Bodycount, developed by Codemasters and set to release on August 30, is a first person shooter that borrows some elements here and there from other first person shooters. Sound familiar? It should. In order to survive in today's competitive market, FPS games that derive some or many elements from others often need to either present those elements in better ways or put a unique spin on them. During the brief demo for Bodycount, I didn't get the impression that the game was trying to do either of those, instead opting to simply appeal to those who enjoy shooting guys and getting points from it, regardless of whether it had been done before.

That's right, you get points in Bodycount for your kills. The game features a skillshot system akin to the one seen in Bulletstorm, but it's a lot more simple and less creative. Headshots, grenade kills, and blowing guys up who decided that the logical place to stand in a firefight was next to explosive barrels are all considered skillshots. You won't be flinging guys into man-eating plants or catapulting them off a cliff, nor will you be dropkicking them in the nuts. The simplicity of the system makes me wonder why it's there, considering that it doesn't encourage any creativity or imagination when taking guys out. Chaining together skillshots will build a combo that helps you achieve a better grade at the end of a level.

But what would a skillshot system be without some shooting, right? The actual shooting in the game leaves much to be desired, mostly because of the incredibly sluggish controls. There was a noticeable lag in the turning speed, which is especially alarming considering I have zero lag in all other games. Furthermore, there is no iron sight aiming (the camera just zooms in slightly when taking aim), and you have to hold down LT halfway in order to move while aiming. Holding it down completely allows you to duck, lean, and peek around corners, a feature that I'm sure some people have missed in this genre. If anything, at least the game runs at a pretty solid 30 frames per second.

In addition, the A.I. doesn't seem to be too interested in taking cover. An alarming amount of enemies I encountered preferred to either stand in place while shooting or slowly walk forward while shooting. Any cover that they may occasionally take usually goes away fast, since wood and concrete can be shot apart.

Some different features were hinted at at the obligatory "here is how to play" screen, such as an Adrenalin mode and airstrikes (both activated via D-Pad), but the only one available in the demo was explosive bullets. These actually run on a meter that you fill up using orb-like objects that enemies drop. As you might expect, they increase damage and send enemies flying when hit.

As I mentioned before, the demo was pretty brief, and the objectives I completed were pretty standard. I assassinated a high ranking militia officer, activated a radio, and blew up to guard towers at a gate. The objectives are given to you by Cortana.... or at least, the voice actress for Cortana.

The short demo unfortunately was enough to leave a pretty negative impression of the game. The clunky controls and movement speed are probably the weakest aspects of what I have played, yet the action isn't particularly stunning either. Play the demo and decide for yourself if you'll be checking out the final product on August 30.