Gamers are calling for an ‘unsettling’ new shooter game to be 'heavily moderated' for younger players as they feel it is simply too realistic, with some saying it also glorifies police brutality.
Earlier this week, game developer Studio Drama, unveiled the first trailer for its latest body-camera shooter game, Unrecord. The game is a single-player FPS that tells the story of a tactical police officer from the perspective of his body camera.
In the newly-released footage, we see the officer heading towards an abandoned building covered in graffiti, before checking his weapon and inspecting the scene.
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As the officer walks around the vacated lot, he hears commotion from the other side, leading them to kill seven armed suspects roaming the building.
As he continues to inspect, he reaches an interrogation room, which is abruptly interrupted by an explosion.
The graphics on display in the trailer proved so realistic that it left many viewers doing a double-take, but while the visuals are being widely praised, the game is also being met with criticism.
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After Alexandre Spinler, programmer and co-director of the game, tweeted the clip, Twitch streamer Trainwreck said: “I’m going to get a lot of hate for this - but this level of realism in video games should be heavily moderated in *shooters* for anyone *under a certain age*, I hope parents do their job. This level of realism for shooting and killing makes *me* feel uncomfortable as if I’m watching a real leak from a military or police operation.
“The clear distinction between real & fake is necessary, but this level of realism, in my opinion, gives real credibility to the nonsense politicians have been spewing for years about video games conditioning young people to lose a sense of empathy toward violent tendencies or situations.”
Someone else replied: “Hard agree. I think a survival game would be dop[e] but idk about this.”
Another said: “Yes this is a very disturbing game to make and we as a culture seriously have needed to be more critical of our consumption of violence for decades.”
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One other agreed: “Yes this type of realism should be used not for gaming I agree. While this stuff will most likely exist in the future as of right now I do not think this type of realism is needed.”
Others also felt it glorified police brutality, with one saying: “Some of y'all are way too excited for this photorealistic police brutality simulator."
Another said making the game a ‘cop thing changes the vibes of this entirely’, while one other critic also wrote: "Getting the idea that the game isn’t trying to be 'political', but if you use imagery that is so thoroughly politicized, you better have something to say when people ask."
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In its press deck, Studio Drama said it 'understands' that people may feel 'disturbed' by the game's footage.
"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," it said.
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"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."
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It added: “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. Why not for a video game? If the game presents political messages, they will be made consciously or in your interpretation. If the game aims to be subversive in certain countries, we will assume the label.”
Studio Drama said the game is currently in 'pre-production', with no confirmed release date just yet.
UNILAD has reached out to Studio Drama for comment.
Topics: Gaming, Police, Technology
Jess Hardiman