Vivisector: Beast Within is a Ukrainian made first-person shooter game released in CIS

Commonwealth of Independent States

The Commonwealth of Independent States is a regional organization whose participating countries are former Soviet Republics, formed during the breakup of the Soviet Union....

 in 2005 (in Europe - 2006). Inspired largely by the movie Island of Lost Souls

Island of Lost Souls (1933 film)

Island of Lost Souls is an American science fiction horror film starring Charles Laughton, Richard Arlen, Leila Hyams, Bela Lugosi and Kathleen Burke as The Panther Woman. Produced by Paramount Pictures in 1933 from a script co-written by science fiction legend Philip Wylie, the movie was the...

(and the story The Island of Doctor Moreau

The Island of Doctor Moreau

The Island of Doctor Moreau is an 1896 science fiction novel written by H. G. Wells. It is told from the point of view of a man named Edward Prendick who is shipwrecked, rescued by a passing boat, and then left at the ship's destination by the crew along with the ship's cargo of exotic animals...

, which the movie was based on), the game is set on a covert military installation on Soreo Island, where a riot has broken out by renegade geneticist Dr. Morhead's experimental human-animal hybrid soldiers against the corrupt general that ordered their creation. It is the player's job, initially, to help the General suppress the riot and regain control of the hybrid soldiers, but the player eventually switches sides against the General halfway through the game. The game is most infamous for its "vivisection point" feature, which allows the player to rend an enemy's flesh from their body with each shot (though, due to Germany's strict censor laws, this feature was removed for the human NPCs). This game came out of the cancelled "Duke Nukem

Duke Nukem

Duke Nukem is a video game series focusing on its protagonist, Duke Nukem. Originally created by Apogee Software Ltd./3D Realms as a series of video games for the PC, the franchise expanded to games released for various consoles by third party developers...

: Endangered Species Hunter" title

Gameplay

The player has a full range of movement, including independent movement of gun aim and mobility, jumping, ducking, and even picking up certain objects (such as barrels and crates) lying around the map. An on-screen radar map shows an overhead layout of the immediate area, with different-colored dots marking hybrid and human soldiers and checkpoints. Aside from the vivisection point, killing enemies in certain ways and discovering hidden areas grant a player points which they can cash in at checkpoints to upgrade their speed, aim, life, and strength. There is a minor emphasis in puzzle-solving, with a few timed segments included. There are also a few boss battles between game phases.

Main Players

• Kurt: The lowly soldier the player controls through the game. Originally order to Soreo Island to extract a marooned freighter crew, his team is killed by the rebelling hybrid soldiers and he learns of his importance in stopping the rebellion. He has an unknown past with Dr. Morhead and the island that is revealed as the game progresses, which along with the betrayal of his commanding officer, forces him to switch sides.

• Dr. Morhead: A genetic and cybernetic specialist who went into hiding after his human-animal hybrid experiments were decried by the scientific and political public, he is forced by the General to continue his experiments to create a series of hybrid soldiers for use as the perfect warriors. He has an unknown fascination with Kurt, and claims to abhor his creations being used for violence, stating he only wished to use his talents to "better mankind". He secretly endorses the rebellion against the General, and created and taught the rebellion leader Lion for that specific purpose.

• General Dogstone: The executive officer to Kurt, he helped hid Morhead from the public and financed his hybrid experimentations, with the condition that he build them to be the ultimate spoon me fighting machines. Originally decked out to be a victim of the experiments, being taken prisoner by Lion and making the rebellion out to be a dangerous threat to the world, General eventually shows his true colors by killing one of Kurt's associates and attempting to cajole him into helping him destroy the rebelling hybrids so he can regain control of the experiments.

• Lion: The leader of the hybrid soldiers, Lion was created by Dr. Morhead to rouse his fellow hybrids into rebelling against the General and his plans for them. A battle-hardened warrior with the ability to speak (unlike the rest of his troops), Lion seems to share his creator's distaste for war, and only wishes to drive the General and his team off the island so he and his soldiers can live in peace on the island. He recruits Kurt to his cause after the General betrays him, appealing to his desire for revenge to help him end the conflict. Unlike the General, he seems to care much more for those under his command, and bears little animosity towards Kurt himself, helping him on several occasions.

