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High Moon Studios have been under the spotlight quite a
bit recently, thanks to their partnership with Sierra to develop
Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Conspiracy, the first
 videogame
adaptation of Robert Ludlum’s Spy-Thriller novel trilogy. Much
publicity has been given to the fact that the developers have
decided to adapt directly from the original novels, as opposed to
the more recent Hollywood motion-pictures – to the point of
constructing their own impression of protagonist Jason Bourne,
instead of creating a likeness of Matt Damon.
Featuring a new story penned by the screenwriter of the
motion pictures, Tony Gilroy, the game acts as a companion to
series. Playing as Jason Bourne operating under a Black-Ops
organisation called Treadstone, the player is tasked with
assassinating a former African dictator named Nykwana Wombosi; who
himself is aware of Bourne’s mission, and hires and assassin to take
you out. The first Level involves some minor skittering between
set-pieces and a few bouts of combat, leading you to believe the
rest of the game will be incredibly cinematic and balanced, such as
the likes of
Resident Evil 4 and
Lara Croft; Tomb Raider: Legend, however, this isn’t quite
the case. Soon, the quantity of Quick Time Entry sequences in the
game becomes more than annoying – especially when you’re left
wishing that the developers had given you the opportunity to graft
the is last twenty seconds of your own daring escape, after having
done an hour of legwork.
The story features the usual amount of twists and
revelations, as well as a buxom female, but is largely irrelevant to
the gameplay. Consisting of interchanges between close-combat,
cover-based shooting and Quick-Time Entry segments, the only affect
the plot has in the gameplay space is that of location.
The combat featured in the title is basic, at best. Most
combat sequence are initiated by a brief video sequence, before
travelling into a close-up of the two in combat – it seems shocking
that other enemies in the area will often simply wait for you to
beat their comrade before taking their turn. Those equipped with
guns, however, will open fire, and when combat sequences cannot be
broken once entered into, players will often find themselves being
gunned down due to an involuntary and inescapable bout of
fisticuffs. Takedowns are well implemented manoeuvres, yet somewhat
distance the player from the character they’re meant to be playing.
Animated sequences of smashing heads into electricity boxes is all
well and good, but when the infamous “pen attack” from the films and
books is performed simply by pressing the B Button when your
Takedown Meter allows while near a bright gold flashing object is
quite jarring.
The gunplay is from the Gears of War school of
snap-cover shooting. The selection of weaponry available is limited,
although fits the basic requirements of Pistol, Shotgun, Machine Gun
and Automatic Rifle. A Sniper Rifle is featured in the game, but
it’s inclusion is so completely dislocated that it’s acts as
principally uninvolving as utilising Takedowns. A scope-view appears
on-screen, and pans between targets asking the player to use a
Quick-Time Entry command to take out the enemy.
Despite the Press Release claims prior to launch, Robert Ludlum’s
The Bourne Conspiracy is incredibly linear. Not allowing any
room whatsoever for individual interpretation, limiting player
choices to the point where your super-spy is unable to use a ladder
to climb a wall, and must instead traipse directly through an enemy
building. Stating that the title is restrictive is most likely an
understatement.
The Bourne Instinct feature is also rather poorly implemented. While
at times it may be quite helpful – highlighting an object or person
of interest, as well as briefly noting enemy locations on your
Mini-Map – often it’ll simply spin the camera to an object you
didn’t destroy in the last bout of combat, rather than the gate you
need to go through just ahead of you.
The title is respectable graphically, sliding ahead of titles such
as
Turning Point: Fall Of Liberty and
The Incredible Hulk: The Official Videogame, and is largely free of glitches.
An grainy filter lends a unique aesthetic to Cut-Scenes and much of
the game, but such polish is let down by a lack of attention to
detail – such as no lip-synching, or movement at all, from your
on-screen avatar when communicating with his commanders. The music
is perhaps the best aspect of the game, flitting between ominous
“spy” music and thundering action rock with same tempo as the
increasing speed of your heart during tense moments.
High Moon Studios have indeed attempted to create something unique,
but the feeling that the wrong licence may have been chosen remains
apparent throughout. The player is never once asked to act as a spy
and, instead, is left to dish out punishment throughout the game’s
relatively short Single-Player Campaign. The close-combat can easily
be broken and the gunplay has been seen in countless games already
this year and, although borrowed wholesale from
Gears of War in itself, has been replicated better in titles
such as
Dark Sector. Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Conspiracy is
repetitive, poorly realised and, above all, simply lacks any real
sense of “fun”.
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