When The Unreal Becomes Too Real, The Internet Debates The Photorealistic 'Unrecord' Video Game

With the advancements of technology, that includes better and more powerful hardware, developers have managed to create increasingly realistic games.

Gone are those days where games are 2D with linear-style gameplay with a single ending, because in the modern days of technology, games have gone 3D, and even went beyond the screen to embrace augmented reality and virtual reality, as well as incorporating massive open-world-style gameplay that can have various subplots, and multiple endings, and take hours upon hours to complete.

Not only games' gameplays that have become increasingly realistic and complex, because game artifacts have also become less distinguishable from the real thing.

However, it's safe to say that all games have that feeling that they're not real. Even though games look too real because they're meant to be that way, gamers know that they aren't, and that makes them comfortable.

This is why the game 'Unrecord' caught their attention, in a unique way.

But in both the good way and the bad way.

It all started back in 2022, when a French indie developer shared a "bodycam-style game," that the "footage" quickly went viral.

Unrecord is described as a "single-player FPS that tells the story of a tactical police officer from the perspective of his body camera." The developer also said that Unrecord will see players "work to solve a complex case", and one which will require both "tactical and detective skills to succeed".

But that is the similarities between Unrecord and other FPS games end.

The gameplay of Unrecord the developer shared has visuals and animations that are too 'unrealistically' realistic.

The gameplay looked just too real that it's unsettling.

In fact, the gameplay made it seems like Unrecord is light-years beyond other graphically impressive modern games.

And many people simply cannot stop arguing.

As the developer, known simply as Drama, released an official trailer for the game, the hype continues to escalate to the next level.

After months of continuous debate and arguments, Alexandre Spindler, stated that the game is "not a rail shooter or an FMV," referring to "full-motion video," where a video game narration technique relies upon pre-recorded video files to display action in the game.

It is also not a scam, something many had raised their concerns about.

"In reality, it seems rather flattering to compare the graphics of Unrecord to reality, but fortunately, we know that a game first focuses on gameplay and universe on which we primarily concentrate," the developer wrote in a FAQ post.

"Considering the high production costs of a video game and our global reputation at stake, if Unrecord were a scam, it would be a blockbuster scam. Therefore, it is logically not one. We do not use any real videos or external rendering to Unreal Engine for the creation of Unrecord. Unrecord is (un)real."

Even when the game has been included in its own Steam page, lots of gamers still insist that the game is too realistic it has to be fake.

"There have been many doubts raised about the authenticity of the gameplay," the developer acknowledge in a Steam blog.

"The game is developed on Unreal Engine 5, and the game footage is captured from an executable and played using a keyboard and mouse. It is not a VR game. In reality, it seems rather flattering to compare the graphics of Unrecord to reality, but fortunately, we know that a game first focuses on gameplay and universe on which we primarily concentrate."

And because the game looked too real, this caused yet another kind of criticism.

In the world where the public began to trust officers less, the graphical presentation of a police officer shooting people in a bodycam-style gameplay, many people don't really like that idea. And in the U.S. in particular, where many people fell victims to mass shootings, Unrecord is certainly disturbing to many of those people who felt the horror.

"As a French studio addressing a global audience, the game does not engage in any foreign policy and is not inspired by any real-life events," the developer said, responding to the criticism.

"The game will obviously avoid any undesirable topics such as discrimination, racism, violence against women and minorities. The game will have no biased or Manichaean take on criminal acts and police violence. We also respect and understand people who may feel disturbed by the game's images. Art cannot fight against interpretation."

The post went on to explain how the "public generally trusts film, series, and novel writers on the intelligence of the point of view when it comes to detective, gangster, or police stories," and because of that, that should also be true for video games.