Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy
Encyclopedia
Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy is a third-person espionage
video game developed by High Moon Studios
and published by Sierra Entertainment
for the PlayStation 3
and Xbox 360
. The game expands upon Robert Ludlum
's character Jason Bourne
, and immerses the player in a cat and mouse style espionage action adventure. The game was released in North America
on June 3, June 5 in Australia
and June 27, 2008 in Europe
.
. Although the game does not use the likeness of Matt Damon
(who portrays Bourne in the films), due to creative differences with the actor; it does derive more closely from the film storyline than from the novels, and features musical themes from the films.
As in the movie, the player character begins as an amnesiac found off the coast of Marseille
, but as the game progresses, the player is provided with more clues to Bourne's true identity.
Jason Bourne's senses are an important part of surviving the game, with noteworthy items or locations highlighted - when a switch to this sense is triggered, the visual style changes, with important elements much brighter. A third-person espionage action game, the player encounters armed and unarmed combat, the latter usually resolved through quick-time events
, and driving sections, also often dependent on quick-time events.
There are three difficulty settings which the player can choose from when playing the single-player campaign: Trainee (easy mode), Agent (normal mode) and Assassin (hard mode).
The game also contains a boss battle feature, allowing the player to fight the boss without having to complete the entire level again, although some boss fights last entire levels. The game also contains a music player feature that allows the player to listen to music from the game. It includes an original score for the game written by Paul Oakenfold
and performed by Cee-Lo Green.
. In addition to scenes from the film, several chapters also reveal some of Jason's backstory and missions that take place prior to the beginning of the game.
It begins with Jason Bourne, the protagonist, trying to assassinate African dictator Nykwana Wombosi, who knows too much about Treadstone, the black-ops organization that Bourne works for and threatens to publish what he knows. After fighting his way through Wombosi’s guards and several mercenaries
, he confronts Wombosi, but is unable to kill him, because Wombosi’s children are present. Bourne is shot in the back as he staggers out onto the deck of Wombosi's boat and falls into the sea.
Bourne survives, and makes his way to a bank in Zurich, where he keeps a safety deposit box full of money and passports-along with a semi-automatic pistol he leaves in the box. On his way out, the police attempt to detain him, but he escapes to the American Embassy. There, the Marines attempt to detain him. He escapes from the embassy, then asks Marie Kreutz, whom he met in the embassy, to drive him to his Paris apartment, offering a large sum of money in return.
Once at Bourne’s apartment, Marie accidentally informs Treadstone that Bourne is still alive by picking up the phone in the apartment, triggering a silent alarm. They send an assassin to kill Bourne, but Bourne subdues the assassin after a lengthy fight of fists and nonconventional weapons Jason uses. The assassin then throws himself out the window to avoid interrogation. Bourne and Marie escape from the Paris police, who were alerted after the assassin killed himself, then travel to Marie’s friend Edmond’s house in the countryside.
They spend the night at Edmond’s house, but before they can leave the next morning, they are attacked by another assassin who uses a sniper rifle from the surrounding hills. Arming himself with a double barreled shot gun, Jason blows up fuel tanks to create cover and makes his way into the hills where several shots he fires forces the sniper into a barn. After making his way into the barn Jason has a brief fire fight that ends with a fist fight as the barn is lit on fire. Once they both inadvertently escape the barn in their struggle, Bourne stabs the assassin to death with a sharpened piece of wood, then sends Marie away as he goes to Treadstone to confront the people who have been chasing him all over Paris.
Once there, he warns his former boss, Alexander Conklin, to leave him alone. Instead, Conklin escapes and has several dozen Treadstone agents attack Bourne. He incapacitates the agents through various means and in fire fights or fist fights as he makes his way down out of the building and into the streets, then chases Conklin into an alley. As they struggle, another assassin appears and shoots Conklin. Bourne pursues the assassin into a church undergoing construction and has a brief gun fight before he causes an explosion that knocks the assassin off balance, allowing Bourne to tackle him and send them both into the grave yard behind the church where Bourne is almost strangled to death but uses a shovel as a club to send the assassin over an edge and break his neck. The game ends in Greece after Bourne vanishes before the Police arrive, and Bourne and Marie are reunited in the shop Marie has opened, they embrace as the game fades out.
on May 5 and PlayStation Network on May 8. There are three levels in the demo: the escape from the Zurich American Embassy, a past assassination on board an airplane, and a part of the Parisian car chase that was featured in The Bourne Identity. It was also released in the issue #85 on a playable disc that comes with the July 2008 issue of the Official Xbox Magazine
.
praised the hand-to-hand combat and story, but criticized the shooting and driving mechanics and camera angles hampering the gameplay. X-Play
, G4TV's game review show, gave it a 3 out of 5, also praising the hand-to-hand combat but criticizing the shooting and driving mechanics, short game length, and problems with the camera. GameSpot
nominated the game as one of the most surprisingly good games of 2008, but it lost to Air Traffic Chaos
, a game for Nintendo DS
, and "Best Boss Fights" where it lost to Metal Gear Solid 4
.
