Aug 19, 2011 13:58 GMT  ·  By

Codemasters is best known for creating the Dirt series of rally simulation and other racing games but the British based publisher has also been working, quietly, on Bodycount, a new shooter that is seen as being the successor of the Black concept.

With the game nearing its launch date the developers have offered some more information about the cover system they have implemented and about how they added unpredictability to the multiplayer side of the game.

Talking to Games on Net Andrew Parsons, who is one of the developers working on Bodycount at the Guilford Codemasters studio, has said, “We’ve tried really hard to create a readable visual language for the player, so that they can assess their cover for its ability to protect them. It’s always been one of the cornerstones of Bodycount’s environment design that if you allow *everything* to shred away and disappear, there’s nowhere left for the player to hide – which isn’t always fun!”

Bodycount is set to allow players to take out almost all the cover in a battle area, with scored kills leading to more destructive powers, like airstrikes, that can further decimate cover points.

The multiplayer element of the game will be built around varied classes, each with its own tactics and its own role on the battlefield.

Parsons talked a little about the scavenger class, saying, “he acts as a sponge for any intel dropped during firefights – if you see all your precious loot being sucked away from you, that’s a scavenger working his evil! He’s a fast-moving character with a low physical profile, so you have to chase him in order to get a proper bead.”

Bodycount is set to be launched on August 30 in the United States and three days later in Europe on the Xbox 360 from Microsoft and the PlayStation 3 from Sony.

The game will not have a PC version.