Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy (Xbox 360)

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The game is not without its failings, though. The aforementioned button prompts are small and easy to miss in particularly hairy situations. The bad guys have watched way too many martial arts movies, because even when they surround you, they patiently wait their turn before attacking. Some of the bosses early in the game are exhaustingly tough, like the kind you'd normally find towards the end of a game.

The game also employs a Gears of War-like cover system, but it's not always available. You can't run and automatically grab cover like you can in Gears, and quite frankly, Bourne doesn't look as good as Gears, though most games don't. Of course, most games don't do as well integrating their cut scenes, movie moments and gameplay parts as seamlessly as Bourne does either.

Some might complain about the lack of a multiplayer option, although it's hard to figure out how one might've worked. Some might also dislike that the game is decidedly linear, though that's never been much of an issue for me, especially compared to when a game is open for no good reason. This version also doesn't look as good as the PS3 edition, though the differences are only slight, and also only noticeable in side-by-side comparisons.

Ultimately, these are minor quibbles about what is otherwise a first-rate action game. That The Bourne Conspiracy happens to be inspired by a movie isn't a problem ... unless you let it be.

This review is based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.