However, having not enjoyed The Bourne Identity (the film), surely there’s something I’m missing as the novel and the film have been huge successes. So, with the boot on the other foot (my opinion), could the equation be 'good film = bad game' and 'bad film = good game'?

Surely it can’t be that simple... can it?

Those unaware of what (more specifically, who) Bourne is, I’ll give you a brief description.

Having two gunshots wounds in his back and being found floating in the sea on a stormy night by fishermen, the story starts for an unknown man. Although he has two gunshot wounds, what is more interesting is the Swiss bank account number he holds. Suffering from amnesia, this man sets out to see what is in the Swiss bank and thus, finds photos and more importantly, his passport. His passport shows that his name is James Bourne, and so this is where the story starts for Bourne.

The levels available in The Bourne Conspiracy are Escape the Embassy (practically a tutorial of how to combat guards, evade snipers and such), secondly is Eliminate Divandelen (this is where you get your hands on weapons), and finally is Paris Chase (this is where I got a taste of how to drive!).
Starting off in the American Embassy in Zurich, Switzerland, Bourne is straight away a wanted man and after a bit of shouting from guards within the Embassy, Bourne is put into his first combat situation against these guards; as previously mentioned, this is practically a tutorial to combat. Taking on three guards is a simple button-bashing experience. Using the X and Y buttons to punch and kick them is straight forward enough. Once your adrenaline is pumping, you can carry out more devastating kicks, although this can be risky as Bourne composes himself before delivering a ‘super kick’. What’s more, when you have enough tiers of adrenaline, Bourne can take down multiple enemies using his slick punches, grabs, dodges and breaks (that’s to the guards bones). When doing these moves, there’s always a hint in the bottom right of the screen, telling you to press B to practically finish your enemy off; whether it may be a broken neck or throwing them into walls, there is some great ‘finishers’ on offer.

As you’re running up the stairs, you’ll come across more enemies and you keep taking them down. This happens for a few minutes before you finally make it onto the roof. This is where it gets ‘interesting’. While avoiding the snipers that are trying to shoot you, you’re jumping across ledges and when you’re about to land on the rooftop, you’ve got a split-second to tap the button that appears on-screen. It’s annoyed me from time-to-time as I’ve played through them on the various difficulties.

Now we’re onto the weapons in the second level available, Eliminate Divandelen. This is probably my favourite level of the three. In an underground train network, Bourne has to chase Divandelen on the tracks, while avoiding gunfire and the oncoming trains. Taking out enemies with weaponry isn’t easy, but it’s not hard either. If only there was a cross-hair instead of a reticule. All you have is a small reticule to shoot your enemies; when locked on, it ‘expands’ and turns red so you know you’re going to hit your enemy. It’s as if High Moon only focused on the ‘finishing’ moves and the hand-combat as the weapons system isn’t all that good, it could be improved, especially the reticule to a cross-hair.

While you’re chasing Divandelen underground along the tracks, once you get up onto the ground, there’s a good shoot out with enemies and covering works quite well. Simply pressing A against a wall, box or container will put Bourne back-to-the-object and it’s quite useful. There’s drums of flammable liquid up here too and can be used to kill the enemies. The level has a good finish with Bourne taking to the skies and taking on Divandelen one-on-one, but Divandelen soon brandishes a knife and you can get cut up pretty badly, but with the action button being A (jump when you need to and is used to take cover), A is used to block/retreat when battling enemies. So, you can hit Divandelen a few times and retreat, before the level comes crashing down… but with Bourne inside the plane or has he survived? Play the demo to find out.
Finally, we get onto the vehicle part of the demo, and to be honest it’s a bit of a shambles.

As previously stated in the paragraph before last, High Moon seems to have concentrated on Bourne’s combat skills and not the weaponry, nor the vehicle/s. This ‘last’ level sees you driving about avoiding the police (which are shown on the radar as orange dots), and when you’re spotted, the ‘dot’ turns red and they pursue you for a few minutes. What you’re waiting for is the bridge to open, so driving around like a lunatic for a few minutes is all you need to do. The handling of the car (Mini Cooper) is very sloppy. There’s no skill needed (something that Bourne has). You simply drive about like a lunatic, avoiding cars, buses and shop windows and you don’t even have to break, you just have to be cautious when taking corners not to crash into the other vehicles. It’s somewhat shoddy and too ‘arcadey’.
Graphically and audio wise, The Bourne Conspiracy is a cracking looking title with superb audio - both in-game and in the sequences. I haven’t had any issues with the frame-rate dropping or the lip-syncing, it’s something that High Moon Studios have got spot-on, and hopefully it runs throughout the whole of the game, when released on the 27th June.

The controls in the game are very easy to get used to; it’s your typical pick-up-and-play title. RB is run, A is your action button (when jumping from ledges, taking cover), X and Y are your fighting buttons (kick and punch) and B is your ‘finisher’/press when shown on the screen. Y is also used to use Bourne’s instinct which gives you ‘hints’ of stuff to look out for. When using weaponry, LB brings up your gun and RT fires your weapon. Finally, there’s only three buttons to be used when driving: RT is to accelerate, LT is to break and B is to hand-brake.

Overall, The Bourne Conspiracy is shaping up to be your average action title. The hand-combat is great, the shooting is average and the driving is poor, it really is a mixed bag. It’s shaping up good, and if High Moon Studios can improve on the reticule and the driving, then The Bourne Conspiracy ‘could’ be a hit.