Rented The Bourne Conspiracy this week. As a huge Bourne fan, I eagerly checked out the demo last month and was quite impressed. The game follows the same formula as the demo - lots of quicktime events, lots of running, shooting, and lots and lots of fighting. Lots of fighting. And punching.

It’s a good job the fighting is done well. It’s very enjoyable, as is the shooting. Generally the game keeps up the action throughout - which is good, because it’s disappointingly short.

The game is based upon the Bourne Identity film - something I was disappointed at, instead expecting to get a compendium of all 3 films - more on that later.

Watching the film is a must - because the game leaves out a heck of a lot of plot which would need to be filled in. And the plot it does cover, it bends and skews to be more game-like, which is fair enough. But the mix of close-to-film content and cutscenes mixed with nothing-like-the-film missions is a bit annoying.

Many of the levels consist of “extra” stuff - flashbacks, mainly, to Bourne’s previous assassinations not covered in the film(s).

And yeah, overall it’s fun. Sometimes it gets frustrating and difficult, while other times feel piss easy.

The graphics are awesome. The UE3 engine hasn’t looked this good with such realistic characters. They just look phenomenal, and the high resolution textures are amazing to look at. However, in between missions the game switches to pre-rendered cutscenes, and within these cutscenes the models look terrible, completely unrealistic and almost like they’re aliens from outer space. It’s jarring and horrid - making cutscenes out of engine is so last decade.

The weapons, too, are unrealistic and don’t match the films. The limited range of weapons combined with the jetsetting nature of the missions makes them seem lazy and pointless. Jumping all over the world and through flashbacks only to find every enemy uses the same pistols, assault rifles, and shotguns is just… ehhh.

Onto the ending. If you’ve read my previous post about Alone in the Dark, you’ll know it’s got a bad ending. But Bourne’s is worse. One second you’re at the ending of Identity, raring to move onto Supremacy, and the next you’re fighting a boss fight which never happened in the films, and which breaks most of the continuity of Supremacy. And upon beating him, credits suddenly roll. There is no climactic boss fight - it certainly doesn’t feel like one. It’s almost as if the action just… runs out of steam. It smacks of laziness by the developers for what could be a very enjoyable game.

I completed Alone in the Dark today. It was pretty good. I’ve been hearing of really terrible scores made by internet sites, but I think if you’re going to read a proper review then check out Eurogamer’s review. The 7/10 is a pretty accurate score. It certainly deserves more than 3/10, at least.

I wandered into Blockbuster looking for The Bourne Conspiracy but it isn’t out until this friday. Great, I thought. Then I spied AITD, and nabbed it. Overall the game is fun - it took me about 8 hours, but I wasn’t really counting the hours, which is probably a good thing.

The combat is fun and frenetic, and while the clunky weapon switching and inventory may at first seem like an oversight, it can lead to the most frantic moments of the game. You certainly don’t feel like a one man army either - you absolutely have to rely on the things you can find, and always use your brain and your scavenged items to their best potential, instead of shooting your enemies which 90% results in only knocking them over for a short time. The only way to truly finish them off is with fire.

Oh, and what brilliant fire it is. The physics in this game are very, very good. Fire spreads realistically and destroys wood remarkably well. Fire becomes your most hated enemy along with your dearest friend.

The driving sequences are terrible, mainly because the cars themselves are very very badly done. If you hit anything at any speed, you stop instantly. It takes several seconds to start reversing and more to start forward again. Turning is very arcadey and seems that either you have the choice of going forward or turning in a direction all the way, with no midpoint. It’s like no one at Eden games actually drives a car, because after playing GTAIV and it’s brilliant cars, AITD feels horrid. One driving sequence took me about 10 tries to complete because of it’s instant death stupidity.

There are other annoyances. Some fighting sequences seem impossible to beat, and took several tries to come out in one piece. Other annoyances include some annoying black substance which you die if you touch. It moves if you shine light on it, which means that nine times out of ten you can’t see it as it’s in darkness and you’ll always walk on it and die. It gets very annoying.

But, like I said, this is a game for ingenuity. Puzzles require practical thought and the use of the tools at your disposal, and simply surviving requires you to scavenge and hoard materials, while managing the use of your very limited inventory space.

The final hour or so is a puzzle filled craziness which will really get you thinking, and is excellent - while the actual final ending is lacking. In a big, big way. I won’t spoil anything - but in both the two endings, neither actually offer any closure - and while it’s clear it’s open for a sequel, it isn’t explained well enough to get someone excited for that sequel. It’s just “oh, that’s it?”. Neither of the endings offer a win, and instead are both a lose-lose. Hell, even one of the endings did entirely the opposite of what I hoped would it would do by performing one action.

But, overall the game is good. The graphics are excellent and the puzzles more so. While this game was never really in my “buy” option, renting it was a good idea. I enjoyed the gameplay, and for someone who doesn’t enjoy survival horror games I was surprised to find I was enjoying it. But it’s less horror, and more survival action. It’s certainly no Silent Hill or Resident Evil.

If i’d actually spent £40 on this game, I’d be a bit annoyed. It simply isn’t worth that - but perhaps when the price goes down to £20 or so, then definately check it out.

Here’s the latest trailer, coincidentally featuring one of my favourite songs ever - “Burn My Shadow” by Unkle, who seem to be on a game rampage as of late, being featured in the Assassin’s Creed trailer, and in GTAIV.