Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy (Xbox 360) Review
Posted by Ty Huston on 06.26.2008
You are Jason Bourne. You don't know who you are. That doesn't really matter in this game.
Game: Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Conspiracy
System: Xbox 360
Developer: High Moon Studios
Publisher: Vivendi Games / Sierra
First and foremost, I must apologize for the delay with this review. I’ve been in the process of moving, which is definitely my favorite thing to do, and has made it a little difficult to sit down and play the game.
Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Conspiracy is actually based more on the book than the film and only covers the portion of the films that would be considered the first movie. That being the case, you can automatically consider this game as being short. I think it took me about 10 hours to beat this game on the easy or “trainee” mode. While not overly difficult (a lot of games can be vicious even on the lowest difficulty setting), the game provides a fast pace and a fun experience for what it is.
Every Bourne was kung-fu fighting … HA!
Gameplay
The game, as typical, gives you an opening menu filled with options such as starting a new campaign, checking out extra features and inputting cheat codes. Once you begin the new campaign, you are immediately immersed into playing Jason Bourne – although not the Matt Damon version since he is more interested in advocating against violence to children.
You start out and you play some missions that happened before the stuff in the movies. You also get to play the mission where you are supposed to kill the African diplomat Wombosi. That mission in itself is a little strange as you always had this feeling in the movies that while Jason Bourne was a bad ass, he was also a master of stealth. Not according to this game. He can rack up collateral damage very, very easily. The Wombosi mission has him basically thrashing everything on Wombosi’s boat and yet somehow the guy is dead asleep when we finally find him.
Yeah, I know. It’s weird.
Anyway, the controls to the game work well for the most part. The left analog stick moves you while the right changes your direction as is standard. The Y button is handy in that it activates the “Bourne Instinct” which is basically a radar to help you find enemies and objectives. On the one hand, it’s incredibly helpful (and in the two difficulty levels above trainee, you’ll be docked adrenaline for using it) but it also makes things rather simple.
Hand-to-hand combat is where this game truly shines. The sequences are fluid, full of awesome moves and interact with your environment. For example, the Y and X buttons are your hard and light attacks while the A button is your block. According to the game, if you use different sequences of the buttons to attack, you’ll do combos which cause more damage. What I have found, is that you mash the buttons all together and you basically can whip anybody’s ass and do combos out the ying yang. If you try crap like “Y, Y, X” or “X, A, Y” you’ll get your ass handed to you and never do any combos. Why? I don’t know. But the moves look sweet.
Of course, fighting also increases your adrenaline. When you reach a certain level of adrenaline, you can press the B button to do grapples.
Dude, the grapples are awesome. If you’re near a wall, you smash the guy’s head into the wall. If you’re near a railing, you throw him off the railing. They are so cool, I don’t want to spoil them but they are pretty much the most awesome part of the entire game.
SILENCE INFIDEL! I keel you.
Sometimes, however, you just have to shoot someone. The mechanic for the shooting sequences are decent enough, although with Bourne being capable of doing all this other stuff it’d be nice if he could use his eagle eye and zoom in just a tad on guys who are far away. However, it didn’t stop me from scooping up head shot left and right. When your adrenaline reaches its point with shooting, you can hit the B button and Bourne automatically blasts someone with a slow motion type of sequence. Your weapons are pretty much four types – pistols, automatic handguns, automatic rifles and shotguns. Pistols and shotguns work the best, but a lot of times you’ll be stuck using the rifles handguns because you have no other ammo available.
My Mini Cooper is better than your Mini Cooper.
Also, there is a scene where Jason and Marie are trying to escape the police and you have to drive. The car handles well, and Marie yells at you the entire time about how you need to escape (annoying), but what are screwy is the other police. One second they don’t even chase you and the next they box you in. It’s a pain in the butt and not a whole lot of fun.
Finally, the most annoying part of the game deals with cut scenes. Oh there will be cut scenes. Lots of cut scenes. It seems nearly each cut scene pops up and you’ll hear a sound indicator, followed by the controller layout hopping onscreen and blinking a button for you to push. You have to time hitting this button right or you’re dead. No mistakes allowed here. If you have a sniper rifle and there are 20 guys around that are looking to snipe you back, you’d better be ready because you’ll be smashing buttons in sequence for all you’ve got.
Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck.
Graphics
Bourne has licensed the Unreal Engine for this game and it really helps the looks of things. They’ve done a terrific job with collision detection and detail as well and creating fluid and realistic animations. It makes the break neck pace of the game look great while you’re cracking skulls and blowing stuff up.
Sound
The music is fare, the sound effects are fine and they’ve even got some of the voice work down, using the same guy who voiced Conklin in the movies in the game as well. Overall, a nice job although sometimes the commands yelled at Jason (especially from Marie during the car chase) can get really old, really quick.
Lasting Appeal
As I said, it took me about 10 hours to beat on the lowest difficulty setting but after seeing that much of the game I’m not sure why you’d want to play it again. Since the game only covers the first movie, I suppose they are trying to leave it open for sequels, but the game could really have used the additional content to make it worthwhile.
Fun Factor
Make no mistakes about it – The Bourne Conspiracy is a fun game to play. The hand-to-hand combat sequences, the shotgun blasts, the awesome grapples all make this game one that is definitely worth renting. I personally wouldn’t purchase the game due to its lack of replay ability, but if you’re a massive Bourne fan you’ll be happy to know that the game does work and does not suck.
The 411
Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Conspiracy is a fine game with a fun hand-to-hand combat system. Beyond that, it meets about the average requirements for a game in today’s market – good sound, quality graphics and animation and a popular license. Unfortunately, the short lived campaign and lack of replay value hurt the game quite a bit. Regardless, it’s worth a rental so pick it up and give it a try. The story of the book and movie are greatly overshadowed by the action sequences of the game which make for a fast pace and fun time, but if you have problems forgetting that Jason Bourne has amnesia - don't feel bad. It's not important anyway.
Graphics
8.0
Solid animation, detail and collision detection you've come to expect from this generation of games.
Gameplay
8.0
The hand-to-hand combat looks great, it just doesn't work that great. Shooting and driving scenes are decent. Nothing mind boggling here beyond watching Jason Bourne whip ass with his bare fists.
Sound
7.0
Quality sound work with good mood music, great effects and excellent voice acting. In fact, Marie has been cast and portrayed better in the game than in the movie. Go figure.
Lasting Appeal
4.0
This one hurts this game. It just doesn't have much going for it after that first win. Sure, if you're like me and beat it on the lowest difficulty setting, then there's nothing left to do besides beat it on the next two difficulty levels. Seriously, thou
Fun Factor
7.0
Regardless, the game is a lot of fun so check it out. I give the developers a thumbs up for the game overall, but perhaps a little more attention to the fighting systems and replay value.
