The Bourne Conspiracy Preview
A demo of the upcoming Bourne Conspiracy was released this week on Xbox LIVE marketplace. The demo is a short but sweet introduction to the action sequences of the game, and if it is any indication of the pace that the final game will keep, then hold on to your freakin’ hats.
There are snippets of three separate levels:
- Escape the Embassy - Bourne must rely only on his fist and quick wits to get past armed guards and Marines.
- Eliminate Divandelen – Bourne is on the move after Divandelen, an escaped convict, through subway tunnels and a getaway plane.
- Paris Chase – Drive through the streets of Paris and avoid the police in the process.
There’s clearly one thing that the demo wants to draw your attention to above all else: the hand to hand combat. The movie trilogy based upon the novels establishes Bourne as an incredibly fast, improvisational, and brutal combatant. This comes across in a big way.
As Bourne makes his way through the levels he will occasionally encounter opponents and immediately engage them. From that point forward you’re locked into a fight, no running away or even choosing other targets. This effectively eliminates many issues and highlights the fight at hand. The pacing is your typical “you attack, I block, then I attack, repeat”, but the pace and brutal nature of the fights is not.
The camera immediately sets the tone by zooming in as close as possible to both characters providing a frighteningly intimate perspective. It allows you to see every impact so clearly you practically feel it. The characters animate very well and once things start moving they move very quickly – fists and feet fly like lightening.
Bourne is capable of a light, heavy, and kick attack on top of blocking. Stringing attacks together results in some very satisfying combos. The moves and combos themselves, although repetitive, were full of brutally satisfying moves, like elbows, superman punches, and the like. As everything happens so quickly, it demands you immediately and unwavering attention.
As you fight, born builds up an adrenaline meter. Once a segment is full, Bourne can launch a finishing move that results in a brief cinematic of Bourne taking down the enemy in even more brutal and contextually sensitive manners. If you’re close to an object or wall, Bourne might trip up his opponent and smash his head into said object, or in one instance take a fire extinguisher of the wall and use it as a weapon.
Spicing things up further are your opponents finishing moves which require you to press as quickly as possible the properly indicated button to evade. Ditto goes for multiple enemies when an enemy you’re not directly engaged with comes at you. If you’re successful you’ll be rewarded with a brief cinematic of the evasion manoeuvres and the counterattacks to boot.
Gunplay isn’t nearly as solid but follows some now well established third person shooter staples: over the shoulder viewpoint, taking cover behind corners, and the like. Here too Bourne can build up his adrenaline meter and launch a bullet-time-like finishing move and accompanying cinematic. Not great, but an interesting and consistent mechanic.
Visually the game looks quite solid too, and produces some impressive looking Unreal Engine III visuals.
The game is shaping up to be a viscerally satisfying game at the very least. They’ve captured the feeling of Jason Bourne and the Bourne Identity action quite well. It remains to be seen, however, if this button mashing frenzy doesn’t grow old too quickly. By the time I was finished the demo my thumbs were close to sore, which is either a good thing or bad thing depending on your perspective.
The Bourne Conspiracy is set for release on June 3, 2008.
peachey @ May 7, 2008