VLADiK BRUTAL

Good start... but really drops the ball on the second half.
Waaay too long driving sequences, and repetitive door puzzels.
it's not bad...but it's need more work.

Game is very good. It's very heavily inspired by Half-Life 2 with a lot of easter eggs and nods to the HL2 title sprinkled throughout the game. The combat is great, fast, gory. Driving could be better, felt like I was skidding and drifting more than driving. Overall very good 9/10.

Fun game, satisfying gun play and awesome soundtrack keep cooking chief

Only a little ways in, but this an absolutely excellent Half Like, even more impressive that its made by only one person. Yeah, its in Russian, being in the USA makes it a little hard to follow the dialogue in the beginning, but bar that, which isn't even an issue, im just a dumb american lol, there is an excellent game to be had her. Gun play is good, the sound design is amazing. Only issue ive had is that when enemies rush, it can be harder to get a bead on them and i usually die. Probably a skill issue

This is probably the best indie project of the year,considering it was made by (almost) one person i am amazed at how much this game has to offer.If you like violent-gory shooter games then this one's for you.
The story is nothing too special but it gets the job done,i was only a little bit disappointed by the ending.
The gameplay is great,blood and gibs splatter everywhere with every hit and the gunplay fells heavy and responsive,the only thing i didn't like was the enemy AI that tends to just run in a straight line and strafe towards you.
I suggest you pick up this game if you want something fun to spend your time with,the game is still being improved and there are many updates to come.I give VLADiK BRUTAL an 8,5/10

It's very impressive for a solo project but I really don't get the hype surrounding Vladik Brutal. There is absolutely no way this decent but incredibly janky 6/10 game would be a GOTY contender.

The atmosphere is generally excellent, the dev did a great job with that, some of the larger environments also look very impressive. However, the level design ranges from very basic to just plain bad, the gunplay and weapons are just "fine", the enemy AI is very basic and game starts to get really repetitive around 60% in.

The opening section of the game is also abysmal, if the game didn't have such glowing reviews I very likely would have uninstalled and gotten a refund.

Again it's clear a lot of work went into this game and for a solo project it is impressive but overall it really isn't anything special.

Игра хорошая но почему Хилка аптечка или йод там должна быть горелка или водка

Funky game. The start almost made me shut it down, but I continued and I'm glad I did. It's a lot like half life but at the low level.
It's just a fun shoot them up game. Not spectacular by any means but for the low price well worth it

Rad game! The hat tip to HL is great. only small complaint is hit boxes. once certain monsters get close they are like, in you in you cant shoot them.
Killer ambiance and cool level design/

its a russian knockoff riff on half life literally level for level but it feels more like trepang2 either because they did it on purpose or because russians have irreparable brain damage

So damn good. It doesn’t do anything special or new but it nails the old school shooter feel. Definite vibes from Half-Life and I even had a couple moments of F.E.A.R. in there as well. I’m still floored this was a one-man dev team proving once again that AAA gaming is the sewage of the industry and games like this are what deserve your time. Good stuff, you should buy this now, even at full price it’s worth it.

Cool dynamic shooter, core-gameplay as good as in HL2, but:
Story is quite too simple
Levels are empty, no need to explore, just run to progress levels

However, it's a great game, shooting part is very satisfying, weapons have good sounds and animations, you will use almost all of them, not just "the strongest"
Brutal difficulty is fine, especially with great and quick save-load system

While I give this game a thumbs up, this is more of a mixed positive review.

The game's basically Half-Life but Russian. In a dictatorial state, you play as Vlad, a prisoner who gets sent off to participate in a classified experiment at a research center. However, it goes wrong and you have to escape, fighting both mutants and the soldiers along the way. Soon afterwards, you get roped into participating in a revolution against the dictator, which takes up the rest of the plot.

Overall, VLADiK BRUTAL is a decent indie game made by one man for the $12, but it has some pretty noteworthy flaws. For reference, I played on Brutal difficulty, which is one step down from the hardest one:

Pros:
- Might not be for everyone, but unlike its inspiration, you don't have any armor. This forces you to actually stop and think about your next move, since enemies can rip through your health in seconds if you're not paying attention or trying to just rush through it.
- The gunplay is satisfying. With every bullet you fire, you can just feel the impact they make as they rip your enemies to shreds.
- The brutal damage system is also pretty satisfying. You can dismember or decapitate your enemies using your shotgun, even after they turned into corpses, what's more to love?
- When they're placed in the middle of combat, you can kill your own rebel allies and even civilians without repercussions.
- Solid environmental directions, although I personally think it relies on green glowsticks a bit too much.
- The graphics are pretty good, though I keep noticing white lines or areas popping up for a fraction of a second when I look around. I'm not really sure what's causing it, but it's thankfully not distracting.

Mixed/Neutral/Unsure:
- The story is basic; you survive a project gone wrong, escape, then are tasked with overthrowing a dictator. There isn't really any surprises here. None of the characters really stand out, either.
- The puzzles are pretty easy. Honestly not much to say there.
- The single stealth segment is so easy, you pretty much have to fail it on purpose by walking up to the soldiers faces. It's for plot-related reasons, but still.
- A couple bugs or oddities exist, but nothing game-breaking. One example is the inexplicable death barrier during an area with a waterfall. I swam up to it from a distance and wound up dying for no reason.

