76. Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy

(Xbox360/PS3, Sierra, 2008)
Jason Bourne is a cool character, the invention of the late Robert Ludlum, Bourne is a perfectly trained assassin who, after losing his memory, attempts to flee his past and live a normal life. Due to his shady government background however, Bourne is stalked night and day and will be looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life.

The Bourne Conspiracy is a fast paced third person shooter, with a heavy emphasis placed on hand to hand combat and quick time events. It looks pretty good and has a great movie style soundtrack by Paul Oakenfold, which suits the "Time is running out" situations Jason constantly finds himself in. The game recounts the events of the first film, with some missions from Jason's past added to pad the game out, even with those, the game is very short and will take most players no time at all.

The hand to hand is a mixed bag, Upon encountering an opponent, Jason fights via a series of combos which look quite good but leaves the player a little dry, as if they're not really in control. After landing several hits, Jason busts out a takedown set-piece, these are essentially finishing maneuvers that often use the surrounding environment or, failing that, much snappage of arm and leg. These takedowns are DAMN cool, capturing the spirit of Bourne's fighting style perfectly.
The shooting is badly done. While it isn't totally unreliable, the aiming is questionable and you will often be left perplexed as a blatant headshot appears to completely miss it's target. I understand that it can add realism to have the odd stray bullet in a shooter, but you're playing as Jason Bourne who is supposed to be a honed to perfection assassin, the idea of his shooting being inaccurate is ridiculous and betrays the character.

There is also a psychotically destructive driving level where Bourne and Marie attempt to outrun the cops in Paris. Many critics hated this level, claiming it had ridiculous handling and unrealistic physics, I disagree, Bourne is like Bond and to complain about his world being unrealistic is to miss the point. Why does Bourne drive straight through shops in a Mini Cooper at 200mph and come out unscathed? Because he's Bourne.

Basically, TBC is one of the most cinematic games Ive ever played, its fast paced, violent and sticks closely to the source material. However, its SO cinematic that it sacrifices control and is crammed with QTE's and linear pathways.
It comes down to the trade off, do you mind being blinkered and placed "on rails" if it means you get to play through some great action sequences?
I personally don't mind, because it's a short blast and they're are many other better games I can play afterwards. For me at least, The Bourne Conspiracy is a fast, exciting slugfest which takes up very little of my time. It just won't be to everyone's taste.
Thanks to Sierra, I too can be a 30 million dollar malfunctioning weapon and I can do it in my pants while eating Mullerice and not getting punched in the mouth.