Third-person shooter
Third-person shooter is a genre of 3D action games in which the player character is visible on-screen, and the gameplay consists primarily of shooting.-Definition:...
video game developed by High Moon Studios
High Moon Studios
High Moon Studios is an American video game developer, that used to be a part of Sierra Entertainment. After a period as independent studio, the developer was acquired by Vivendi Games in January 2006 and retained the current name...
and published by Sierra Entertainment
Sierra Entertainment
Sierra Entertainment Inc. was an American video-game developer and publisher founded in 1979 as On-Line Systems by Ken and Roberta Williams...
for the PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
and Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
. The game expands upon Robert Ludlum
Robert Ludlum
Robert Ludlum was an American author of 23 thriller novels. The number of his books in print is estimated between 290–500 million copies. They have been published in 33 languages and 40 countries. Ludlum also published books under the pseudonyms Jonathan Ryder and Michael Shepherd.-Life and...
's character Jason Bourne
Jason Bourne
Jason Charles Bourne is a fictional character and the main protagonist in the novels of Robert Ludlum and subsequent film adaptations. He first appeared in the novel The Bourne Identity...
, and immerses the player in a cat and mouse style espionage action adventure. The game was released in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
on June 3, June 5 in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and June 27, 2008 in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Gameplay
Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy mostly derives from the film version of The Bourne IdentityThe Bourne Identity (2002 film)
The Bourne Identity is a 2002 American spy film loosely based on Robert Ludlum's novel of the same name. It stars Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, an amnesiac attempting to discover his true identity amidst a clandestine conspiracy within the Central Intelligence Agency . The film also stars Franka...
. Although the game does not use the likeness of Matt Damon
Matt Damon
Matthew Paige "Matt" Damon is an American actor, screenwriter, and philanthropist whose career was launched following the success of the film Good Will Hunting , from a screenplay he co-wrote with friend Ben Affleck...
(who portrays Bourne in the films), due to creative differences with the actor; it does derive more closely from the film storyline than from the novels, and features musical themes from the films.
As in the movie, the player character begins as an amnesiac found off the coast of Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
, but as the game progresses, the player is provided with more clues to Bourne's true identity.
Jason Bourne's senses are an important part of surviving the game, with noteworthy items or locations highlighted - when a switch to this sense is triggered, the visual style changes, with important elements much brighter. A third-person espionage action game, the player encounters armed and unarmed combat, the latter usually resolved through quick-time events
Quick Time Event
In video games, a Quick Time Event is a method of context-sensitive gameplay in which the player performs actions on the control device shortly after the appearance of an on-screen prompt. It allows for limited control of the game character during cut scenes or cinematic sequences in the game...
, and driving sections, also often dependent on quick-time events.
There are three difficulty settings which the player can choose from when playing the single-player campaign: Trainee (easy mode), Agent (normal mode) and Assassin (hard mode).
The game also contains a boss battle feature, allowing the player to fight the boss without having to complete the entire level again, although some boss fights last entire levels. The game also contains a music player feature that allows the player to listen to music from the game. It includes an original score for the game written by Paul Oakenfold
Paul Oakenfold
Paul Mark Oakenfold is a British record producer and a trance DJ.-Early Career: 1979–84:Paul Oakenfold's career was set to be a chef, after having hopes of becoming part of a band. He describes his early life as a "bedroom deejay" in a podcasted interview with Vancouver's 24 Hours, stating he grew...
and performed by Cee-Lo Green.
Plot
The game takes place prior to, and during the events of, the first filmThe Bourne Identity (2002 film)
The Bourne Identity is a 2002 American spy film loosely based on Robert Ludlum's novel of the same name. It stars Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, an amnesiac attempting to discover his true identity amidst a clandestine conspiracy within the Central Intelligence Agency . The film also stars Franka...
. In addition to scenes from the film, several chapters also reveal some of Jason's backstory and missions that take place prior to the beginning of the game.
