It can be really disheartening when you try your level best only to be slapped in the face with the news that you simply aren’t good enough. In Bodycount, Codemaster’s latest first-person shooter, that was ever apparent as we ended our first ever mass slaughter of hundreds of local militia by earning a measly Grade “D” in the end of level rankings. Needless to say, this didn’t feel reward enough considering our confident gung-ho approach and willingness to tackle some ferocious A.I. head on. There is, however, a good lesson to be learned from our mistaken view that Bodycount is a game that merely involves aiming, firing and running like you’ve got a stick of dynamite down your pants. Consequently, you soon learn that the over-powering urge to roar like a lion and run-and-gun your way through a pack of heavily-armed goons leads inevitably to disappointment come the end of level score.
The chaos that unfolds in Bodycount actually tricks you into panicking, creating an overwhelming sense of urgency that grips you as you dash through a storm of bullets and leap over tossed grenades and through falling debris. Stop to take a breath for one moment though and you quickly realise that there’s a lot more strategy involved than first meets the eye, especially if you harbour any dreams of becoming a grade “A” killing machine. Judging from our initial hands-on time with Bodycount, it does appear that it is just as much about taking up good positioning, or tossing down a mine in the right place to take out half-a-dozen unsuspecting enemies, as it is pure, unadulterated, gun-in-hand FPS action. The scoring system triggers that competitive gamer inside and when you’re aiming for top of the leaderboard, Codie’s shooter becomes just as much about skill as it does wanton destruction and chaos.
There’s so much more to Bodycount than just bringing buildings crumbling to the ground with a well-placed grenade, or knocking enemies 10-feet back with a blast from your shotgun — it’s also about gaining multipliers, collecting orbs and racking up skill-shots. Though there’s little time to think before the next wave of enemies descends, success is also down to how well you use the innovative new cover system to your advantage as you attempt to take out some very smart A.I that changes its behaviour swiftly based on your actions. Yes, causing mayhem is a lot of fun, but Bodycount also looks to be far more tactically challenging than we first gave it credit for; and this cover system actually becomes an integral part of the gameplay.
By introducing a fresh new take on the “lean-and-peek” cover system now adopted in many first-person shooters Codemasters has taken a big risk with Bodycount, but if our initial look at three of the game’s preview levels is anything to go by it may well just pay off. In some ways this new cover mechanic reminds us of the original Rainbow Six games on consoles, where you could camp just to the right-hand side of a window so that you couldn’t be seen and then lean and peek to the left every few seconds or so to take down anyone stupid enough to rush across an open courtyard. The risk of someone running up behind you was always there, but you were unlikely to get hit from in front unless you peeked for too long.
In essence, the cover system in Bodycount does work rather like that, rooting you to the spot and allowing you to peek left, right and over objects without sticking to your cover spot. It differs in two main areas though which makes it feel markedly different to anything before. As you press the left trigger you zoom into the action which gives you more accuracy and precision over your shots, but you’re also rooted to the spot so become instantly more vulnerable. Furthermore, Codemasters has cleverly offset the advantage that you do gain from taking cover by making many of the cover spots destructible, which means you rarely have a couple of minutes before having to move. Camping – in the levels we’ve played so far – isn’t such a great idea.
This is definitely deliberate. Codemasters simply doesn’t want you to keep still for too long in Bodycount. It’s clear that it’s going to be a fast-paced game throughout that requires you to make split-second decisions. The fact that your peripheral vision is filled with over-the-top chaos also serves to keep you on edge and ready to move at any given point. As such, unlike many other games, the cover system can’t be used regularly for chickening out when the action gets too intense– though you will use it for that, especially when you spot the "Psycho" stomping toward you with his chain gun. We generally used it to compose ourselves for just a few seconds so we could line up head-shots accurately.
Out of cover, you toss grenades, place mines and blast away with the assault rifle, but the camera is placed fairly far away from the action. Pull the left trigger and your character sticks to the spot and the iron-sights move in, though not fully, allowing you to pick enemies off more easily. Subsequently, it’s a cover mechanic then that actually has two purposes – the most important being for composure and accuracy, and secondly for cover. Though the three levels we’ve played offer a mere glance at what Bodycount will offer in terms of level design, we’ve so far been impressed with how the cover system offers you reassurance, giving you the steady aim, but also makes you feel a little on edge due to the destructible cover spots; it’s quite a clever balance that gives gameplay unpredictability and tension.
Throughout our three level experience, we saw metal buckle, wooden fences splinter and entire floors of buildings collapse under the intense pressure of gun-fire. Bodycount does over-the-top action and explosions extremely well, though it never really impresses in terms of graphical quality or brilliant animation. Judging by these three levels, it attempts to make up for that in terms of design with a fairly open, ever-changing battlefield that doesn’t feel at all restricted and should mean that additional playthroughs will be well worthwhile. Environments are littered with objects that you can destroy, such as explosive barrels, and there’s also multiple pathways to your destination.
Racking up multipliers is fun, and skill shots are a welcome addition that encourages you to experiment with the ways in which you can kill enemies by rewarding you with orbs that furnish you with health, invincibility and ammunition. These orbs are dotted all over the landscape and we’d often risk rushing out in the open to scoop up the rewards, before dropping a couple of mines and grenades and dashing to the relative safety of high ground to watch the mayhem unfold. Equally satisfying though is staying right into the midst of an enemy encampment to fight, unleashing a round of bullets at those around you as if you were Tony Montana in Scarface.
On one hand, it’s disappointing to hear the Bodycount won’t feature that many weapons, but it’s encouraging to see in our playthrough that the weapons we’ve used do pack a hell of a punch. Codemasters has clearly put a lot of effort into creating the look and feel of the weapons; even standard firearms, like the G38 Assault rifle, feel extremely powerful. The developer has achieved this with a mixture of effects as the camera shifts up and down erratically when you fire and intense muzzle flashes obscure your view slightly. At times, it almost feels like you’re battling with the weapon as well as the enemy. It’s a lot of fun mowing down enemies, and it’s quite clever how you do feel a bit out of control with the sheer power that both the assault rifle and shotgun (the two weapons we tried) possess.
Even at this early stage, it’s clear that Bodycount’s main draw will be that it makes you feel a little like Rambo when he took on the National Guard singlehandedly. But, despite the aggressive gameplay and spectacle of seeing the game world crumbling to pieces, it doesn’t appear to be a one-trick pony either. With co-op play and multiplayer included, plus the unique new feature that the cover system offers, Codemasters could well be onto a winner. At the very least, Bodycount is a game worth keeping a very close eye on.