Bodycam Early Access Review

ign.com:

There’s a concept in business called a “fast follow.” The idea, essentially, is that one company shows a product it’s working on, and another imitates it and gets their version out quickly, taking advantage of the buzz and beating the original to market. Bodycam, made by the two-person team of Reissad Studio, looks very much like it is fast-following Unrecord, a first-person shooter from the perspective of a police bodycam that garnered a lot of attention for its exceptionally lifelike graphics. That’s not necessarily a bad thing – Fortnite adding a PUBG-like battle royale was a literal game changer, for instance. Unfortunately, that’s not the case with Bodycam. While it is an interesting proof of concept in its early access phase, it has too many critical design blindspots to be a good shooter just yet.

The idea behind Bodycam is creative, and the mix of a rounded lens, dust on the glass, and rough movement does a good job selling the vibe of actual police-style footage. It pairs well with high-quality textures, dense debris, and lush foliage to make a visually impressive game. The lighting effects in particular are excellent, with a broad range from pitch-black hallways to blindingly bright flashlights factoring heavily into the strategy in the team-based modes.

Unfortunately, the concept just isn’t great for a competitive first-person shooter because you don’t gain anything by having a worse view of the world. It makes locating and shooting enemies more awkward, and it doesn’t contribute to the experience thematically. Police aren’t looking through a camera when they’re actually in a shootout, and, as you aren’t actually playing as law enforcement, it doesn’t say anything about the state of policing. It’s also a bit strange the way aiming down site means your character is lifting the gun to their chest to be in front of the bodycam, not their eyes. I can see how this perspective would work great for something like a horror game; the time spent stalking around in