The Bourne Conspiracy

27.06.08

If you want to know what a poor bastard Jason Bourne is, you have to read our preview of "The Bourne Conspiracy". We have already talked about this subject in detail. Okay - he is not all that poor, because what drops by your place in the shape of "The Bourne Conspiracy" can be safely described as one of the best book/movie adaptations in the last few years. Let the action begin.

Anyone who knows the books or films with the name "Bourne" in the title (altogether three of them), knows what action means. Or rather - he knows how James Bond gets along in the 21st century (quite apart from the masterly performance of Daniel Craig). Here it really rips - in two ways. As you might imagine, the agent game is far from having something in common with "sneaking" or "proceeding unnoticed". While you fight your way through the linear levels, with a Jason Bourne stricken by amnesia, all sorts of scum cross your path.

You can eliminate the henchmen either in direct close combat, or with diverse firearms. I recommend using close combat as often as possible. Because what you are offered here are - and now I can use the sentence from my preview again - the greatest thrashing scenes currently available for your home console. Not because J.B. (no, not Jim Beam, I mean Jason Bourne) can do the greatest combos - the fighting system is kept relatively simple and apart from that you have the beat 'em up games for combos - but because Jason has the most diverse take-downs I have ever seen in. And it works like this.

As it is in life, you get adrenaline for each hit (with a weapon or fist). If one of the three adrenaline bars is full, you can eliminate your opponents with take-downs, that’s what I call the "finishing moves". Depending on where you are at the time, Jason uses the surroundings to his advantage. If there is a railing nearby, Jason forcefully smashes the head of the adversary on the metal. Ouch. Normal henchmen can only cope with one take-down. Intermediate opponents require around 3 - 4 take-downs and boss fights demand a few more. At the same time the game is never unfair or impossible. If you decide to get rid of the opponent with a shooter, Jason can utilise a well functioning cover system. It is a mystery to me why he cannot fire blindly from cover. Oh yes - the take-downs also work if you are holding a gun - but never as spectacularly as the fist take-downs.

The whole game is staged extremely cinematically. Just the brawls themselves have Hollywood quality. But also the cut sequences are quite impressive. Sometimes you also have to intervene in the proceedings of the cut sequence, à la "Fahrenheit", by pressing the buttons shown on the screen on your pad. If you miss the buttons, it is game over and you have to start again from the last checkpoint. Speaking of checkpoints, High-Moon Studios could spread them out a bit more generously. Especially in the more tricky parts it can sometimes be frustrating to be thrown back almost 10 minutes.

Graphically, the game is not a major thriller, despite the Unreal 3 engine. In addition to this, the textures in some parts are too blurred. The car models (of the parked cars) could have been done with a few more polygons. Apart from that the explosions don't look as if they had gone to a lot of trouble there. That is not too important, on the other hand "The Bourne Conspiracy" has some great details that are staged magnificently. If you hide behind a bar counter, it could well be that one of the beer taps takes a shot and the lovely amber nectar is spilt all over the floor. Musically, the game is soundly accentuated, whereby the soundtrack is not too intrusive and the synchronisation turned out well. Especially in the cut sequences you really believe the amnesia of poor Jason. You also see the love for details from the developers when you steer Bourne through the Zurich airport and see that the original signs from the airport have been used.