Speaking in an interview with GameSpot UK, former Bodycount director Stuart Black has commented on why he left Codemasters half-way through the development of his own game. Laying some rumours to rest, Black also raised some curious questions about the current state of the title still in development at the Guilford studio. Black has since teamed up with Polish outfit City Interactive and is working on a new game using CryEngine 3. He states:
“There have been some quite odd and silly rumours. At the end of the day these things are mundane. I’ve never spoken about it and don’t have a lot to say. An agreement was broken. No one really wanted to fix it. I decided to move on. The rest seems to be self-generating noise.
My decision to leave Codemasters and Bodycount was the hardest choice of my career. It was clear that Codemasters were unable, or unwilling, to provide the support needed to realise the vision I had for Bodycount. Some of the marketing initiatives and trailers were not, in my opinion, doing justice for the game.
“I felt we got to the halfway mark and it was good. People who played it were digging some of the more risky choices. Then the future just shattered in front of me.
“But these things work themselves out. If that hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t have met the guys at City, had the opportunity to visit the team in beautiful Rzeszow in Poland, and be blown away by their enthusiasm and the quality of their work, or the chance to use CryEngine 3, which is awesome.”
As for what he’s working on, Black confirms that it is a “new WWII shooter.” Don’t expect more flag-waving or a heroic tale of sacrifice for the greater cause, however, as the designer quotes films such as The Dirty Dozen and Inglourious Basterds as inspiration.
The creator also took the time to extol the CryEngine3 engine, stating: “[I’m] looking at stuff that just a few days in is more advanced than anything I’ve worked with previously.”
Finally, Black used the opportunity in the interview to correct a commonly held misconception that he was the creator of Black when at EA Criterion. ““I’ll take the opportunity to say Alex Ward is the creator of Black. I was co-creator but it was his baby.”
gazzagb
WW2 shooter? Yes please, we haven’t had a good one in ages. Everything is following BF/COD and going modern.
Grey_Ghost13
I’m looking forward to a good WWII shooter again too. Especailly using the CryEngine3, should look amazing.
Blayney
Don’t take this the wrong way, because I’m sure you are genuinely interested in a new WW2 shooter. But gamers can be so fickle haha. 2 years ago when W@W was coming out “ugh we don’t want more WW2 shooters”. Now “finally a WW2 shooter we haven’t had one in ages”.
Just an observation :)
gazzagb
Lol, you’re totally correct! It just shows how things come and go!
ProjectJAY
I think we’re all looking forward to a different kind of WW2 shooter, a breath of fresh air for the genre, if you will. Not the ‘Gawd Bless Americuh’ bravado that the Medal of Honors and Call of Dutys of old left us with.
Grey_Ghost13
I know where your comming from, but as you said I enjoy WWII shooters, I thought the story in W@W was fantastic, I even enjoyed playing MoH Classic that game with the reboot. But yes it is funny when you look at it. WWII shooters are so 90’s!!! :)
DrNate86
Hehe I thought this as well, it doesn’t seem that long since we were all sick of them! I still rolled my eyes slightly when I read there was another one coming.
rht992
i think we were all just tired with cod and moh doing the same things over and over again. if its a Inglorious stlyed game then maybe it’ll do things just a little different
Blayney
What happened to Codemasters? They made some brilliant games on the psx and ps2. I haven’t really enjoyed anything since Race driver GRID. DiRT 2 went too far away from proper rallying for me, F1 2010 was good – but riddled with faults from the get-go, OpFlash : DR was a so poor on PS3, albeit with a few cool things.
Now this guy is saying they weren’t supporting the development of his game.
I have low hopes for the next Op Flash, F1 2011 and whatever else codies are making :( – and they used to be my favourite.
MadPerson
does that mean the game might get canceled? Hope not what I have seen it looked promising.
Raider197
Likely not, someone will just take over his position, like what happened with Hiromichi Tanaka and Final Fantasy XIV last week.
bigdon23
Cry engine 3, hmm can we have an editer plz