game, all this slowly, but surely, comes back to you, whether or not you actually believe these are your memories is up to you, but one things for sure, there are a whole lot of people who want you dead. The game is based off of key sequences in The Bourne Identity but for life expectancy's sake and to help flesh out the story, they include flashbacks of previous missions in Bourne's life. All of the missions are great fun and getting some insight on just how effective Jason Bourne is on missions and on the run helps lend to the fact that you are in control of a 30 million dollar weapon. But how well does the game actually play?
The game handles itself phenomenally in its hand to hand combat most of the time. Bourne can lay down some serious hurt with just his fisticuffs alone and sometimes you think that the enemies would realize this and not charge blindly at him to try this tactic, but when they do, all the better for you. You have two means of attack-light and heavy- and you can string them together into three consecutive attacks, leaving you with eight combinations. There is also a block button which will be used for the harder difficulties. Along with these light and heavy punches, there are also kicks, which if held down, you will send a high velocity kick right into the chest or face of your opponent knocking them back quite a bit, its also unblockable making it key to tie this in with boss battles. At first, only eight combinations seem like nothing, but in practice, you will actually be grateful there aren't more. Since most enemies keep you on your toes during these hand to hand fights, you'll be trying to find your way past their defenses anyway.
Surprisingly, High Moon Studious managed to capture the brutal and visceral feel of the fast paced combat sequences of the movies. Each punch has a satisfying thud and crack across your enemies face. Another thing that keeps the combat flowing smoothly and keeps the action pumping is the implementation of a solid idea known as Takedowns. Takedowns are used with the simple press of the B button which have you either breaking your adversaries face/arm/leg/any part of the body you can think of with something within the environment or just your own bare hands. But in order to use said Takedown, one must have "Adrenaline". Adrenaline is attained by either shooting or beating the living hell out of an opponent. That being said, i'll jump to my next point about the environments. Just about everything in your environment has some sort of takedown applied to it, whether its ramming an enemy's face into a railing or pole or taking a pen and jabbing it into the oncoming fist of that boss you've been fighting off for the last 5 minutes. Which is another thing that takes center stage in this game.
Bosses. You hate them with a passion but they all hold a place in your heart no matter how hard(or easy) they are. The bosses in this game all have their own fighting styles and are keen to learning your moves just as well as you are theirs. This helps make for some pretty interesting boss fights since some can last for quite a while considering how offensive or defensive you make your Bourne. These fights make for some real fun and at the end of just about every level, they will put you on the edge of your seat trying to get in that last hit for the K.O. The music also helps the mood because towards the end of the fight you'll be at dangerously low health, bruised and battered, with the next fist being your last chance at life or death and the music will be at a pulse pounding crescendo and you use that one last takedown on the boss and you live to fight another day. However, nothing is perfect and the only gripe I have with the hand to hand combat system is that if you are in a shoot-out and for some reason are bum rushed by an enemy, you'll disarm that enemy and then are free to all the other bullets coming from his friends to hit you and put you down. It would be nice if the idea of putting your enemies back to their bullets worked, but sadly it doesn't. That about wraps up the fists of fury portion, now onto the gunplay.
Clearly, the gunplay wasn't at the forefront of the development teams table. Although it does work, it doesn't work well enough to warrant any true praise. Being a 3rd Person game, the shooting is of course going to be in 3rd Person. Now this is all well and good, but you have to implement a cover system with cover available at any given time in case a shoot-out does arrive right on your doorstep without so much as a hello. You can take cover behind just about any object, even if it gives you next to no cover at all and some of the things are destructible that you or your enemies decide to hide behind. Being Bourne, he should have some exceptional accuracy with any gun he picks up and for your sake, he does. Taking down enemies is fairly easy as a headshot will take him down and a few shots to the chest will also do. There are also Shooting Takedowns which I found to be pretty entertaining especially when you use a pistol because of the way Bourne moves as he pulls off all of these stunts. However, as I mentioned earlier, when you happen to find yourself in some gunfights, cover isn't always available and some cover that is, is easily shot around or flanked. These problems with cover though are few and far between and for what its worth, the gunplay does work.
One last part about the gameplay is that there is in fact, a driving sequence. The controls are tight and the use of the "Bourne Instinct" helps you out by slowing down time and giving you a little bit more time to react to that oncoming police truck that is about to ram you head on. I was pleasantly surprised by this level and found it to be a nice change of pace from all the shooting and fisticuffs being thrown down. Good thing though, High Moon Studios was acute on the idea that making another driving level would not be a good idea and left us with just this one enjoyable romp through the streets of Paris. I say this because the physics for the driving aren't the best there has ever been and the fact that your car can stop on a dime seems a bit too unrealistic, but as said before, its only for one level so it isn't particularly unbearable.
Graphically, the game offers large character models and acceptable environments by today's standards. The animations are also well done, especially making the fighting seem very fast-paced with all the punches that are being thrown. There isn't much more to talk about with the graphics except for the fact that they get the job done and then some.
The AI in the game make for some interesting gunfights and brawls. If any of the enemies manage to make it through a few of your deadly blows, they'll adapt to your fighting style and remember when to block and when to throw a punch. In gunfights, they also know how and when to flank your position which also help make for some intense shootouts, given the right amount of cover is around. They utilize cover better then you will in most cases and know when your reloading and when its time to pop out and lay down some covering fire for their buddies. The AI does what it does best, being stubborn and never backing down even though you just shot 5 of its allies down and its next.
Now its time for one of the most hated features in games these days, Quick Time Events. Harken back to the days of Shenmue which applied this idea very well into video games and now all of the games that use it just as another gameplay gimmick. Fear not though weary reader, The Bourne Conspiracy got it right. No more worrying about whether or not there is going to be giant X in your face saying "PRESS ME NOW OR DIE!". The developers were keen on the idea of exploring the "Bourne Instinct" which is basically a hint system added into the game to give you an edge against your enemies and added a hoo-ing sound, almost like a pigeon/owl sound which alarms you to get ready for the QTE coming up. Other developers should take a hint instead of just giving us the "Game Over" screen because we were blissfully unaware of the Quick Time Events in their game.
Being a review of the 360 version of the game, I feel as if I should mention the achievements. Its your standard number, 1000 points for the game and many of them are easily achieved by just playing through the game. Also, for both versions of the game, there are passports which are collectibles that unlock boss battles and concept art and things of that nature. However, in a game like this, which is based on fast-paced, edge of your seat action, having to look around for passports gets a bit tiresome. Yet I find myself unable to complain about this because nobody is forcing you to search them down.
Now that all of the bases have been covered, I leave it up to you to decide if you should buy this game or not. But at the very least, I strongly recommend a rental. If your a fan of the movies, or just looking for a thrill ride, The Bourne Conspiracy more then fits the bill for you. As for me, I'll be impatiently waiting for a sequel to this gem of a game.
I apologize wholeheartedly for making this review painfully long, but I fell in love with this game.
