Radical layoffs at Radical Entertainment [Vancouver Sun]
Report: High Moon Lays Off Staff, Post-Vivendi Merger [Gamasutra] [Pic]

Note: This is excerpted from a review I attempted to write, but pulled back as I didn't complete the game. Some of you asked if I was willing to share my opinion of the game anyway. Last week, Brian reminded me of the strict conditions we have to do a full review, which are as much to protect the site's credibility as the writer's. But he also said that impressions are still fair game if the game hasn't been completed. I haven't, probably won't and with that caveat, here are some thoughts on The Bourne Conspiracy. It is not a full review and it's a month after the game's release. Take it for what you will.

Off the bat I wanted to like High Moon Studio’s The Bourne Conspiracy because it was a movie adaptation, but released about a year after the most recent film. That meant someone decided to do this game for a reason other than the obligatory game adaptation. And though it lacks Matt Damon’s likeness (gameplay Bourne more resembles Rob Lowe, cutscene Bourne is huskier), by itself that doesn’t deep six a good concept.

The game is touted as becoming Jason Bourne — a man who knows neither his identity or his past, only his present, and his capacity for killing others within that present. That kind of immersion is an ambitious goal, and the game doesn’t quite get there. It never felt like my goal was to piece together Jason Bourne’s past, or even inhabit his persona. In the end it’s an action game with a story that doesn’t get in the way, but no a-ha moment where you transform from just a guy with guns and deadly hands into someone truly special.

Where this game shines is in its hand-to-hand combat. The "takedown" is the game's showpiece, and most everything in your combat is geared to triggering it. You earn one after filling an "adrenaline meter" to a certain point (or more, to take out multiple enemies). Then by slamming a button, you get to watch a very entertaining cutscene in which you take a part your foe, and there's nothing they can do about it. By the time you get into your fights, you have so much hostility welled up that slamming someone’s head into the edge of a toilet is eminently cathartic. The game will improvise flawlessly with the available environment.

Unfortunately, as you wade through bad guy after bad guy, you get to a point where you just want the combat over. It then becomes a process of executing three combos, throwing up a block, and combo-blocking until you finally get the magic button that puts an end to what are typically overly long encounters with minor foes. Rarely was I able to string together more than four combos, and the devastating kicks require plenty of lead time, you'll rarely use them on tougher settings where your assailants are faster.

The takedown conditions you in other ways too; your enemies can perform a takedown, and you'll notice one's coming when a certain sound rings in your ears and the screen slows down. Then you have a simple one-button task to parry or reverse the attack. This same procedure is repeated for certain cutscene cinematics. In other words, you really shouldn't put your controller down and watch at any point, because you never know when you’ll be called to hit the correct button (it always changes) and get your ass out of trouble. I could have stood to see these button cues a little more complicated, to be honest.

But the game has seriously flawed gunplay mechanics. There’s no other word for it. It’s abysmal. If you are a highly-skilled FPS or third-person free-aimer, you might have less of a complaint than I do. But whatever your skill level, this game is least fun when a gun is in your hands. The game encourages you to use your “Bourne Instinct” — a non-bullet time spider sense — to find your targets, but it is not a true lock-on, unless your target is stationary. Also, at higher levels, you drain "adrenaline" using this. Ambushes will require you to run it out completely.

The lack of weapon variety also hurts the game. You can carry a handgun and a long arm, but I never sensed any difference in weapon types beyond rate of fire. There's no incentive to scan your environment for a particularly deadly rifle or a sidearm with pure stopping power. There are also no melee weapons nor grenades, which I suppose is not entirely necessary for this genre, but would be great at breaking up the repetition of the combat.

I played midway through on Agent setting, then again partway on trainee, getting roadblocked each time at Vilnius trying to take out the tank. Controller-throwing fits. Am I a bad gamer? Is this a bad video game? Both are probably unfair characterizations. It's not good enough for a complete review, but I made the decision that suffering through that round for another 20 deaths spread over an hour would not change my impression that The Bourne Conspiracy is a novel concept for a linear shooter that accomplishes one thing well, and is hamstrung by the rest of its controls. Lots of folks have said this is a great rental, not a great purchase. That's a pretty fair grade.

The Bourne Conspiracy is somewhat an amalgamation of the three Bourne films although the books are used as reference pretty heavily. You'll find no Matt Damon character models here! They really wanted to make this as entrenched in the Bourne lore as possible and as such there is very little gunplay involved. You must rely on your McGuyver like wits to help you make your way through the game, using the things you can find around you and your trusty fists to their greatest use. Remember that pen stabbing scene?

The first level we watched was a flashback based on a short segment from the first Bourne film that had been expanded upon to create more gameplay. As in most games, Mr Bourne has light and heavy attacks as well as the ability to block. Running and fighting will build up your adrenaline which will allow you take out up to three enemies at once.

One of the main fighting mechanics here is the Takedown. Standing near almost any object, window or piece of furniture while you attack will cause you to grab your opponent and pull off a special attack on them. For instance, want to fry that guy who's trying to tear your face off? Simply back up near the electrical box, grab your opponent and watch the fun as you smash the guys head into it and the sparks fly. The boss battles use the same mechanic, allowing you to use the surroundings to deal damage and each boss has his own signature set of takedowns. The environments are so full of these Takedown moves that it would be impossible to use them all in any one single boss battle. So the game allows you to go back and repeat boss battles and levels once they have been unlocked so you can try and make use of all the environments have to offer.

