Is Unrecord made up of real-life footage or gameplay?

Ever since the release of its first gameplay footage, Unrecord has been one of the most controversial topics in the gaming community. It is marketed as a hyper-realistic first-person shooter that is based off of police bodycam footage, where the player controls a tactical officer working to solve a grisly case.

Many people have pointed out how lifelike the gameplay is, from the player’s movements, the dark environments, the sound effects, and even the enemies firing back. It even raised concerns about the direction video games are heading, especially with people having difficulty discerning real footage from the computer generated.

Related: New bodycam FPS game proves being realistic isn’t always a good thing

There are, however, many doubters who are questioning the validity of the gameplay footage, saying that it was far too realistic to be true in-game footage. Instead, people have surmised that the studio actually used real-life footage with a body-mounted camera, while adding in special effects and small UI to emulate an in-game experience.

Unrecord: Real life or true gameplay?

The developers have explained that although it is “rather flattering” that Unrecord is being compared to real life, they have ensured players that the game was fully developed on Unreal Engine 5, and the footage was captured from gameplay. There is no real-life footage in the trailer, and is instead one of the more realistic trailers that we’ve seen to date.

One of the biggest reasons why Unrecord looks so fluid and natural is it’s free-aiming system, which features “authentic ADS” with unrestricted hand movements. Unlike other FPS games where the hands stay relatively stationary and in one place, the weapon and hands of the player bob and sway all over the screen like real bodycam footage would portray.

Unreal Engine 5 has already been praised for its highly detailed environments, photo-realistic graphics, and dynamic lighting. But when paired with a purposefully lower quality “bodycam-style” point-of-view, the game will look incredibly real to many people who have seen this type of bodycam footage before.

Fans will need to wait for more news on the game as the year progresses, because once a beta is announced for the public, both supporters and skeptics alike can finally formulate their true impressions of the game with their own hands.