Secondary Characters

• Liam: One of the few survivors of the freighter ship crash that stranded its crew on Soreo Island, and an old buddy of Kurt's. After being found, he helps Kurt get deeper within Soreo Island's bases, and eventually meets up with Kurt and the General at a secret bunker meant to contact Dr. Morhead. When the bunker is sieged, he escapes with the General via helicopter, but is shot dead by the General after the latter refuses to drop down to pick up Kurt, not knowing what the General was really up to. It is his death that turns Kurt against the General and forces him to team up with Lion.

• Malica: A fellow soldier to Kurt and his one-time girlfriend, Malica is killed by Dr. Morhead's experiments along with the rest of their team right at the beginning of the game, without being able to discuss something of importance with Kurt about their past relationship. She eventually becomes very important blah near the end of the game. She carries a pendant with her, presumably a memento of her past relationship with Kurt, and seems to still be deeply in love with him, even if he doesn't openly feel the same. Hers is the first death that touches him in the game, which compounds her role in in the game much later.

ModBeasts

ModBeasts are the product of Morhead's early experiments to combine animal and cybernetic components, a prelude to his later work. They have very limited intelligence and an almost feral disposition, acting the most like their animal counterparts out of all the hybrid soldiers. Fortunately, most of these creatures only have melee or close-range attacks, making them easier to dispatch from a safe distance. They only appear in the first chapter of the game.

• Hyenas: A fairly common enemy in the game. Acting largely like their natural cousins, Hyenas are nonetheless capable of electrified pounces, and are dangerous in groups.
• Leopards: The second most common ModBeast the player encounters, Leopards have a flamethrower system implanted into their jaws, giving them a slightly longer range than the Hyenas.
• Panthers: These act much like Hyenas, but without the electricity. However, they have a built-in active camouflage
  Active camouflage
  Active camouflage or adaptive camouflage, is a group of camouflage technologies which allow an object to blend into its surroundings by use of panels or coatings capable of altering their appearance, color, luminance and reflective properties...
  
   system that renders them invisible to both sight and radar; only a faint shimmer in the background (and any damage inflicted on them) giving away their position. They can only cloak for a short period of time, however, and will more often than not de-cloak before attacking.
• Gorillas: The first true projectile-based enemy, Gorillas will stand still from a vantage point and lob grenades in the player's general direction. Most appear on cliffs or other high platforms where the player cannot reach, requiring sniper-like sharpshooting to dispatch. Some appear at the player's elevation, allowing stealthy approach and engagement at close range, though they are capable of fighting hand-to-hand.
• Rhinosters: A smaller version of the first boss encountered, these are not so much true enemies as conveniently-placed battering rams, charging recklessly towards whichever blocked passageway the player needs to access in order to progress. Like their "big brother", the entire front half is heavily armored so the player must attack them from behind to take them out.
• BomBears: These are built similar to Rhinosters, with an armored back end and both a back-mounted chaingun and rocket launcher. Unlike most other hybrids, Bears are relatively passive, leaving the player alone unless approached or attacked. In that case, they tend to charge in for a few melee attacks instead of automatically attacking with their weapons.
• Lions: These are the most formidable ModBeast in the game, though fortunately rare. They are quick and durable, sustaining tremendous damage before expiring, and capable of launching long-range fireballs.

HumAnimals

Humanimals are typical "grunts" the player fights throughout the second chapter, standard hybrid soldiers forming the bulk of the resistance. They will still fight the player after switching to their side, rationalized by their leader Lion as a programmed view of humans as the enemy. They are more dangerous than their ModBeast counterparts, as most are equipped with some form of projectile weapon.

