The hype for the Bourne Conspiracy, the prequel to the famed film franchise that everyone drooled over (including me), was surprisingly large for a movie-licensed game. The trailers looked badass, the graphics were very attractive, and it just looked like we would finally have a good movie game. People were excited about the notion of being a CIA assassin, stalking targets in an urban jungle, with only our wits and the shirts on our backs. Bourne was rarely seen carrying a weapon and seen even less often using one on an enemy, and there’s definitely an odd appeal to the idea of having to take down well-equipped enemies by moving quickly and blending into the environment. The massive hype for Splinter Cell: Conviction is a prime example of the interest coming from people who want something new in the stealthy genre. We’re tired of moving from shadow to shadow, only to be discovered and get killed by two shots because stealth characters can never hold their own.

Splinter Cell: Conviction protagonist Sam Fisher, having his revenge after six games and four novels of getting his ass kicked

The foreshadowing began when none of the movie cast wanted to be in the game. Matt Damon himself absolutely refused to be involved with the game in any way, apparently because he just doesn’t want to be involved with video games in general, but now that we’ve played the game, we might now know that he didn’t want to be in it for its lack of loyalty to the movies.

Instead, High Moon Studios decided to make a straight-up generic action game. The game was advertised to have amazing seamless hand-to-hand and gun combat, but neither was satisfactory and the game would have benefited from focusing on only one aspect. What we got was a punch, a kick, a strong variation of both, and a handful of standard weapons. It was a huge disappointment.

There were so many great games this game should have copied, or at least taken inspiration from. Assassin’s Creed comes to mind immediately, for its emphasis on blending in with crowds in broad daylight, or Hitman for its take on putting you in a highly atmospheric level and giving you one or more targets to kill in any way you see fit.  Take that and inject a little GTA flavour with a wide-open seamless world, and what you would have is something special.

The original focus for Splinter Cell: Conviction was on blending in with the crowds in an urban environment, but also injecting action into the Stealth Genre. This is unique for Splinter Cell, but for Bourne? It’s mandatory.

But first, I’ll go through a few points where the game should have succeeded.

-MATT. DAMON. It doesn’t matter if he disagrees, find a way to get him in the game, or at least get his permission, or the film studio’s, to use his likeness as the main character. The game featured an emotionless, bland action hero who’s only two facial expressions were anger, and squint. His voice was passable and lifeless. It was just disappointing. Imagine if in a Godfather movie, Don Vito looked like just some random old guy because Marlon Brando didn’t feel like making an appearance that day. It would be sacrilege.

(My apologies to the Nostalgia Critic)

-More stealth. There was nothing more to the game but punching people in the face and/or shooting them.

The stealthiest part of the game to my recollection

-Longer game. We have three movies, and a planned 4th, to draw inspiration from. The game is only loosely set during the first movie, Bourne Identity. However, the game can be beaten in an afternoon or two of playing. I understand that they’re keeping doors open for sequels, but they could have gone even further back in Bourne’s life, instead of treading familiar ground. This would give us more information on the mysterious main character, and justified the 60$ price a little bit more (although the game is probably much much less now)

Now, thats all I can think of off the top of my head for improving this game, however, how would the game be if I were in charge of the project, starting from scratch?

The game would loosely follow the events of the first film, not going into backstory. You are Jason Bourne, and you start out with a tutorial that takes place on the ship where you were picked up. Then, you are plopped down into Zurich, a wide-open city the size of Vice City, where you must head to the Embassy while blending into crowds, and getting there by any means necessary.

A shameless excuse to post a picture of the beautiful city of Zurich, the setting of the beginning of the first film.

The entire game would follow this outline. Instead of linear levels, give the player one starting position, one destination, and one rule: get there. Different scripted events can happen, triggered by getting within a certain distance of your objective OR reaching a destination featured within the film. These events can be anything from police raids, or an ambush by an assassin, who, little did you know, was following you since you got off at the dock. In fact, these assassins shouldn’t spawn somewhere when triggered, all your significant enemies should be there from the start, either waiting for you, or stalking you, keeping you on your toes at all times.

