It’s “Team America: World Police” the game, sans the comedy. Take control of an agent of the Network — a multinational corporation that seeks to halt war and terror by any means necessary. The agent is a one-man wrecking crew who mows through enemies with a trove of guns and near-limitless bullets.
“Bodycount,” which is billed as the “spiritual successor” to PlayStation 2’s little-known yet much-heralded shooter “Black,” sports fully destructible environments and allows players to fire through walls. Sounds like an incredibly fun premise, but parts of this first-person shooter come up well short of its top-tier competition.
The artificial intelligence continuously makes the bad guys take cover next to highly explosive barrels — these barrels are everywhere — and also run on what seems to be preset paths; a grenade hurled at their feet won’t make a difference. Almost all of the baddies are based on a handful of designs, with very minute skin changes. Also, those fully destructible levels are continuously recycled to stretch out the playtime.
| ‘Bodycount’ |
| » Systems: Xbox 360, PS3 |
| » Price: $59.99 |
| » Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars |
While “Bodycount” misses the mark on plenty of features — frustrating level design and a poor melee system among them — it hits a home run with the guns. Each firearm has a unique sound and play style. And the game’s audio truly makes it feel like being in the middle of a war zone with a cacophony of shouts, blasts and eruptions of gunfire.
Unlike many recent shooters that have flopped, “Bodycount” remains fun and incredibly satisfying despite its flaws. Hosing down wave after wave of evil minions with an assault rifle can get old, so all the explosions really brighten up the rather dull visuals. There are just enough “wow” moments to keep gamers drawn in.
“Bodycount” will just leave you wishing more was done to polish the game. Or that the price was dropped to be comparable to the quality of the product.
