Ivan Pogodichev - Vivisector: Beast Within (2005)

 

Composer: Ivan Pogodichev
Console: Middle PC, Windows
Game Release Date: 2005-09-30
Bootleg Release Date: 2021-05-23
Ripper: Hurlelune
Runtime: 1:17:20, 48 Tracks

Took a bit of a break last week. Was just busy on other things. Anyway here is an obscure FPS from the early 2000s. I don't even remember how I first heard about this one but at some point I had saved the Wikipedia page about it for reading and then years later decided well this is a neat article. I think I will give it a shot. 

This is Vivisector: Beast Within. It is an action FPS made by Action Forms, a Ukrainian based company that is most known for the Carnivore series. While action FPS does fit the game has lots of horror elements in it. 

The game was known for its quick gameplay and excessive gore. It had enough gore to the point of being able to shoot enemies eyes out, limbs and more, all whilst they still go after you. It's very similar to Action Forms first game, Chasm: The Rift. I feel in a way this is a spiritual successor to Chasm. Although the game doesn't have the most detailed models it is still exceptionally gorey. This can be turned off in the settings for the faint of heart. 

You play as Kurt Robinson, a middle-aged navy seal officer who, along with his squad gets sent to Soreo Island (never specified where it was located, I doubt it's even on Earth), to take down Dr. Morhead who has betrayed the military and seized control of the island. As soon as Kurt arrives his squad is wiped out, his love interest killed and he has to take down Dr. Morhead himself all while still being in contact with Genera Dogstone who is elsewhere on the island. That said, the residents of the island, despite not being affiliated with Dr. Morhead's army are also trying to kill you. I never figured out why exactly you have to fight both soldiers and Dr. Morhead's goons and it remains a plot hole (at least, until later events in the game). Morhead's soldiers and the Island residents do hate each other and will kill each on sight. Dr. Morhead has created these animal-human hybrids (really just anthropomorphic animals) and they are going around killing everything. I mean, hyenas with machine guns, gorillas with grenades and a lion-version of Rambo. Oh, and my favourite, a rhino tank. There was also a near-replica of a Cyberdemon. 

The game is linear and you run through levels guided by Dogstone or whoever is your alley at the time. The best levels were easily that underground foundry and that WWI-like trench battlefield. The snowy areas were neat too. The story gets kind of confusing but at the end they kind of wrap it up. It seems a bit rushed, or perhaps some things were lost in translation. Or maybe it's just that eastern European charm these games usually have. I am a sucker for those early 2000s and late 90s FPS games made in Eastern Europe. You Are Empty, UberSoldier, The Precursors, and more. There's just something that pushes the right buttons for me. 

I started playing it last year in January and completed it just before the pandemic of 2020 started. In fact, that was the last game I ever played before the things changed. Quicksaving helped make things easier. The game was still difficult. You have to conserve your ammo and the jankyness made some enemies harder to kill. Enemies have extreme perseverance and even if you shoot off chunks of their face they will still come at you. Every enemy needs multiple shots. The most annoying parts were trying to deal with the Helex enemies. They fly fast, are always behind stuff and just constantly pelt you from all directions. Other than that I really enjoyed the game. It ran flawlessly on my windows machine. I didn't have to do any configurations or anything. 

The game isn't available to purchase on any digital storefronts but a physical copy can be found on Ebay/Amazon or whatever. A download link can be found pretty easily for it. During one of the levels, specifically the one where you are in a foundry underground I got a little tired of the dark ambient so I put on some White Shadow of Norway - Throwback Assault (2019). It was a great addition. 

The soundtrack was composed by Ivan Pogodichev, better known as Vaxoid. He is a dark ambient / ambient / techno and EDM producer. He gets around. He has a website where he sells some VSTs, a SoundCloud with tracks and twitter. The guy is still around although I am not sure what he's been up to composition-wise. According to his LinkedIn he has been working on simulator games called Tower Slots and Dream Gym. 

The music is very minimal techno, dark ambient and occasionally some more upbeat and intense songs. You even got a few cinematic classical tracks in there. I am not sure if it fits with the but if I didn't like it I wouldn't be sharing it. I just feel with how fast the game is sometimes it could be a little faster. The music fits well during those slower areas when you are walking and enemies pop out of nowhere. 

The download below is ripped directly from the stream below. The game uses a similar engine to what Fallout: New Vegas does where songs are constructed by the game itself. As far as I have found the soundtrack was never released on its own. The download will also include a copy of the manual. 

Download: aHR0cHM6Ly9tZWdhLm56L2ZpbGUvZUlveTNZTEIjcWUxV3VNY3ZrLWlZbnJzOTByOEU4bzFTMzE1bkhiZS1CNVVFWktjNlFGdw==
Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjrBUwonz7I
p@ss: lionleader