Bodycam – Brilliant Concept, Shaky Execution

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• DEVELOPER: Reissad Studio
• PUBLISHER: Reissad Studio
• PLATFORMS: PC
• GENRE: Shooter / Multiplayer
• RELEASE DATE: June 8, 2024  
• STARTING PRICE: 33,32€
• REVIEWED VERSION: PC

Bodycam is built around a bold idea: what if a multiplayer shooter didn’t just simulate realism, but forced you to see combat through it? Instead of the traditional floating camera and clean HUD of most FPS games, Bodycam straps the viewpoint to your chest and throws you into tight, unforgiving firefights where every movement feels physical. It’s an ambitious attempt to push immersion as far as possible, powered by Unreal Engine 5 and a clear desire to stand apart from the arcade energy dominating the genre.

The defining feature is, of course, the body-camera perspective. The screen shakes with each step, while your weapon sways, your breathing is audible, and muzzle flashes briefly overwhelm your view in dark corridors. It creates an immediacy that few shooters attempt. Clearing a room doesn’t feel like a routine action; it feels tense and uncomfortable. You lean slowly, check corners carefully, and think twice before sprinting across open ground. Bodycam constantly reminds you that you are exposed.

Solid gunplay with realistic movement and graphics

In general, the gunplay is quite solid. Time-to-kill is brutally short and one well-placed bullet is often enough to end a firefight before it properly begins. Even a handful of stray hits can finish you. Success depends less on flashy reflexes and more on positioning, anticipation, and discipline. Automatic fire is hard to control due to significant recoil, rewarding those who manage their shots carefully. When everything clicks, taking down multiple enemies in quick succession feels earned rather than accidental.

Movement, however, is where that realism begins to clash with practicality. Characters move deliberately, almost cautiously, which fits the tone. But navigating the environment can feel awkward. Minor objects like desks, debris, or small steps can halt you unexpectedly. In a game where a split second determines survival, getting snagged on a piece of furniture because your character’s body and camera don’t align perfectly is frustrating. Climbing over obstacles is technically possible, but inconsistent enough to feel unreliable in high-pressure situations.

Yet for all its visual ambition, Bodycam remains firmly an Early Access title. Performance can be inconsistent, with frame drops and technical hiccups interrupting immersion. In a shooter built on lethal accuracy, even minor technical inconsistencies feel frustrating. Don’t get me wrong, the game looks amazing, with realistic environments and gun sounds that fill the space perfectly. Still, it never quite lets you fully immerse yourself. It tries so hard to be realistic that it forgets what makes shooters fun in the first place: the feeling of being part of a squad, not just a moving target. It lacks that satisfying multiplayer energy because every encounter in this title is about anticipation and being the first to react.

Content-wise, the offering is still solid even after two years of Early Access. Some modes are more fun than others and that’s normal. Current modes include Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Gun Game, Body Bomb, Hardpoint, and Zombies, but the core experience revolves around close-quarters engagements and straightforward team coordination. There’s no single-player campaign yet, and solo options are minimal, making the experience heavily reliant on an active player base.

The Final Verdict

Personally, I really enjoyed Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and the Zombies modes, but the rest didn’t do much for me. What this game desperately needs is a massive overhaul update, something to show that real effort is still going into it. It exploded in popularity thanks to its realism, but content is being added far too slowly. Most updates seem to focus on performance and technical fixes rather than improving the overall feel of the game. Right now, it just feels like the Early Access label is being used as an escape button.

Whether Bodycam succeeds right now depends largely on what you’re looking for. As a finished, fully polished competitive shooter, it falls short. As a proof of concept, a glimpse at what hyper-realistic multiplayer combat could become, it’s intriguing. The foundation is strong: solid gunplay, realistic visuals, and a distinctive perspective that genuinely alters how you approach fights. But it needs stability, expanded content, and smoother movement to fully realize its vision.

For those drawn to tactical realism and willing to accept Early Access roughness, Bodycam offers flashes of something special. For those seeking depth, it may feel lacking. Either way, it’s a project worth watching, because when it works, few shooters feel this intimate or this unforgiving.

Review copy provided by the publisher