XBox 360 Review: BODYCOUNT
Another First Person Shooter arrives into an already hugely over-saturated market, but does Codemaster's Guildford studio debut have enough to make a name for itself?
Stuart Black's Bodycount is simply effective - it is an adrenaline soaked shooter with limited brains, whose preoccupation with weaponry is such that it isn't a protagonist or villain who adorns the box cover, but a small armoury. Not only that, but the game takes a leaf out of the Saw franchise's book by revelling in the inventiveness of the kill, incentivising the player for the manner in which enemies are mown down, based on a kill-skills metric called Skillshots that cumulatively allow said player to build up rewards, and Achievements if it's the 360 version. This is the gimmick that Bodycount trades on most, and there is admittedly a lot of initial enjoyment in the comparatively precise science of earning these Skillshots, which can be achieved through head shots, through-cover shots, explosions, near-death kills and various others, which add more depth and variety to a shooting mechanic that is otherwise nothing special. The reward, other than Achievements and bragging rights for creating a high multiplier through accumulating Skillshots is an increased level of Intel generated by each slain foe - a collectible that generates through kills - which can be traded in to activate enhancements including increased speed, durability, or firepower for a limited period, or much more usefully will allow the player to call in an air-strike. These upgrades are all well and good, but they do very little to enhance the playing experience, and are largely unnecessary (apart from the airstrike that is). 
Unfortunately, the aiming mechanic isn't what it could be, which admittedly means some headshots wrongly register on the plus side, but which also compromises accuracy in ranged shots, and leads to frustration, especially when the player is trying to build up a long Skillshot chain. And unfortunately, after the first few times of this happening, it's incredibly hard to find the motivation to try again. And while the gunplay is occasionally fun, there isn't enough substance to make the game anything but fleetingly arresting: the game time is an embarrassingly brief 6 hours, the multiplayer isn't anything to write home about and the co-op mode is another tale of sparsity that just doesn't add extend the appeal beyond the very slightest measure. The only modes on offer are Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch with up to 12 players, and the choice is restricted to just four maps which is a travesty. Couple that with the fact that the game just plain isn't difficult enough - even though it incrementally does toughen as the levels progress - thanks to an appallingly bad enemy AI that sees the thugs at the end of your barrel turn from veritable killing machines into bumbling cannon fodder in the space of a few short seconds, and the overall gameplay experience is some way south of satisfying. Is it too much to ask for a real threat in a game like this? Because even after just six hours, it's difficult to care about how high your bodycount is getting when the enemies are so disposable, and so very unworthy. 
It's a shame, because the environments are very well designed, and would definitely lend themselves to a better online play mode, but here they feel slightly wasted, offering the opportunity to achieve some tactical kills, like flanking moves, but again the AI lets the player down badly here because despite obviously being morons in uniform, the baddies always know where you are. Regardless of how hidden you are, or how quiet, if you appear in the open for the briefest of moments, even if your prey is facing an entirely different direction, he will invariably sense exactly where you are and spray bullets at you. So much for stealth then. Oddly enough, it is when the game attempts to flesh out the bones, with a semblance of plot, based around some terribly executed cut-scenes, and guided by a disembodied female voice who tries manfully to keep the traditional narrative pleasantries on the table that it falls apart at the seams. But when you're faced with a game experience that is so obviously biased towards the currency of wild west style shooting sprees, who needs the whys and wherefores behind the bullets? All we really need to know is that we play a mercenary-type from an agency called The Network who is sent into poor countries to defuse internal conflicts, in the same manner that throwing petrol on a fire might eventually make it burn out. Ultimately, despite the brief sparkle of entertainment, and the momentary distraction of the big shiny guns, Bodycount will be remembered as just another under-nourished first person shooter that cannot hope for lasting success or legacy because of the over-saturation of that market, and the numerous competitors that put it to shame. It's a tale of unrealised potential, with the few flashes of genius swallowed up in a storm of mediocrity that mean Bodycount ultimately sits closer to the bottom of the already towering first person shooter pile than the top. 
Unfortunately, the aiming mechanic isn't what it could be, which admittedly means some headshots wrongly register on the plus side, but which also compromises accuracy in ranged shots, and leads to frustration, especially when the player is trying to build up a long Skillshot chain. And unfortunately, after the first few times of this happening, it's incredibly hard to find the motivation to try again. And while the gunplay is occasionally fun, there isn't enough substance to make the game anything but fleetingly arresting: the game time is an embarrassingly brief 6 hours, the multiplayer isn't anything to write home about and the co-op mode is another tale of sparsity that just doesn't add extend the appeal beyond the very slightest measure. The only modes on offer are Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch with up to 12 players, and the choice is restricted to just four maps which is a travesty. Couple that with the fact that the game just plain isn't difficult enough - even though it incrementally does toughen as the levels progress - thanks to an appallingly bad enemy AI that sees the thugs at the end of your barrel turn from veritable killing machines into bumbling cannon fodder in the space of a few short seconds, and the overall gameplay experience is some way south of satisfying. Is it too much to ask for a real threat in a game like this? Because even after just six hours, it's difficult to care about how high your bodycount is getting when the enemies are so disposable, and so very unworthy. It's a shame, because the environments are very well designed, and would definitely lend themselves to a better online play mode, but here they feel slightly wasted, offering the opportunity to achieve some tactical kills, like flanking moves, but again the AI lets the player down badly here because despite obviously being morons in uniform, the baddies always know where you are. Regardless of how hidden you are, or how quiet, if you appear in the open for the briefest of moments, even if your prey is facing an entirely different direction, he will invariably sense exactly where you are and spray bullets at you. So much for stealth then. Oddly enough, it is when the game attempts to flesh out the bones, with a semblance of plot, based around some terribly executed cut-scenes, and guided by a disembodied female voice who tries manfully to keep the traditional narrative pleasantries on the table that it falls apart at the seams. But when you're faced with a game experience that is so obviously biased towards the currency of wild west style shooting sprees, who needs the whys and wherefores behind the bullets? All we really need to know is that we play a mercenary-type from an agency called The Network who is sent into poor countries to defuse internal conflicts, in the same manner that throwing petrol on a fire might eventually make it burn out. Ultimately, despite the brief sparkle of entertainment, and the momentary distraction of the big shiny guns, Bodycount will be remembered as just another under-nourished first person shooter that cannot hope for lasting success or legacy because of the over-saturation of that market, and the numerous competitors that put it to shame. It's a tale of unrealised potential, with the few flashes of genius swallowed up in a storm of mediocrity that mean Bodycount ultimately sits closer to the bottom of the already towering first person shooter pile than the top.
