14 DAY TRIAL // 
I have thoughts and thoughts can really screw up the faith thing. I have faith in developers and I discovered I usually put too much trust in some games that look great in trailers and screenshots. Faith hasn't served me so far and I doubt it will change any time soon. I have faith in the Bourne Supremacy as I believe it will really change action games, at least on consoles, but this time it's based on a 20 minute preview and not some lame shaky cams at a games convention.
You don't need to be a Robert Ludlum fan to enjoy the game from High Moon and you don't even have to watch the movies to immediately connect with Jason Bourne and his bone breaking moves. Built around the omnipresent Unreal Engine 3, it looks great and it feels the same. Unlike other games that are based on this successful engine, Bourne Conspiracy doesn't concentrate on looking fabulously at an insane level of detail. Their strongest feature, in my opinion is the animation blending and texture limits. They might have other technical names in some higher programmers` circles, but I'll explain what they are: if you lack a fantasy world that needs real time rendering off trees and other bling-bling items you're left with the real world of offices and harbors (the two levels from the final game that we watched) that don't feature too much detail. The developers had to concentrate on making the fights as realistic as possible without the usual bug of intertwining textures. This particular problem has been plaguing games ever since the introduction of 3D games. In a game that revolves around close combat and full contact the impression of contact between someone's front teeth and a metal hook or a chair has to be as smooth as possible for the player to get the maximum entertainment value for his money.
The first mission presented at Leipzig was the one from the Embassy but unlike the one in the original movie it's a lot more complex and quite lengthy. The entire level is a huge action scene from one end to another and most of the time Bourne only used his hands. The concept is not entirely new but at the same time it hasn't been used in any game that I know of. The player has an adrenaline gauge that fills up in simple melee combat. With this resource he can enter two different states: one is for multiple opponents and the second one is for hit and run hits. By far the most impressive is the one used on multiple enemies. The camera switches from its usual spot behind the character (which doesn't quite reflect the standards we've gotten used over the years) to a more dynamic angle that provides close-up with every Bourne move. They are way too difficult to explain and you will have to watch them for yourselves in the attached trailer. It's a combination between a slow bullet time camera from the Matrix mixed with the slow and fast pacing from 300. When using the adrenaline, a small rhombic shape appears at the bottom of the screen with the buttons of Xbox. If you hit them in time, Bourne responds with a furious combo but, and here is the trick, hitting a certain button doesn't mean a precise move. The engine selects a random move so the replay value is tremendous, as two fights will never go the same way. The effect is simply mind-blowing and I was captured from the first moment. Even if the trailer is a cinematic one, every time you see a gameplay sequence keep in mind that it represents the exact replica of what you will experience in the final title.
Being a third person shooter or a third person beat'em up to be more precise, The Bourne Conspiracy had to differentiate itself from other similar titles and the only way to achieve that was to get the same camera angles as the last two movies. Some have praised Paul Greengrass' unusual directing method and I'm sure some gamers won't enjoy the constant shaky camera that gives every scene a film-like characteristic. One of the smartest moves of High Moon Studios was to enlist the help of the movie choreographer (can't remember the name) which added to the immeasurable flavor at the end of the day.
The second level we witnessed was set in Marseille and unlike the previous one it has no equivalent in the movies. This level practically explains how a super agent like Jason Bourne ended up in the water and how exactly he lost his memory. This time we saw him using weapons but I have to say it was just like playing Jedi Knight from the first person perspective and with no light saber. I'm sure the only goal a gamer should have is to break as many limbs as possible and get as many as possible using wheelchairs. The developers have clearly stated the final game will feature quite a few of these flashback moments in order to complete its image and the story. The best thing that has happened to them is the fact they are not tied in to any kind of release date of the official movie so they can dedicate as much time as it is necessary in order to make the best of it.
This strange combination of shooter and intelligent brawling will catch on pretty quick and it's only a matter of time until other developers catch on. Until then I can't wait for the finished product to spin in my console.
