Bodycount Preview

If there’s one thing the shelves of your local game store aren’t lacking, it’s first-person shooters. This is great for those with an itchy trigger finger, but quite a problem for developers looking to bring a new IP to the crowded table. There’s an argument that there’s little innovation left to squeeze out of the genre, but time and time again this has been proved wrong. The genre as a whole is subsequently of an incredibly high standard, and it’s increasingly difficult to distinguish a good FPS from a great one. A new FPS either needs to be very good looking or very different to get itself noticed. Codemasters’ Bodycount didn’t appear to be either of these things when I saw it behind closed doors at E3, but for some reason, the game lingered in my thoughts regardless.

According to the amiable Andy Wilson of Codemasters, Bodycount draws its inspiration from an eclectic mix of Lady Gaga, J. J. Abrams and Ridley Scott. With these names playfully flitting around in my head before I was told much else, I envisaged a game in which a strange looking woman in peculiar underwear travels through time to save the world from malicious aliens. Not surprisingly, this isn’t a thing like Bodycount (another time, eh Codemasters?), but it does draw from the aforementioned individuals in other ways. Bodycount is fresh, modern and edgy – a first-person shooter that beams with confidence, and isn’t afraid what people think of it.

The Guildford-based studio bringing the game to fruition is headed by Stuart Black, the creative driving force behind Criterion’s Black. Although Black 2 never saw the light of day, Bodycount could almost be considered that sequel, albeit in a spiritual form. Just like Black, it’s chock-a-block with high octane action, with the focus of the game being on guns and what they can do to the world around them. The game follows the exploits of Jackson Delgardo, a one man army working for an organisation known simply as The Network. The level I played saw Delgardo fighting his way through an African setting as army and militia forces fought to keep control of the area.

Wilson explained to me that narrative is handled in a different manner to the majority of first-person shooters out there. “It’s not about plot,” he explained. “It’s about character arcs.” By this, Wilson meant that the narrative is broken down into bite-size chunks defined by the player. The constantly degrading environments mean that cover is always disappearing, forcing players to rethink their strategy, and run into new situations. It’s these gameplay stories that help give minute to minute play a sense of plot progression. Of course the game makes use of more traditional story telling techniques too. Delgardo is aided by his very own Cortana, an operative who goes by the name of Melanie. The flirtatious banter flying back and forth over the radio waves between these characters is the source of the title’s unique brand of comedy.

To my eyes, Bodycount was a decent enough looking game, but amongst graphical hard-hitters such as COD: Black Ops, Killzone 3 and Crysis 2, it isn’t going to stand out much in comparison. That said, the emphasis here is placed firmly on gunplay, with each level acting as the stage for an adrenaline-soaked performance of bullet ballet. It’s fast paced, over the top and packed with more explosions than Sydney Bridge on New Year’s Eve. And yet at the same time it’s complimented with elegant controls, tight accuracy and feedback in all the right places. As I played, I immediately noticed how satisfying squeezing the trigger and firing off a few bullets felt. It might not blow anybody away, but the game is certainly refined.

Considering the work gone into each gun and how it feels to wield, realism isn’t something the developers are concerning themselves with all too much. Kill an enemy, and he’ll bleed a pool of blue glowing orbs. Collecting orbs is not only fun (Crackdown fans will nod in agreement here), but also vital for progression. These intel orbs, as they’re known, act as a form of currency, and can presumably (I didn’t get to see this particular feature) be spent on upgrading weapons and kitting yourself out with better equipment.

Given the first-person nature of such a shooter, you might be surprised to learn how competent the cover system is. Pulling on the left trigger in front of a wall or fence will snap Delgardo to that piece of cover. From here, players can use the left stick to peer about the environment in almost any direction. It worked well, and helped give the otherwise mindless shooting and destruction a little bit of tactical structure. Cover won’t last all that long, however, and amidst a particularly violent fray will quickly be shred to oblivion.

Bodycount features some of the most ludicrously in depth destructible environments yet seen in a video game. Take your standard FPS crate, for example, choose a spot and fire off a few rounds. You’ll notice that the wood behind your reticule is splintered and deformed with incredible precision. Shoot off enough of the wood, and you’ll reveal the metal structure that gives the crate its structure. You can destroy buildings in a similar way, and if the structure is weak enough, you can literally shoot yourself a path through it. More or less everything you point your gun at can be broken, fractured and shattered with your bullets. This is what Codemasters affectionately refers to as ‘shredding’, and while games such as Red Faction have done a similar thing in the past, the insane depth of the mechanic helps to set Bodycount apart from the competition.

Codemasters’ latest doesn’t offer the FPS genre all that much in the way of innovation, but its fresh and modern vibe gives the game a very distinct feel. The gunplay was satisfying, and the destructible environments added a nice layer of depth to the gameplay. I do worry about the game, however. It’s arriving on the scene alongside a number of other high profile shooters, and might lack the technical prowess and brand power to compete. I’m talking from a sales perspective here of course, as from what I’ve seen so far, I’d imagine the game will be fairly received well by critics. For that reason, FPS fans might want to keep this on their radar.

Bodycount will be available on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 Q1 of 2011