This Genre of FPS is Going to Take Over

We are on the precipice of a new genre taking over shooter video games. Specifically, first person shooters, where the camera is supposed to reflect that of body cam footage. As of right now, there are two examples of this genre that I am aware of, that are either in the works, or available to play. If you are aware of anymore, please share in the comments. But there is a really strong chance that within the next year or so, depending on how these existing games perform and are received by the masses, this style will begin to take over, and we’ll see plenty of games using a body cam style camera to their advantage.

The first game that I became aware of using a body cam style is “Unrecorded”. Which, I feel as though many might be aware of because it made the rounds when a clip of the game was shared online, and it blew up. Many wondering if it was actual body cam footage. But nope, it’s a game that will be playable in the future. And it certainly sparked some conversations across the Internet. Going through the screenshots on the store page, many were instantly grabbed by what they saw and were more curious than anything. And it really does fit into its own kind of uncanny valley; where it’s not blatantly fiction and something that isn’t real, but still looks presentable and believable to be in its own universe. And it’s not on the other side where it’s going for a hyper realistic style, that’s grounded and focuses and landing all the details of a weapon and an environment as it is represented in real life. It’s somewhere in the middle. And I think there’s a few reasons as to why that is the case. The first and probably largest reason why it can feel so “real” even though it may not have the highest quality graphics possible, is the way the camera moves when the player is in control. It feels very natural to watch and similar to how an actual human would be walking around, looking at objects, and in the case of these games, handling firearms. This for me was the biggest selling point that no, this is actual body cam footage, until I found the Steam listing page for the game. I mean, you watch the trailer of the character and it’s wild how accurate their movement is to real life. Props to whoever was piloting the character for that video. Now of course, they aren’t perfect, and there is room for improvement. But honestly and as far as I am aware of, these are kind of the first games of this style. Again, there hasn’t been any in recent memory that have been highlighted. So, if these are the first generation of body cam style shooter games, they can only improve in quality. If this genre pops off and becomes successful, we will see a slew of games like these, and they will only get better with time. The other reason for the game feeling so real, is that upon a first look or glance at the game, having the faces blurred out makes it feel as if they are trying to keep identities a secret. Which tends to happen in the real world when news spreads about unfortunate events occurring and people’s identities want to be kept private. You can also see the player talking to potential hostages, and having a dialogue wheel with some options to ask people questions in the game. Overall, it’s going to be very interesting to see what happens when this game does indeed launch. Again, there’s a strong chance this blows up and we start seeing a lot more games using this camera style for future shooters. But who knows.

And the other game that has recently popped up in the same style is called “Deppart”, which is a prototype for a future project created by N4bA. And again, it looks like something that happened, was recorded and is being played back. But this game compared to “Recorded” is a little more out there with the enemy designs, and how their presence affects the lighting and your ability to shoot them. But even before you pick up a weapon, the hallways and environments are eerie and have an extremely ominous vibe to them. It’s nerve wracking to just walk around and check corners because you don’t know if there is going to be something, or someone there. This game is much closer to traditional horror than something like Unrecorded, which is going more for action with the occasional jump scare from enemies catching you by surprise, than flat out pure horror, with music stingers and extremely loud moments to get your heart racing and scare you. But before any of that stuff happens, you find yourself in basements, long hallways, sewers; any location that would be the breeding ground for nefarious wrongdoing. Whether it’s real or closer to supernatural like it is in this game. Even if it isn’t as grounded as other games, it’s still very scary, and could be a great plot for a horror movie from the same body cam perspective. There is something overtly toe curling about watching or playing games from this perspective. It’s like a fear or phobia rising to the surface that we didn’t know we even had. And since this seems like the infancy of this genre, I really do expect more games to use this and improve upon it down the line.

But yeah, that’s about it, nothing too crazy. Just wanted to highlight these two games, and this gerne. I really do think if these games do well, become popular, and are well received by players, that this genre will pop up more and more. Maybe not to the same degree that battle royales did when PUBG blew up, but hey you never really know do you? Thank you for taking the time out of your day to watch this video, let me know your thoughts on these games, this genre and the future of it in the comment section down below and subscribe for more videos about these types of unusual games that could potentially become extremely popular down the lines. I hope to see you in future ones.