• Hyena Soldiers: Following the electricity theme of their species in the game, Hyena Soldiers carry Tesla
  Nikola Tesla
  Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer...
  
   guns, which fire bursts of ball lightning at the target. Also like their ModBeast counterparts, they are the earliest and most prevalent HumAnimals encountered.
• Cheetah Soldiers: These are the only melee-specific warrior among the HumAnimal troops, equipped with double-bladed "claws" attached to their wrists that increases their already-formidable hand-to-hand combat ability. They are fast and numerous, attempting to swarm the player in large groups, sometimes in conjunction with Hyenas. Their melee focus makes them susceptible to ranged attack, provided the player can maintain distance. It is one such soldier that helped Lion capture the General and Liam as they attempted to leave the island.
• Ram Soldiers: These are smart and dangerous, wielding shotguns with precision accuracy and making good use of cover. They are less prevalent than their brethren, and do not "swarm" like the others—they do not need to. However, their shotgun blasts lose effectiveness with distance, making them much less of a threat at long range.
• Puma Soldiers: Armed with standard M16 rifles, Puma Soldiers are "middle of the road" as HumAnimals go. They are not as tactically savvy as Ram Soldiers but not as prone to swarm attacks as the Leopard and Hyena Soldiers, making them a balanced threat.

Overbrutes

Overbrutes are the General's elite hybrid soldier army, encountered in the third chapter. They are heavily-armored and well-armed for maximum killing power, and make expert use of cover and other combat tactics.

• Black Wolf: Armed with Gauss rifles, Black Wolves are so well-protected that all but the most powerful explosives simply knock off their armor and weapons with little bodily damage. Similar to Hyenas in earlier chapters, they are the most prevalent of all the Overbrutes. They are also only hybrid soldier besides Lion capable of speech, and their idle chatter shows intense devotion to their task as soldiers.
• Helix: These are flying anthropomorphic vultures equipped with powered helicopter
  Helicopter
  A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
  
  rotors that allow them to attack from above with leg-mounted machine guns. A well-placed shot can break off the relatively-fragile rotors, sending the Helix plunging to the ground. If they survive the fall, they stand up and rush in for a melee attack.
• White Wolf: Painted white Black Wolves, White Wolves presumably fight similarly, and with similar weapons. It is also presumed they appear in the game's later snowy levels. Similar rules and dangers from the Black Wolves apply.
• Tigers: Fully armored and armed with bazookas, Tigers are scarce and work alongside the General's human soldiers to take down the player. Their weaponry and armor makes them especially difficult and dangerous enemies, requiring similarly heavy-duty weaponry to neutralize.
• Uncomplete (sic): These are—spelling aside—just what their name describes: unfinished Oberbrutes broken free without a skin to cover exposed muscle. They have no equipped weapons or armor, just talons and scurrying abilities, making them the only Overbrutes limited to melee combat and swarm tactics. Though relatively easy to defeat, they are similar in lethality to the earlier ModBeast Hyenas.
• Panther Overbeast: two years in the making, and the only hybrid besides Lion to be given a definitive gender, the smart and unstoppable Panther Overbeast was scheduled for destruction to prevent her from falling into the General's hands. However, a Black Wolf Overbrute disrupted the process and unwittingly released the monster onto the island. The player cannot stop her, only evade her. She can endure unlimited damage, cloak herself, and carries a set of charges that can kill the player instantly. She also attacks and kills humans indiscriminately, blowing up several scientists along her path to the player.

Humans

Once fellow officers, they still attack the player early in the game as an intruder, which the General explains as the player's lack of authorization to be on the island. They are relatively rare, mostly seen engaged in combat with Dr. Morhead's creations until the chapter introduces Overbrutes, so fighting them directly is a much lower priority.

• Island Guards: These are typical human "grunts", found in the first and second chapters of the game. They carry standard M16 rifles and little else, and are often placed near convoys or bunkers filled with supplies that the player can use to replenish their ammunition and health.

• Island Tracker: These are more mobile and somewhat better protected than Island Guards, patrolling the island for pockets of hybrid resistance to eliminate. Not being confined to a specific location, their strafing and circling tactics make them a more credible—if still relatively low—threat.