Bodycount – Review (360, PS3)

written by gazzara on 8.9.11

Bodycount, for a long time, is being hailed as the spiritual successor to the frantic action shooter, Black.

Developing an original action shooter, however, in a genre full of military shooters that gross hundreds of millions of dollars ala Call Of Duty and Battlefield amongst others is a really tough sell as Bulletstorm found out to its cost.  If you are a person that relishes a deep and engrossing storyline, layered with sub plot and character development then look away now.  If you want a balls out, no frills arcade shooter then you may want to read on.

• Likes

  • Weapons feel solid
  • Destructible environments
  • Gun play is great
  • Visually beautiful

• Dislikes

  • Lacks drive
  • A.I. is shady
  • Feels rushed

Bodycount’s story is not the game’s best asset or feature but for an arcade shooter then you really shouldn’t expect that much.  You are an “asset” for the Network.  A corporation above and beyond Governments and States that provides solutions to conflict, wars and global problems.  Usually providing rediculous amounts of lethal force, hence the title Bodycount, you are dropped into various situations to assess, reassess and provide solutions to problems that are arising.

Cue, ridiculous amounts of gunplay, bullets and bodies flying everywhere and a game that although flawed in its design has just enough goodness to keep you wanting a little bit more.  Set in a war torn Africa and also explores Asia during civil unrest, Bodycount sets out its stall in fairly well designed  levels that drops the “asset” into the heart of, or just behind the action to achieve certain tasks between point A and point B and sometimes back again.  Lots of gunplay is the order of the day here with a relentless amount of enemies to carve your way through using one of two that can be carried or lobbing the odd grenade or two.

You probably know by now that the game is arcade shooter and uses a skill kill mechanism and combos similar to Bulletstorm to score and grade each level.  The more of the kills and combos you can attain, the better the score and the higher the grade for that level which will be put on leaderboards and the like.  The problem with some of the levels though is that they are often repeated as you move between your objectives which for something like Halo: Combat Evolved worked really well for but something a decade on shows poor design decision and can’t be forgiven in this type of genre.

So, the campaign is kind of one dimensional but you know what you’re getting when you buy an arcade shooter.  Added to this mode is Bodycount mode which is basically the same as the campaign and acts as a level select which keeps count of kills etc and publishes them to online leaderboards.  Online skimps with the bare minimum, offering only deathmatch and team deathmatch and a paltry selection of maps. There is a co-op mode called Siege that plays out like every other Horde mode out there, and that is it. No progression system and no incentive to playing online unfortunately gives this game a feel of being rushed after Stuart Black and major figureheads from the game had left citing creative differences.

Two things that do really stand out though are the shooting mechanics and gunplay as well as the presentation and visual qualities.  The weapons feel hefty and provide a real satisfaction when taking an enemy down.  Weapons feel powerful and that perfect headshot or blasting someone off of their feet with a shotgun will provide a wry little smile and a feeling of sadistic accomplishment.  You also earn some power-ups as you progress through the campaign that give you limited advantages against enemies such as becoming a bullet sponge or explosive rounds and even an air strike. These are powered by collecting intel from fallen enemies, all of the blue exclamation points dropped. These last such a short time that they rarely are a game changer, and to be honest I found myself forgetting I had them, outside of the airstrike, most of the time.

Presentation wise too this game looks great, Vibrant colours as well as destructible cover add depth to what could be a lifeless game for some.  The way wood splinters, the bullets fly and the way that the Ego engine handles the lot serves its purpose well.  The audio is brain scrambling mixing high end bullet sounds to heavy bass explosions that rang around my PX 5 headset and I’m sure will do so on any surround sound piece of kit that you’re putting the game through.

Overall, Bodycount has a feeling of an opportunity missed and although there are some very clever ideas that are in game, Bodycount feels as though the design process has let it down a little.  Perhaps it’s the fact that some influential figures left the game early (even though they are said to have completed their tasks before they left).  Perhaps it could be that Mr Black suddenly realised that the Sun can’t shine out of a cat’s arse twice in a row and that Black was, in fact, his magnum opus.

One thing is for sure, Bodycount, although not bad, is not as awe inspiring as we thought it was going to be.  Don’t get me wrong.  It is a lot of fun and it looks great but something is a miss in its design which may put a few people off.  It is worth a risk but you may want to rent or borrow it first before you spend £40 of your hard earned money.