I finally got around to trying The Bourne Conspiracy demo last night. It was an utter disappointment. I’m a big fan of all three of the Bourne movies and I had high hopes for the game. I probably should have thought that through and I would have had more realistic expectations. The graphics for the game look pretty good and the sound is not bad, but the controls and the camera kill this one for me. There are three different types of levels: shooting, driving, and melee, and the demo has one of each. The driving level was actually pretty easy. It consisted of driving around until you can ditch the police following you and then drive through a tunnel to escape. However, if you drive down one of the smaller alleyways you pretty much loose all the police right away. As you approach the tunnel a button press sequence comes up that basically lets you control a cut scene as you finish the escape. This part is pretty easy as long as you’re ready for it. If you’re not paying attention then you can easily miss the first button causing you to have to replay from the last checkpoint.

The melee sections I found extremely frustrating because you can’t control the camera and attack at the same time. So, once you finish one guy off then you may have a guy behind you that you can’t see who will hit you in the back as you try to turn and find him. The fighting is pretty lame too. You have a quick hit, a heavy hit, and a block button. I don’t think I ever blocked. I just went back and forth between the quick and hard hits until my adrenaline meter filled up and then I used the “take down” button to finish the guy off without any skill involved. It was a real waste. I’m not looking for all the fighting options something like Soul Caliber has, but at least 3 or 4 different attack buttons would be more realistic to a guy who is suppose to be a walking weapon.

The shooting level was even worse. When you’re shooting you move slower and it is harder to aim precisely. The weapons feel really weak and take a lot of shots to kill a guy even if you’re hitting them in the head. There is a cover system while you have a gun out, but it works really poorly. I pretty much never used it and would just stand behind the cover when I really needed it. Plus, they want you to take people out by blowing up barrels and card that they are hiding near. That is fun and all, but when every hiding place has an explosive barrel next to it I find it very unrealistic. For a game that is suppose to make you feel like you’re in a movie the shooting sections did the opposite. I don’t remember Bourne shooting barrels all over an airport to take people out. I’d think he would sneak around behind people and take the out quick and quiet.

I had been planning on playing The Bourne Conspiracy once it releases, but now I will most definitely not.