Cast your memories back to 2006, and you might just remember a rather nifty little FPS game called Black, that was developed by the lads behind the Burnout games, Criterion Studios. Having begun to master the subtleties of massive explosions and outrageous collateral damage, they took this ethos and injected it into Black, creating one of the most destructive FPS games available at the time. And now, we have a spiritual successor on the way.
Taking place in warzones set in Africa and Asia, players take on the role of Jackson, a soldier hired by the mysterious “Networkâ€, who may have ulterior motives for all the conflict that is raging on in these third world nations.
Codemasters will be publishing the first person shooter, developed by Guildford Studios, a development team made up of largely the same designers who worked on Black. Guildford studios has obviously put a lot of focus into how exactly a gun, and more importantly, the bullets that it fires, will impact on the environment, emphasising the power that a player wields.
Environments aren’t just going to be destructible, they’re going to have the tensile strength of wet cardboard judging by the gameplay videos, meaning that players will have more destructive and tactical options open to them. Likewise for gamers, you’ll have to keep moving constantly when under fire, as you won’t be so fortunate as to be able to hunker down a conveniently placed and indestructible barricade and take pot-shots at enemies.
Whats that? You’re not satisfied with an an environment that actually requires you to position yourself in a tactically smart manner and have exit strategies in place? Well stop your unimpressed yawning, as Bodycount at least has more than one trick up its sleeve.
Sure, killing people with bullets is what the game boils down to in the end, buts its the added methods with which you can kill an enemy that make Bodycount look interesting. Kill a squad of goons, chain up some kills, and you’ll have an ability ready to use, such as calling down an air-strike or upgrade your weapons to be more damaging.
Bodycount isn’t looking to be a cerebral challenge that makes you question your world and ethics, or ask you if you must be good or bad. Its about having fun, and shooting as many nameless henchmen as possible in the process, likely causing more property damage than a suicide bombers convention that has an open bar.
Visually, there are going to be plenty of flares, sparks and explosives, and the damage models for the environment seems to have been realistically crafted, with buildings tumbling in the right direction, and walls giving way to explosives and excessive bullets.
A planned co-op campaign only sweetens the experience, meaning that you’ll be able to dramatically shout the name of your fallen comrade and go on a rampage that would make Schwarzenegger proud.
Bodycount will be released later this year in summer, for the PS3 and Xbox 360.
Last Updated: July 20, 2011
