Captures the essence of Jason Bourne well
The Bourne Conspiracy is a relatively faithful rendering of its cinematic source in video game form through a combination of third-person shooter and beat-'em-up gameplay mechanics. The story traces the narrative of The Bourne Identity, and it's quite fun to relive some of the film's most thrilling moments. The feel of the movie itself is captured quite well with the aid of well-done, albeit short cinematics and an excellent, heart-pumping score.
The game itself is pretty standard third-person shooter fare, and you'll definitely feel a sense of deja-vu while running and gunning through the levels. However, the beat-'em-up aspect of the game is much more unique, with a seemingly infinite number of context-sensitive moves and animations that deliver lightning fast, brutal kung fu as only Jason Bourne can execute. In all, you really do get a sense of what it might feel like to possess the "sixth sense" skills that Bourne displayed in the film.
The Bourne Conspiracy does suffer from some issues, though. The levels are mind-numbingly linear, and the cover system, while adequate for the most part, is sometimes glitchy. Also, there are certain sections of the game when you can't kill certain attackers, which seems arbitrary and makes little sense in the context of the game. Running up to opponents and disarming them to engage in hand-to-hand fisticuffs can be glitchy too. But most of all, Conspiracy's greatest weakness is that its third-person shooter aspect feels quite derivative, and the action can start to feel repetitive towards the end. But for a rental, it's a worthwhile and fun romp while it lasts.
