The Bourne Conspiracy Demo Review

So we all know that movie to video game and video game to movie combinations tend to suck right? Of course we do. In that case,why the hell do game developers and Hollywood jerk-offs continue to push for it to work. In 9 out of 10 cases it just doesn't. The occasional success being few and far between (i.e. LOTR: Two Towers, and ....uh...that's about it). Since the days of the horrific Street Fighter and Super Mario Bros. one-two turd punch combo to the ill fated Mortal Kombat movie series gamers and movie goers have been constantly let down when they either shell out $60 for a piece of crap game or $7.25 for a piece of crap movie. I won't even mention the Tomb Raider abominations. With a blockbuster summer looming for the Hollywood box office due to treats like Ironman, Indiana Jones, The Incredible Hulk (again..), Batman, Speed Racer, and Kung-Fu Panda, it's almost certain that a slew of horrible games are to follow. Oh Joy!

Now on to the reason I'm here..The Bourne Conspiracy. I downloaded the demo on Xbox Live yesterday after seeing an ad being run before Indiana Jones and The Crystal Skull. With bone-breaking sound effects, a fast paced visual style, and what appears to be a decent story line I was intrigued. Even though my expectations were pretty low I decided to give this game a chance. I'm glad I did. The game feels solid during combat with each blow giving the user a true sense of power. The graphics are slick and the frame rate is solid. The game plays like a movie using combination attacks that are linked by interactive cut scenes. These transitions test the users reflexes with button pushing and timing. True annoyances like extremely tough A.I., constantly being on the run so you can't explore much of the levels, and a few just completely cheap shots smudge this game's overall polish. If they can work out some of the camera issues and little annoyances mentioned this may help break the curse of crappy movie to video game conversions. Overall, I was impressed with the demo and though I'm not totally convinced to shell out the cash for a purchase I might consider it a good Netflix rental. The Bourne Conspiracy Demo earns 7.5 shattered dreams out of 10. Enjoy losers!