Codemasters' Bodycount is the spiritual successor to Black

Though not a sequel to Black, Codemasters' upcoming Bodycount may very well be a spiritual successor. Designed by creative director Stuart Black, the co-creator and designer of Black back in 2006, Bodycount is being created by what Codemasters is describing as "an all-star development team" using the EGO Game Technology Platform, which is "an evolution of Codemasters award-winning engine."

"Our core focus for Bodycount is to deliver best-in-class gun play that places the gamer at the heart of the experience," said executive producer Tom Gillo. "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."

"If Race Driver: GRID was all about the purity of racing, then everything in Bodycount is absolutely centered on the bullet and its impact on the world," said Stuart Black, in a statement very similar to those made about Black in 2006. Remember the "gun porn" comments he and Criterion head Alex Ward made back then "Our shredding tech enables us to create a different kind of gameplay, where players and AI can't hide behind indestructible cover and rely on whack-a-mole mechanics. Here the environment is constantly changing as the game world is shot to hell; it's going to be a huge amount of fun."

Bodycount is scheduled as a Q1 2011 title for PS3 and Xbox 360.