Body Count

Body Count is the incredibly generic name of a very short game.

Game: Body Count

System: Xbox 360

Price: R499

Rating: R18

The plot goes like this - Tesanga, an imaginary African country, was just about to exit a civil war when all the leaders who wanted peace were shot. Now it is up to our protagonist, as an employee of The Network, to save those peace talks by shooting people, preferably in the head.

Along the way you will get your supervisor being incredibly surprised that your presence has been noted by the bad guys. This comes straight after you invaded their base and killed their dudes. Upper management's competence does not inspire me in this game.

The gameplay is good. I find the aiming mechanic reasonable and getting a points multiplier for shooting people in the back or the head makes it a bit more exciting than just shooting at random. Throwing grenades is a hit-and-miss affair - I kept missing the enemy and hitting myself instead.

The battlefield maps are made a lot more interesting by the destructible terrain. A few slashes with a knife or bursts of machine-gun fire create whole new paths to your enemies' annihilation.

The trouble is, if this is a civil war, where are the civilians? The plot, even as short as the game is, really lets the game down. A civil war is at its most compelling when you have the complexity of the situation highlighted.

It might be saved by the multi-player if a community develops for it - but the trouble is that you need to get the players interested in order to make the multi-player game feasible. Time will tell if that works out.

The graphics are excellent. There is a learning curve with the controls but it isn't unmanageable, and the overall experience is fun.

THE GOOD

The game's graphics are superb, the gameplay is actually fun and the setting unusual.

THE BAD

It is extremely short, and while the plot may get a few laughs, it is for all the wrong reasons.

6/10