I pressed start, and five hours later was watching the credits roll. I usually bitch and complain about games like this, the only exception being Portal which completely kicked all sorts of ass and felt just right in length. But this is also an exception though not for the same reasons unfortunately, mostly because the game would've crumbled upon its foundation had it lasted any longer. To say that repetition sets in rather quickly would be an understatement.
The game opens with explaining how Bourne came to be floating upon the Mediterranean sea with bullets in his back, and then plays out the events of the first movie/book I assume. There may have been some leeway in there, I'm not entirely sure. There are three types of gameplay that you'll experience, the first being hand to hand fighting. It's very well done from a cinematic perspective and really has the feel from the movies fight scenes, and kudos to High Moon Studios for the cool environmental attacks that feel just right. Other than that, you can button mash the regular enemies on the Normal difficulty and you need a tad bit of skill for the bosses who require a much larger dose of ass kicking. The combat is fun for about the first 1-2 hours and then you pretty much know what to expect all the time.
The second type of gameplay is that of a 3rd person shooter, this is also fun but nothing special. I found that the aiming reticle was too sensitive and I'm a head shot maniac so I found myself running out of bullets a lot trying to achieve a head shot. I would've ran out by just shooting them anyhow, as these meat shields can take anywhere from 5-9 shots to the body before keeling over. It's fun for what it is, but there's better stuff out there. You can also use Bourne vision to see explosives that maybe your eyes looked over, or to figure out where to go next if you're lost. Yes, Bourne is a $30 million dollar Tom-Tom as well. Speaking of Bourne, why did Matt Damon not lend his voice and likeness? He publicly said because the game is too violent, I say there weren't enough 0's in his paycheck. Also in the game Bourne follows a weird code of honor, wherein he won't attack U.S. military when they're armed, yet in an interactive cutscene in which you disarm them, then it becomes perfectly okay to punch/kick them in the face and toss them over the roofside and slam their faces into stone pillars and A/C units. I suppose I'll follow that mantra as well.
Finally, a little after the halfway point there's the driving scene that you may or may not remember from the film, I don't think this driving scene follows the movie all that much. The car controls okay and if it weren't for the booming soundtrack and sirens and just general loud noises and ambience it would be rather boring. You're basically checkpointing around the city while dodging the police, which isn't that difficult. They'll turn on their sirens when they see you and then watch you zoom on by. It's only if you happen to crash into them on accident that you're screwed as this Cop Meter fills up like crazy and the cop will just sort of stall and block you. Also I touched on it earlier, the cutscenes have QTE during them, so keep your hands on the controller. It's mostly standard fare although I did find the interactive cutscenes in which Bourne had a sniper rifle rather cool, but on the other hand it would've also been just as cool to handle the sniper rifle myself but in the context of the scene the player wouldn't have been able to pull off all that Bourne did. My two favorite levels in the game would have to be escaping the U.S. Embassy and the level where The Professor attacks the house you're hanging out in. I kid you not, that's his codename, The Professor. What does he teach? Pain and misery with a side of wisdom.
So my final verdict on this game is to try the demo first, as it apparently lets you try all three gameplay types, if you happen to dig it and can see yourself getting into it for 5 hours then give it a rent. Nothing more, and if you have no interest in Bourne books or films then I'd say just skip it. I'm very torn on my final decision, I'll give the game a Thumbs Up Rental. I also though loved the movies and thus wanted to play the game. Take it all with a grain of salt dear readers.
Final Verdict: Thumbs-Up Rental
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