Black creator's new shooter, Bodycount, revealed in OXM
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The new shooter from the creators of Black, Bodycount, is exclusively revealed on the cover of the new issue of OXM - going out to subscribers now.
The game is being developed at Codemasters Guildford by a team headed by Stuart Black, who worked on the cult FPS that shares his name when at Criterion.
Several other key members of the Black team have joined him at Codemasters to work on Bodycount, which is a spectacular and frankly mental first-person shooter.
We can't say any more about it, save to say that if you like shooting guns in games you are going to really, really love it. Find out more in the issue itself: the mag's going out to subscribers today, and will be in newsagents on Thursday 11th March. Look out for the fancy cardboard wallet with the big hole in, our testament to the game's ridiculous levels of destruction.
Wasn't a fan of Black, very much the definition of style over substance, fun for a while but got boring, fast.
Guns, Explosions and you never know we might see a hot chick with a nice rack!
I'm Sold! also might be a good laugh ;D
Black was great but very short
Bodycount confirmed for Xbox 360, PS3; early 2011 release
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Taking aim at the "whack-a-mole mechanics" of your typical cover-based shooter, Codemasters is finally ready to take the wraps off Bodycount, the new first-person shooter IP in production at Codemasters Studios Guildford under the direction of Black creator Stuart Black. "Our shredding tech enables us to create a different kind of gameplay, where players and AI can't hide behind indestructible cover," says Black. "Here the environment is constantly changing as the game world is shot to hell; it's going to be a huge amount of fun."
That huge amount of fun will be built on the EGO Game Technology Platform, an evolution of Codemasters' EGO Engine, for both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The story has something to do with killing 'Targets' – those are the bad guys – on behalf of the 'Network' – ostensibly the good guys. In addition to a full campaign, Bodycount will feature expected FPS enhancements like online multiplayer and co-op modes.
Codies' "first internally produced new IP for many years" will be shredding environments in Q1 2011. We'll let executive producer – and former Sony London director – Tom Gillo have the last comically hyperbolic word on Bodycount: "From the jaw-dropping devastation caused by firing into enemies or shredding the world around you in a hail of bullets, Bodycount will crystalize that moment of pulling the trigger into an exhilarating sensory overload of action."
Eurogamer Hands-On (http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/bodycount-hands-on)
E3 Trailer
Bodycount's Stuart Black discusses his inspirations
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Stuart Black showed off his upcoming Bodycount title on the show floor here at E3, and while we were able to see the title earlier this month, we did talk with the creator about the sense of fun he's trying to bring to the shooter genre this time around. "I wanted to get away from the seriousness of so many shooters at the moment," he told us. "Serious men in dangerous roles, and all that jazz, yeah? And we wanted to create something that was a little bit silly, a little bit ridiculous and more uplifting."
Lady Gaga was apparently an influence, after Black saw one of her concerts. "Going to her show, feeling really uplifted and energized by that, and going like yeah, I want to get that kind of spirit in the game. Just want to have fun with it -- fun with a gun!" And to accomplish that, Black put things like XP and health orbs in the game that looked familiar if you've ever hunted Agility Orbs in Pacific City. "The orbs are a little homage to Crackdown. I'm a big fan of Dave Jones, I've known him on and off for years, great to see him back making games again."
He also pointed out an in-game nod to Metal Gear Solid (an exclamation point marker on a building), and gave some kudos to Borderlands, another shooter with an arcade bent. "I was quite surprised at how well the [damage] numbers worked in Borderlands. You see it in videos, and you're like, that looks a bit naff. But you play it, and you're like, that's really $*(%ing cool, actually ... That spirit is sort of lost in video games, and we can do that stuff, and we should revel in it."
Adrian Bolton exits Codemasters
The general manager of Codemasters Guildford, the developer behind shooter Bodycount, has left the British publisher, Eurogamer can exclusively reveal.
Adrian Bolton, ex-development director at Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit creator Criterion, follows Bodycount creative director Stuart Black out of the company.
Bodycount is now slated for release in "early summer" next year – it had been due out in the spring of 2011.
Commenting on Bolton's exit, Codemasters CEO Rod Cousens told Eurogamer: "The remit within Codemasters is not to compromise the quality of any content we publish. We're not prepared to compromise the game.
"In common with other software publishers, has that resulted in delays? It's absolutely resulted in some delays.
"As a consequence of that, have we looked at the studio and how the studio's run? Sure, we look at that. I also think that's normal business. I don't think it's any more sinister than that. People have a habit of reading into it, and two plus two becomes five, but we plan to publish the game in early summer next year and we're not being any more specific than that because we're not prepared to compromise on the quality."
Cousens insisted that despite Bolton and Black's exit, Bodycount is in safe hands.
"He's left, but I don't think the company centres around one person," Cousens said. "If I left I don't think the company falls over.
"Someone will fill the void. I don't see it as any threat to either the well-being of the product, the well-being of the studio or the well-being of the company. I don't think it's life threatening.
"Much as bloggers may want to paint the picture fuelled by injured parties, I can tell you companies don't operate like that."
Bodycount was described as a "problem project" to Eurogamer by a source close to the situation. We were also told that the recent changes at Codemasters Guildford were designed to guarantee the game's release next year.
The last time we saw Bodycount in action was at E3 2010 in June. The game has been kept under wraps since.
However, Eurogamer understands Bodycount will be shown to press before Christmas, with a big push planned for early next year.
"I can give you a fluffy answer and say Stuart's looking for new challenges in his life – all the old clichés that get put forward," Cousens added. "We're not saying that.
"We weren't satisfied with where it was. We did make changes, and we're making changes because we're not prepared to compromise our DNA. That's the hard facts of life.
"I read all the stuff on Activision and Call of Duty, and the end of the world is nigh, and the law suits that are flying around and the shots they're taking in a very public way. If you read that, that's bound to have compromised the game. I will tell you that will be the best-selling game this year, so I don't think Activision will be particularly troubled by it."
Bodycount is considered the spiritual successor to 2006's Black, which Black co-created and designed while at EA developer Criterion.
Set in the present day, Bodycount follows the story of a no-questions-asked task force ordered to kill "Targets" on behalf of a "Network". Destructible cover will feature, as will online multiplayer and co-op.
Underneath Bodycount lies Codemasters' EGO engine, which has been used to good effect in DiRT 2 and Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising.
"The game's great," Cousins said. "Companies are a team, and there is a team of people down there – 70 or 80 people working on that game – and that game will come out and do just fine.
"We want that studio to grow. We want to do more with it. We do want Bodycount to be a big success and testimony to that studio in the same way to F1 in Birmingham."
Achievements (http://www.xbox360achievements.org/game/bodycount/achievements/)
My game looks better.
Quote from: nCogNeato on August 10, 2011, 07:20:04 PM
Quote from: Handshakes on August 10, 2011, 05:42:44 PM
My game looks better.
And 1/2 the calories!
I actually have no idea what this game is about, I just wanted to spam.
Demo (http://marketplace.xbox.com/Product/Bodycount-Demo/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802434d883a?cid=SLink) now available on Xbox LIVE.
The demo didn't impress me. Might buy it when the price drops and I'm out of games to play.