It begins with Jason Bourne, the protagonist, trying to assassinate African dictator Nykwana Wombosi, who knows too much about Treadstone, the black-ops organization that Bourne works for and threatens to publish what he knows. After fighting his way through Wombosi’s guards and several mercenaries
Mercenary
A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
, he confronts Wombosi, but is unable to kill him, because Wombosi’s children are present. Bourne is shot in the back as he staggers out onto the deck of Wombosi's boat and falls into the sea.
Bourne survives, and makes his way to a bank in Zurich, where he keeps a safety deposit box full of money and passports-along with a semi-automatic pistol he leaves in the box. On his way out, the police attempt to detain him, but he escapes to the American Embassy. There, the Marines attempt to detain him. He escapes from the embassy, then asks Marie Kreutz, whom he met in the embassy, to drive him to his Paris apartment, offering a large sum of money in return.
Once at Bourne’s apartment, Marie accidentally informs Treadstone that Bourne is still alive by picking up the phone in the apartment, triggering a silent alarm. They send an assassin to kill Bourne, but Bourne subdues the assassin after a lengthy fight of fists and nonconventional weapons Jason uses. The assassin then throws himself out the window to avoid interrogation. Bourne and Marie escape from the Paris police, who were alerted after the assassin killed himself, then travel to Marie’s friend Edmond’s house in the countryside.
They spend the night at Edmond’s house, but before they can leave the next morning, they are attacked by another assassin who uses a sniper rifle from the surrounding hills. Arming himself with a double barreled shot gun, Jason blows up fuel tanks to create cover and makes his way into the hills where several shots he fires forces the sniper into a barn. After making his way into the barn Jason has a brief fire fight that ends with a fist fight as the barn is lit on fire. Once they both inadvertently escape the barn in their struggle, Bourne stabs the assassin to death with a sharpened piece of wood, then sends Marie away as he goes to Treadstone to confront the people who have been chasing him all over Paris.
Once there, he warns his former boss, Alexander Conklin, to leave him alone. Instead, Conklin escapes and has several dozen Treadstone agents attack Bourne. He incapacitates the agents through various means and in fire fights or fist fights as he makes his way down out of the building and into the streets, then chases Conklin into an alley. As they struggle, another assassin appears and shoots Conklin. Bourne pursues the assassin into a church undergoing construction and has a brief gun fight before he causes an explosion that knocks the assassin off balance, allowing Bourne to tackle him and send them both into the grave yard behind the church where Bourne is almost strangled to death but uses a shovel as a club to send the assassin over an edge and break his neck. The game ends in Greece after Bourne vanishes before the Police arrive, and Bourne and Marie are reunited in the shop Marie has opened, they embrace as the game fades out.
Demo
The demo was released on Xbox LiveXbox Live
Xbox Live is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Corporation. It is currently the only online gaming service on consoles that charges users a fee to play multiplayer gaming. It was first made available to the Xbox system in 2002...
on May 5 and PlayStation Network on May 8. There are three levels in the demo: the escape from the Zurich American Embassy, a past assassination on board an airplane, and a part of the Parisian car chase that was featured in The Bourne Identity. It was also released in the issue #85 on a playable disc that comes with the July 2008 issue of the Official Xbox Magazine
Official Xbox Magazine
Official Xbox Magazine is a monthly video game magazine which started in November 2001 around the launch of the original Xbox. A preview issue was released for E3 2001, with another preview issue for November 2001. The magazine is bundled with a disc that includes game demos, preview videos and...
.
Reception
Reception for The Bourne Conspiracy has been mixed. IGNIGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
praised the hand-to-hand combat and story, but criticized the shooting and driving mechanics and camera angles hampering the gameplay. X-Play
X-Play
X-Play is a TV program about video games, known for its reviews and comedy skits...
, G4TV's game review show, gave it a 3 out of 5, also praising the hand-to-hand combat but criticizing the shooting and driving mechanics, short game length, and problems with the camera. GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
nominated the game as one of the most surprisingly good games of 2008, but it lost to Air Traffic Chaos
Air Traffic Chaos
Air Traffic Chaos is an air traffic controller simulation video game developed and published by Majesco Games for the Nintendo DS handheld video game console. It has previously been released in Japan under the name ぼくは航空管制官 , and later in Europe under the title Air Traffic Controller by DS...
, a game for Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
, and "Best Boss Fights" where it lost to Metal Gear Solid 4
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
is a video game developed by Kojima Productions for the PlayStation 3 console. The game was directed by Hideo Kojima and made its worldwide release on June 12, 2008, ten years after the release of Metal Gear Solid and twenty years after the North American release of Metal Gear.Guns of the Patriots...
.