“Set to rip apart the First Person Shooter and deliver genre-defining gun play that comes alive in an orgy of bullets and destruction, Codemasters today confirmed that Bodycount is the new IP in production at Codemasters Studios Guildford.”

Now that’s how you start a press release!

As you might have gathered, Codemasters has announced that a new first-person shooter is currently in development at their Guildford studio, under the watchful eye of creative director Stuart Black who, the release says, is set to “reboot shooter gun play” with the title going by the name of Bodycount.

Stuart Black (who co-created and designed Criterion’s awesomely visceral 2006 shooter, Black) is overseeing an “all-star development team” working on Bodycount, which is due to release in the first quarter of 2011 on Xbox 360 and PS3.

Bodycount will see players strapping on the combat boots of a powerful and skilled operative with (essentially) a ‘license to kill’ specific enemies known only as ‘Targets,’ on behalf of a clandestine organisation known as the ‘Network,’ which is currently involved in a global power struggle.

Along the way, you’ll get involved in this secret battle for dominance, using a mighty selection of contemporary weapons to stamp your own authority on the situation, as you tear through destructible cover and a “shreddable world” to execute enemies, and leave no witnesses.

Bodycount will also comprise the obligatory online multiplayer component, as well as a cooperative mode, in order to more effectively “blast outrageous action and spectacular fire-fights from both barrels.”

Executive Producer on Bodycount, Tom Gillo said of the project:

“Our core focus for Bodycount is to deliver best-in-class gun play that places the gamer at the heart of the experience. From the jaw-dropping devastation caused by firing into enemies or shredding the world around you in a hail of bullets, Bodycount will crystallise that moment of pulling the trigger into an exhilarating sensory overload of action.”

Creative Director on Bodycount, Stuart Black himself also appraised the project, saying:

“We’re all massive FPS fans, and believe that there’s room for a refresh of the shooter experience. If Race Driver: GRID was all about the purity of racing, then everything in Bodycount is absolutely centred on the bullet and its impact on the world.

“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.”

Expect much more from Bodycount in the coming months as time tick away towards that first quarter release window.