Bourne Identity also contains one driving level that involves a red and white Mini Cooper, but unfortunately it wasn't there for us to check out.

The camera work in this game is pretty amazing and when you go into these take down moves, the camera switches angles several times, mimicking tricky movie camera work. I've never seen it employed in a game quite like this before and it was pretty impressive looking. Artisitc players can also play cinematographer by opting to take control of the camera themselves during these scenes and checking out the action from any angle. Music plays a large part in the game as well with tunes by Paul Oakenfold who provides a different soundtrack song for each of the game's many levels.

Ultimately, this Bourne game is a single experience, so don't look for any co-op or vs modes. At the present time there is no DLC planned nor is there Home support for the PS3. Those things aside though, the game itself looks great and while I didn't get to put my own hands on the controller,the movement was smooth and it seemed like it was easy to pull off the Takedown moves. It's really nice to see a game taking advantage of environmental attacks like this rather than relying solely on an arsenal of guns. So, if you want to check out what this game is all about for yourself before purchase, a demo will be coming to your PS3 and 360 early next month.

The audience is always behind Bourne. Bourne is always thinking two or three levels ahead. He's going to deliberately let himself get captured by holding his hands up, and when somebody gets close to him, he executes a quick reversal and kicks people out.

... So how do we do that with the player? For a long time, we wandered down these alleys, like, "Okay, we'll let the player do a mission plant. We'll sneak into the areas ahead of time, plant weapons, case the joint, and figure out where everything is." We just thought we'd end up with a watered-down version of Splinter Cell. It wouldn't be as good or as interesting as that game. So we decided to go up-tempo with the action.

How we tried to preserve the character's thoughtfulness and his improvisation is in the contextual interactions with the environment. What'll happen is when Bourne is fighting, he executes these takedown moves, and depending on what's in the environment, you get different outcomes. The controls are simple, but the outcomes are a surprising and complex.

The interview is a bit longish, but well worth a read through.

Designing Filmic Games: Paul O'Connor And The Bourne Conspiracy [Gamasutra]

UPDATE: Blasted RSS! This aired last night (in the US at least).
Lead game designer Rory McGuire to demo never-before-seen level [gamesradar]

PRESS RELEASE
GOING BEYOND THE BEST-SELLING BOOK AND BLOCKBUSTER FILM SIERRA ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES ROBERT LUDLUM'S THE BOURNE CONSPIRACYTM

Jason Bourne's Intense World of Action and Espionage Targeted for PLAYSTATION®3 and Xbox 360TM

READING, UK (26th June, 2007) - Sierra Entertainment, a division of Vivendi Games, today announced Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy, the first title in its exclusive global partnership with Ludlum Entertainment. Being developed by High Moon Studios, one of Sierra's internal developers, the game combines seminal moments from the best-selling novel and hit film The Bourne Identity with all-new content developed in conjunction with Ludlum Entertainment. Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy makes the highly anticipated jump to PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system and Microsoft's Xbox 360™ videogame and entertainment system in summer 2008.

Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy, will give players the experience of becoming a 30 million dollar elite agent, fusing an experience that delves deep into Jason Bourne's character with gameplay and game presentation inspired by the aggressive filmmaking and frenetic action found in the films. Only by playing Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy will players discover Bourne's true identity and experience the very moment he became a malfunctioning weapon, first hunting targets around the world as a deadly government assassin then marking himself as his agency's most wanted.

"Robert Ludlum's best-selling spy novel and blockbuster film adaptation have awed millions with riveting, unforgettable fiction," said Al Simone, senior vice president, global marketing for Sierra Entertainment. "For the first time ever, players will be able to experience the shadowy world of expert assassin Bourne, who continues to find himself plagued by splintered nightmares from his former life."

"With Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy we are not just basing a game on Ludlum's franchise, we are building upon the universe he introduced with The Bourne Identity," said Peter Della Penna, president of High Moon Studios. "High Moon has collaborated closely with Mr. Ludlum's estate holders, the guardians of his creative vision, since the day we began to develop the game. The goal of that collaboration has been to create a videogame that takes inspiration from known elements within the Bourne universe, elements that have captivated more than a quarter of a billion people around the world, with original story and game play that establishes a signature Jason Bourne game experience. Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy is our installment to the series and is meant to reside on its own within the Bourne entertainment library."

Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy promises constant tension and action, with players adopting Jason Bourne's piercing sense of survival, cunning nature, heightened target awareness and firearms training that allow him to engage and eliminate small armies. As a third-person espionage action game, players move from fistfights to firefights to experience sequences that, unlike any other game, seamlessly blend Bourne's signature hand-to-hand combat with intense shooting and the ability to escape and evade deadly situations.

More details will be revealed about Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy, with the title making an appearance at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) held July 11-13 in Santa Monica, CA, as well as in the cover story in the August issue of The Official Xbox Magazine hitting news stands July 3.

About Sierra Entertainment
Sierra Entertainment (www.sierra.com), a global division of Vivendi Games, creates and publishes innovative, high-quality interactive entertainment for videogame systems, handheld gaming devices and personal computers. Sierra Entertainment features a portfolio of titles based on original IP and popular licenses from industry-leading content partners, including F.E.A.R.™, Crash Bandicoot®, Spyro The Dragon®, Scarface™ and Ice Age™. Sierra Entertainment has four integrated internal studios providing creative talents and development capabilities across multiple gaming genres: High Moon Studios in San Diego, CA; Massive Entertainment in Malmo, Sweden; Radical Entertainment in Vancouver, B.C.; and Swordfish Studios in Birmingham and Manchester, England.

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