This means you will really feel like Bourne, having to always be alert. It would feel like it was right out of the movie if you were eating something in a kitchen, and then realize the window is open. Suddenly, you are attacked from behind. You grab the coffee mug from the counter, and smash the attacker’s hand, breaking it and causing him to drop his knife. The fight would be brutal, with cinematic camera angles, and can include the usage of other random everyday-items as weapons, like a kitchen knife, spatula, magazine (Yes, it was in the Bourne Supremacy, and is pictured below) and a golf trophy, eventually ending up with you drowning him in the kitchen sink.

You’ll still be shivering from the intense fight, and then realize that it wasn’t scripted at all, and could have happened anywhere else at any time. It would stray greatly from the film, but maybe that’s okay.  Maybe the game should be about the player playing out their very own Bourne movie. It would be an RPG-like level of freedom where the plot can somehow vary depending on the players actions, and when these special events or random events are triggered.

Anything and everything within the environment can be used as a weapon. Every single object that can fit in your hands can be used as a weapon, and guns are incredibly rare, while ammunition is rarer. There will be nothing and no one you can’t get to without investigating a little. There will  be no bosses. You can question a few people about the whereabouts of someone, or if you have already beaten the game and know where your target is, you could essentially go and kill a significant plot character within the first 5 minutes of the game. Now that’s real freedom, and that should be the mentality throughout the game. Follow instincts, improvise, stay alert, all the time.

I worked hard to find a picture of Matt Damon beating this man down with a magazine. Quite possibly the only movie that can turn this weapon from comedic, to just plain cruel and ruthless. This poor guy never could have seen that coming until getting it in the solar plexis. Awesome.

Bourne is pretty much the most human of all the JB’s. James Bond, and Jack Bauer don’t look like they need to occasionally go for a leak, or eat breakfast, or sleep. Bourne always has to fulfill his basic human needs. Find a place to eat, sleep, go to the bathroom, have some human interaction. I’m not saying turn the game into the Sims, but an interesting twist would to give Bourne basic needs that he must fulfill, which can add a depth of strategy when you need to find a hideout or a diner. This will make you vulnerable if you’re being followed.

Some of you may feel this sounds familiar. Well, you’d be right. It was a main feature of the once-popular multiplayer game, The Ship, in which you’d be placed on a cruise ship with one other player assigned to kill you secretly.  This was made more complicated by the fact that you’d have to take baths, eat, sleep, etc. Doing any of these things would begin an animation which you can’t interrupt, and make you completely vulnerable if your attacker knows where you are.

The whole game should make you feel like you’re powerful, but not a commando. It should make you feel cool, but not suave. Cold, but human. Likable, but ruthless. The Bourne Conspiracy’s biggest failure was the fact that it didn’t make us feel like Bourne the assassin, it wanted to make us feel like Bourne the Terminator. Its biggest flaw was that it didn’t just miss the mark that is the look and feel of the movies, but seemed to plainly ignore it, going for cookie-cutter gameplay ripped from games like Gears of War and 007: Everything or Nothing. However, those games succeeded because they both knew what they were. They focused on a handful of features and made them fantastic. ‘Conspiracy tries to do too many things at once, and therefore has become mediocre in all respects as opposed to specializing in what makes Bourne, Bourne.

So if any other game developer takes a crack at it, please, take your time, work solely on hand-to-hand combat, and emphasize improvisation. Those, above all else, will finally fulfill our wishes of feeling like a deadly CIA weapon.

Next up, I’m considering continuing with the format of reviewing an entire game series, much like I did with GTA, and sorta considering the Hitman games, since I mentioned them in this article, but don’t hold me on that, it’s up in the air.

For now though, I’ll be working on a review of UFC 2009: Undisputed. I’ve recently beaten the single-player campaign and I’m ready to share my thoughts on the “Quickest growing sport in the world” to see if the transition to polygons and pixels is a smooth one. So, check back soon