Following the departure of creative director Stuart Black, the Bodycount team at Codemasters is losing more high-profile talent, this time Codemasters Guildford GM Adrian Bolton, according to Eurogamer. Also out: Bodycount's original spring 2011 release date, replaced by "early summer."
CEO Rod Cousens said that the delay wasn't necessarily related to the outgoing developers, but instead is about quality concerns with the game. "He's left, but I don't think the company centres around one person. If I left I don't think the company falls over," Cousens said, noting that "someone will fill the void." The delay happened due to Codemasters' unwillingness to "compromise the game."
#gunweek
If a video game contains guns, does it also contain bullets? Not necessarily. Well, not necessarily — get this — depending on your philosophical take on what it means for a bullet to exist. More »
Codemasters employees worried about having to pack up their stuff and head for Bangalore should probably relax, as VP of studios Gavin Cheshire denied such plans in a Develop interview. After a recent 50 percent acquisition by Indian company Reliance Big Entertainment, worry apparently spread about the possibility of Codemasters relocating development to its new parent company's home country. "I can safely say that this is absolutely not the case," Cheshire said. "There are obviously some 'strategic' moves for both partners, but in terms of development at the level we're at, it's very much about Reliance investing in our skills and abilities over here in the UK."
Let's hope Reliance is investing lots, as Cheshire spells out a whole mess of titles currently in development at the UK-based publisher's trio of development studios. "Our Guildford studio is working hard on Bodycount, and we will be looking to take that franchise further and further with the addition of more IP. In Southam it's full steam ahead with the next iteration in our Flashpoint series, as well as the next Dirt and Grid."
Thankfully, with all those games in development, the publisher has a plan -- and an upcoming game engine, EGO 2.0 -- for helping to manage it all. "We are focused on EGO 2.0 at the moment, which will be coming in with a massive title that we can't talk about just yet. That will really keep us cutting-edge." Cutting-edge, you say? Figure skating sim confirmed?! We think so!
Black and Bodycount developer Stuart Black has announced intentions to vacate his current position at Codemasters this October, Eurogamer reports. "He's got all his design work to do but he's going to finish before he leaves the team to complete the game, which takes him through to October," Codemasters says. Apparently an "80-strong team" will remain working on Bodycount after Black's departure, seeing through the game to its planned "early 2011" release window.
Though Eurogamer claims Black's choice to leave is predicated on "post-E3 fallout," Codemasters has denied as much to Develop, saying, "It isn't really the case that Stuart has left from 'E3 fallout,' there's nothing like that going on. E3 coverage was actually very good." We've followed up with Black for clarification of his reasons for leaving, but for now, Codemasters assures us that "progress continues" on Bodycount.
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."
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."
When the finishing touches are placed on Bodycount, Stuart Black's follow-up to last generation's Black, it has the potential to be a fun, sexy, arcade FPS. Unfortunately, the pre-E3 demo that I played wasn't ready for the limelight.
It's refreshing to see a more light-hearted take on the genre, with a focus on the sheer fun of firing weapons. I certainly wouldn't mind a change of pace from the gravitas and machismo of games like Call of Duty and Killzone. Bodycount's colorful, spy-themed world reminds me of Monolith's No One Lives Forever series -- and that's a good thing.
The world of Bodycount is heavily influenced by TV's Alias, with the player assuming the role of a reluctant operative, thrown into unstable areas of conflict. For reasons unknown to the player, he's become a member of "The Network," an organization whose slogan -- "Your Safety is our Concern" -- comes off as more than a little disingenuous. His objectives come courtesy of an unidentified female handler, and the game promises to explore the evolving relationship between the two.
Codemasters' upcoming Bodycount is a rather curious project, building upon the foundations of last generation's Criterion Games-developed FPS Black with inspirations as varied as Alias, Star Trek and Lady Gaga. The eccentricities of Bodycount appear to be a reflection of its creator, Stuart Black -- a man that shares his game's energetic, in-your-face attitude.
Joystiq: First off, the title: Is there a deeper meaning behind the obvious implication of the name "Bodycount?" Stuart Black: You shoot a lot, a lot of people. You're going to kill a lot of people in this game, achieving that body count. We're not going to be apologetic about it. That's not what the game is about; it's about firing guns -- and what are guns for? Killing people. We want you to understand that everyone you kill in this game ... they deserve it! They're all nut-jobs.
I didn't actually come up with the title Bodycount. It was actually one of my other designers in the studio, and soon as he said it, I was, "Of course, it totally fits."
#bodycount
From the co-creator and designer of Black comes Bodycount, Codemasters' newest shot at "genre-defining gun play" for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, a game you might have already heard a few peeps about. More »
Bodycount says: One! One new gallery of screens from Codies' new IP
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."
Codemasters' new FPS from Black creator Stuart Black has been revealed by OXM UK -- and then promptly unrevealed, when the article was taken down. Bodycount is not based on Ice-T's metal band Body Count, because the world couldn't possibly be that beautiful. However, the cover of OXM (accessed through a Google cache of the article) calls it "the ultimate shooter." Since there won't be any shooters after this one, we assume that means it's really cool.
We'll find out more this week as the magazine arrives in UK homes, and presumably when an announcement is put online for good. Given the venue of announcement, we at least know it is an Xbox 360 game.
