Body Records
- Mona
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
Factors | Rating | Description |
🎮Gameplay | 7.5 | Unique concept with rough execution. Some design choices need polish. |
📷Graphics | 8.5 | Grainy, found-footage aesthetic works well for horror. Effective lighting and eerie vibe. |
🎧Narration/Audio | 9 | Sound design is a highlight. Environmental noise and voice sensitivity add serious immersion. |
😮Variety | 8 | Puzzles, exploration, teamwork, and alternate death zone (Backrooms) add decent variety. |
🎰Re-playability | 7 | A game to try again with different friends or post-update. But bugs might block replay fun. |
💲Price | 8 | Fair if you enjoy experimental horror. Worth it for those following indie horror projects. |
📝Story/Plot without spoilers:
🔸 In BodyRecords, you are dropped into a large-scale eerie world with minimal direction and one mission: survive, explore, and escape. Through a bodycam perspective you and your team must uncover mysteries, solve tricky puzzles, and avoid death. But even death isn't the end—because it drops you into a creepy, liminal "Backrooms"-like dimension with its own escape path. A strong survival idea that’s more about teamwork and tension than spoon-fed narrative.
🎮Gameplay:
🔸 BodyRecords doesn’t hold your hand – and whether that’s a good thing or not will depend entirely on what kind of horror gamer you are. The game throws you into an open, eerie environment with minimal guidance and expects you to figure things out. It’s cooperative at its core, and trust me, you’ll want a friend—because solving puzzles while whispering instructions and hiding from monsters adds a real layer of stress.
------🔹 The puzzle design is both creative and infuriating. From solving radio signal sequences, powering up generators, finding secret message to opening locked-down facilities—there’s a lot to figure out. But here’s the catch: the game gives you no hints. Some puzzles feel fresh and genuinely fun once you figure them out, while others will have you aimlessly running around unless you already know what you’re doing. That lack of signposting can kill the pacing. A toggleable hint system could fix a lot.
------🔹 Then comes the ATV. A cool addition, in theory—great for quickly exploring—but in reality, it handles like a greased pig on rollerblades. It’s clunky, gets stuck on terrain easily, and often becomes more of a liability than a tool. We ended up ditching it after a few painful rides and running over the landmines.
------🔹 The Backrooms mechanic is nice. Instead of a traditional game-over screen, death sends you to a liminal alternate space with its own creepy vibe. You get a second chance to escape and rejoin the world, which is a cool concept—but again, immersion breaks when the monster in the Backrooms moves like a janky cartoon character. The design is creepy, the idea is strong, but the polish is lacking.
------🔹 Exploration is both a highlight and a hurdle. The environments are well-built, atmospheric, and filled with just enough dread to make you paranoid. But there are weird physics hiccups: invisible walls, terrain you can’t traverse, getting stuck on objects—you’ll hit a few technical snags for sure. These moments pull you out of the immersion but don’t completely ruin the experience.
------🔹 Where the game really shines is in how non-linear it feels. This isn’t a scripted haunted house ride. You and your team need to decide how to tackle objectives, how to stay safe, and what risks to take. That freedom, when paired with mic sensitivity, creates some genuinely unique co-op horror experiences.
📷 Graphics:
🔸 Gritty, VHS-styled visuals with low-light and liminal environments match the tone perfectly. While nothing super high-fidelity, the intentional design creates a believable horror setting. The Backrooms area, though visually cool, suffers from a goofy monster animation that breaks immersion a bit.
📝Main Pros and Cons:
🟩Pros-
Smart environmental puzzles (when they work).
Tense, immersive atmosphere.
I support this ambition.
Fun in co-op.
Backrooms.
🟥Cons-
Some enemy animations feel silly and unpolished.
Minimal in-game guidance can be frustrating.
ATV and terrain traversal need major work.
Navigation bugs and physics issues.
🏷️Tips for beginners:
🔸 Around the watchtower is a minefield that you will forget a lot of times, keep that in mind. You can use torch and flare for the zombie/monsters. Avoid relying on logic from other games. BodyRecords wants you to experiment. Just accept you’ll be confused sometimes. Not for those who want instant gratification—it's an experimental ride.
😇 Verdict:
🔸 BodyRecords feels like a prototype of something special. It’s clunky, yes. But it’s also bold, fresh, and different. I was annoyed by certain bugs and design oversights, but I was equally fascinated by its atmosphere and potential. If you’re into co-op horror with strange charm and evolving design, this is one to watch—and one to try now if you're feeling adventurous. Not polished, but promising.
Rating: 7/10
Wouldn’t survive 5 minutes if monsters could smell fear.
