Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy - hands-on

A smaller portion of the game involves the mode known as Escape and Evade, where Bourne won’t be able to kill his opponents because they are members of law enforcement, and therefore “innocent.” In these instances, as the mode’s name makes obvious, you’ll have to run from the law. Judicious use of the sprint button is necessary, and taking advantage of the Bourne Instinct helps you plot a course and avoid enemies. Periodically you’ll have to overcome quick-time events (you know the drill – press a button according to an on-screen prompt within a second or die instantly). Luckily, save points are not sparse, so if a particular QTE gets you caught/killed, you won’t have much to retrace. However, a single QTE won’t ask for the same button twice, so you can’t just sleepwalk through them.

The fourth mode Conspiracy offers is High Speed Pursuit, which is basically one long level where you’ll take part in a typical Bourne car chase. The narrow streets and streams of oncoming traffic create some pretty hectic moments. The portion we played was fairly simple – we weren’t sure if it had enough depth to justify its inclusion in the game – but we only got to see a small part, and the final game will boast an extended sequence that may very well deliver the excitement you’d expect from a Bourne movie.

The overall experience is certainly varied when considering the hand-to-hand combat, shooting, foot chases, and the driving section. It’s hard to say if Conspiracy can juggle these elements effectively and keep them deep enough to maintain the player’s interest. The look and feel of the Bourne universe is undeniably captured, and looks like it will draw in fans of the movies and books. Players will get a chance to decide for themselves if the mishmash of action types works in May, when the downloadable demo hits Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network.

Apr 21, 2008