First off, I have to say that I loved the Bourne movies. He was a new kind of spy. One that just went out and did it better than anyone else and Bourne didn’t need to use big explosions to get the job done. Let’s just say if you get into hand-to-hand combat with Jason Bourne, well, game over.

Now to the game. The action in the game comes from The Bourne Identity, but adds plenty of flashback missions so the game is pretty much one long action sequence. You play as Jason Bourne, and no you don’t look or sound like Matt Damon. This is because Damon didn’t lend his appearance or voice to the title. While I do think that it is pretty weak that you do not look or sound like Jason Bourne I can understand the reason: They probably couldn’t afford him.

Anyway, in keeping with the movies the action starts pretty much from the word go. The first thing you’ll notice about The Bourne Conspiracy is the hand-to-hand combat. It’s pretty amazing. You’re given two combat buttons, but - depending on the context of your movement - you’ll kick, knee, head butt, punch and snap necks. You can pull off some truly awesome combat chains that lead up to devastating finishing moves, or takedowns.

The moves are awesome and as you fight your adrenaline gauge fills up. Then, one button press and you’ll smash your enemy’s face through a window or door, break their bones, use them as a human shield or throw them off something. It’s very exciting stuff. Then there are the boss fights - where one big takedown move just isn’t enough. This means you will either have to store your adrenalin up until it’s completely full and open a can on them or constantly use your takedowns as soon as you get them. Either way you better have a plan and be smart about it.

After you beat a few “punks” the game changes a little bit. You get a gun. You can now hide behind destructible objects and either shoot your enemies from afar or go balls to the wall and run at them with guns a blazing.

One part of the game that some people don’t like very much are the Quick Time Events. Quick Time Events are when you X comes up and the screen and you quickly press X. Basically what this means is you’ll be button press super killing your enemies with your gun, tackling someone you’re running towards with a button press and pulling off some huge action set piece by pressing the right buttons at the right time. This makes some people ask, When did we stop performing the actions and start watching them? I can understand where they are coming from by doing this because from a developers stand point it is much easier to go to a cut scene than it is to actually make the character do that action in the game. Not saying I agree with it, but i can understand it, just don’t overuse it.

Oh, and while you are smashing heads don’t forget to use your Bourne sense. That’s right, you actually have a “Bourne sense”. You press a button and everything goes black and white except for your enemies who now glow and your objective will appear on your radar.

Overall The Bourne Conspiracy is solid. Most rating systems online seem to be giving it in the 7.0 to 8.0 range and I would agree with that. The graphics are solid, the music is perfect, the plot - especially the flashbacks, are incorporated well and the boss fights, the lengthy brawls where you’ll be using your environment as well as your fists and feet to fight, are very nice.

The Bourne Conspiracy was released in the US on June 3, 2008 and is set to release in Europe on June 27, 2008.

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