Video Game Review: Poor Execution Leaves ‘Bodycount’ in the Dust

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CHICAGO – The shooter genre has become not just immensely popular but critically adored as well, making it even more difficult for sub-par fare to pass as viable entertainment. I remember the years following the breakthrough of “Doom II” as a cavalcade of mediocrity disguised as competition. For every great shooter title, there are a handful of near-misses or even complete failures. “Bodycount” falls somewhere in between those two negative categories. There are times where it approaches the intentions of its developers but there are too many problems with the title for it to stand anywhere near the intense shooter competition for your video gaming dollar this season.

Video Game Rating: 1.5/5.0

Rarely has a major game felt more lazily executed than “Bodycount.” It’s one of those titles in which the player may at first be intrigued by the set-up enough to wonder where the story/experience is going, only to realize that the answer is absolutely nowhere. It is a generic, repetitive, nearly broken title with barren multiplayer, poor graphics, weak controls, and awful storytelling. It’s not as straight-up broken as some cash-grab shooters we’ve seen this year (“Duke Nukem Forever,” “Call of Juarez: The Cartel”) but it’s just barely a step above that bottom of the barrel.

Bodycount
Photo credit: Codemasters

The premise of “Bodycount” is intriguing. You are a member of The Network, one of those elite groups that hits the ground in war-torn areas of the world and brings peace by destroying everything in sight. Dropping into underdeveloped countries and using strategy and skill to not only survive but turn the tide of an international conflict? Great idea. But the execution is abysmal.

Bodycount Photo credit: Codemasters

The game alternates between killing poorly-armed local soldiers through Africa and Asia and tackling the multi-national corporation that’s beyond the barely-controlled chaos — The Target. The horrendous writing intercuts firefights in what typically looks like a third-world shanty town with the massive, futuristic, personality-less complexes that purportedly are underground or nearby. It’s insane. It’s like going from “Call of Duty” to “Star Wars” and it makes absolutely no sense. One minute, you’re shooting barely-armed mercenaries and the next minute you’re shooting stormtroopers. Logic was not a factor here.

It doesn’t help that the mission structures and level design really would have to try to be more generic. The majority of the game can be summed up thusly — go here, push this button, don’t die. There’s so little of interest to keep you engaged on a storytelling level, that you could turn down the volume and listen to an audio book while you play.

The gunplay isn’t bad. Some of the weapons are fun and the game has arguably the most powerful grenades in the history of the shooter. You also earn streaks based on skill shots like headshots, grenade usage, and other tricks, but I could rarely figure out what good they were. They don’t give you any powers, just points for level-end grades and leaderboards. Do you think I care that you gave me a C for surviving that level? I couldn’t tell what to do different to earn a B. None of the gameplay is well-defined.

Bodycount Photo credit: Codemasters

As the game progresses, you earn power-ups that include invincibility (don’t ask how that makes any sense given the plot of the game because I tuned out so badly that I couldn’t really even explain it), air strikes, and more. You earn them as levels progress, just in time to use them, of course. Yes, “Bodycount” is one of those games that gives you just what you need when you need it. It requires no intelligence at all on your part.

Don’t get me started on the cover mechanics. Having to push the crouch button, cover button, and lean button before I can even aim and shoot in most situations? A shooter fan’s nightmare.

The AI is horrendous as guys alternate looking at you with their weapons at their side while you shoot them and having supernatural powers to foil you attempt to flank them. Co-op mode is weak and, honestly, I could rarely find competition with which to play multiplayer. Everyone seems to have discarded “Bodycount” — even the people who made it as the studio that made the game has already been shut down by Codemasters.

We’re heading into the most crowded video game season in years. Don’t let this lackluster title take your video game spending money nor your time away from what’s to come.

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com