Playing like a heavily modified Doom (the 1993 one), but with twice the speed of an arena shooter like Quake III, Viscerafest proudly wears its old-school inspirations on its blood-soaked sleeve, but still manages to offer its own unique flavour – a must in the oversaturated world of so-called boomer shooters. Whether one will like the taste of said flavour is another matter altogether, as the creation of Acid Man Games and Fire Plant Games repeatedly goes back and forth between being an ultra-niche pick (at best) and a very annoying experience that’s in dire need of some fine-tuning.
Infused with comic book flair and a dose of unhinged charm, the story follows Caroline, a not-that-sane lady who is a mix between a wackier Harley Quinn and a more aggressive Doom Slayer, as she embarks on a mission to find some money to buy her alien boyfriend a wedding ring via the ripping and tearing of everyone aboard a spaceship where a high priced bounty is waiting for her bullets. It’s a purposely goofy premise, which is nice, and Caroline’s constant (and highly energetic) talking while she kills everything in her path brings life to it all, although it is easy to see it getting on some people’s nerves. Luckily, the frequency of her wisecracks can be adjusted in the options.
Every single cutscene can be safely skipped, as this is all about shooting at stuff. Note that, while a typical single-player deal with explorable maps that need a little bit of key searching and switch hunting to progress, Viscerafest is in love with arena shooter sensibilities. The FOV is automatically set to much higher values than in most first-person shooters and Caroline is super-fast…but maybe this took things a bit too far by semi-forcing bunny hopping to keep up with the frenetic pace (and cut damage in half), something that can feel exhilarating until the novelty wears off and the motion sickness sets in. If the idea of screen bobbing for hours doesn’t sound appealing, prepare for a migraine, especially on higher difficulties.
Movement speed needs plenty of getting used to, as Caroline is so fast that it can all feel too slippery at times. Resource management is even worse. It just so happens that ammo is super scarce, with the only alternative usually being a fast, weak punch, as well as its secondary slower and much more powerful charged mode, which propels the heroine forwards – maybe a bit too far, to be honest. Add to that enemies with very specific weaknesses, and it often feels like Doom Eternal…minus the immense fun, due to a severe lack of balance that has players constantly swapping weapons because they have to, not because they need to. In terms of difficulty, Viscerafest is targeted at genre veterans, yet while occasionally aggravating, Act 1 is more than doable even on Hard. Act 2 and beyond, however, will only appeal to the hardcore crowd.
The arsenal itself is inventive but flawed. Each weapon has quirks that require trial, error and patience. The pistol is strong but needs 10 bullets per shot; the shotgun hurts the main character when used close to her foes, which is the recommended distance for it to do the necessary damage; the grenade splash is not as powerful if it hits enemies directly, and so on and so forth. As for health and armour, unfortunately Viscerafest again feels like Doom Eternal’s much uglier sister. Melee makes Caroline’s alien opponents drop armour, and each kill provides some health, with her being able to hit a corpse to create even more health, but both diminish way too quickly, mainly because players must constantly throw themselves at danger, but also because any number above 100 automatically goes down as time goes by!
Apart from the combat and movement mechanics, the most important element in such titles has always been level design. All stages here are large, colourful, but also kind of bland with their overuse of pixelated neon purples, pinks, blues and greens. They are mazelike and filled with locked doors, keycards and all the typical stuff of old-school shooters, with plenty of secrets, as well as many collectibles called ‘Skullies’, which can be used in the hub to purchase cheats and other modifiers. While not complex, maps often make navigation feel a bit confusing, partly because of how samey everything looks, but also because there are many moments where you run around not knowing where you are supposed to go, or don’t know what the heck that darn switch activated.
Viscerafest is a deeply polarising game. For some it will feel like a somewhat hastily written love letter to old-school shooters, with a brutal modern twist that will appeal to those who want to receive high challenge at breakneck speeds. The unbalanced and many not-that-well-implemented mechanics and design choices, however, make this an exercise in frustration, where ammo starvation, awkward movement, and enemy bullet sponginess overshadow the good parts. It’s clear the developers had a vision: a high skill speedrunner-friendly FPS that rewards mastery and punishes complacency, but it also feels like a title that constantly second-guesses how much fun you’re allowed to have.
