Bourne Conspiracy set for summer release

Author Robert Ludlum's last Jason Bourne novel, The Bourne Ultimatum, was published in 1990. The film of the same name, the third in a blockbuster trilogy, was released in 2007, with a possible sequel to come.

In the interim, Vivendi Games subsidiary Sierra Entertainment will release Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy, a new espionage-action game inspired by both the films and the original novels. First revealed last year, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 game was dated today on both sides of the Atlantic, coming to the UK on June 27 and North America on June 3.

Developed by internal shop High Moon Studios (Darkwatch), The Bourne Conspiracy will feature a mix of shooting, hand-to-hand fighting, car chases, and "dramatic escapes." Features include a playable reenactment of a sequence from The Bourne Identity in which you try to evade police cars in a Mini Cooper, and a combat system codesigned by Jeff Imada, the choreographer for the Bourne movies.

Elite secret agent Jason Bourne--played by Matt Damon in the films--will be the playable character in an original story that fleshes out his background and the conspiracy that surrounds him. Damon's voice and likeness won't be used in the game, which is being billed as a complement to the films and novels. However, Tony Gilroy, the Oscar-nominated writer of all three Bourne films, is assisting in the game's "story and character development."