Cons:
- The bosses are absolute pushovers to the point that regular soldiers and mutants are genuinely more difficult by comparison. Your weapons are WAY too effective against them and they often go down in seconds. The only one I had a semblance of challenge with is the one after you have to leave your car behind, since my weapons were dealing scratch damage at points and I couldn't just blindly fire at it. Even then, all I had to do was just be a little patient and it was still a piece of cake.
- At least for the English localization, it's pretty bad. I can understand most of the conversations generally fine, but the subtitles were filled with grammar issues and more than a few typos. To top it all off, a lot of the other stuff isn't translated from Russian at all, leaving you in the dark on the finer details. The most notable example of this is when a television suddenly turns on, obviously prompting you to listen. Despite Vlad commenting on it after the broadcast ends, there isn't any subtitles at any point.
- All of the cutscenes are unskippable. While the game is mostly pretty good at auto-saving after them, you can be forced to sit through them again if it doesn't kick in for whatever reason or if you delete the auto-save. This can kill the replay value for some players.
- The human enemies are dumber than a sack of bricks, and the mutants at least have a reason for it. When I throw a molotov, while they can decide to activate a single neuron in their brains and avoid the flames, a good chunk of them can also decide to walk into the raging fire and kill themselves.
- While it introduces a variety of enemies around early to mid game, they don't really shake things up during the late game. Although two new types appear at the very end of the game, it can get pretty repetitive.
- Storywise, the ending is weak and anti-climatic. It just...stops. To go into more detail, you reject the dictator's deal and kill him on the spot. A few soldiers appear in the room and stare at you with guns raised while you yell or boast "who are they going to work for now?" Cue credits.

A DIFFICULT GAME TO RATE.
As you know it is hugely influenced by HL2 and if I was scoring this game outta 10 it would be 6...
If it were a 5 I would not recommend it but it scrapes thru by the skin of it's teeth.
Enemy ai is like how it was 25 years ago, brain dead,,,the weapons are decent and listening to the Russian audio all the way thru actually adds to it not that I understand Russian.
One of the main problems was not enough variety in the levels or story but if ur a huge fan of HL2 this is def a Poundsavers version and it is def worth playing thru at least once like I've just done, uninstall time as I def wouldn't play it again.

in italian we colloquially say "tanta roba" to describe a very good product. It literally means "much stuff" and it's specifically used when the product meets and actually overceeds any expectation. That's what I would describe this game.

Btw, I'm a fan a of this developer since his first game. Always knew he's kinda some steps ahead.

a rather interesting game. i went into it blind. thinking it was going be something like Far Cry. but it wasn't. and i love it.

Mmmmm... Russians make some great games, AND literature. This -like many have said-, it's a Russian take on "Half-Life", but you need to think about what that implies; the game is a lot more gory (there's even a setting for procedural blood generation effects) there's also tons of russian weapons (like the As-Val which is one of my favorites) and on top of that the whole game is a lot colder, grittier, and crazier. It's fantastic, difficulties are well balanced and the levels, pacing, and sense of progression are all well made.

If there are any negatives is that there are some settings that don't seem to work -like disabling blood effects on screen doesn't actually disable them, same with camera shake-, and at times the game can get a tad bit repetitive (not too much, but a bit here and there), there's also the fact that the cutscenes are unskippable but, like "Half Life", they're not too long thankfully. So it's all well and good, it's all pretty well optimized and it even has an option to adjust the FOV of the weapon indendently of the regular FOV, so stuff like that is pretty cool.

Recommend it.

This is the most fun I've had playing an FPS since Dusk. Actually, this is better than Dusk. It's a visceral fast-paced splatterfest with the greatest shotgun I have ever seen in an FPS. The enemy AI is dumb but it appears the developer understood that and designed the levels around it. All the weapons are punchy and never before has blasting enemies been so supremely satisfying.

A contender for GOTY.

Wow. This game is fantastic. My friend who is a long time Half-Life fan picked it up recently. I realized after a few days of him playing it that it was almost as if a new Half-Life game had come out, and so I knew I had to try it. I may have only played an hour so far, but I can absolutely see why he's fallen in love with it. Easy recommend, especially with such a reasonable price!

Just finished it on brutal diff. and i am amazed at what a game it was, made by one person!!! Could not stop playing the bloody thing.

Janky as all hell in many places but amazing feels on many lvls.Looks great in open areas due to attention to details but bad in closed spaces where it lacks some details and lighting feels off.

Map design is great tho homage to HL 1 and 2. First few lvls inside labs are kind of a letdown but the moment you get topside its great.

Gunplay feels amazing! Many times i felt like i was playing the good old horror mods for Operation Flashpoint!!

Do not play it on max diff. lvl on first try like i did as enemy spawns are HUGE! Games has amazing OST which i just now bought and cant wait for a sequel if there ever is one. For this price its 9/10. Its a labor of love for sure.

Amazing job!! - This is near AAA Game quality and to be made by one person even more astounding, I'm excited to see where this game and many of your future games evolve.

It's good for the price. It's basically a very janky russian Half-Life. The enemies are simultaneous very stupid and hyperaware since they tend to get stuck on stuff and always know where you are at all times and just sort of make a beeline to you no matter where they spawned in from. That said, there's a fair variety of enemies that are both weird and can be annoying in that "oh no there's like 15 of them all at once" sort of way.

Ladders are annoying, and there are a few points early on that are more irritating than anything else (you could say I am not a FAN of those certain points).

Overall, this gets a 7/10 from me. Intriguing setting and the music is pretty cool at times (I like one track in particular that uses alarm sounds as the beat), but there's a lot of jank and enemies are sort of braindead.

its good i can see the inspiration from half life so ill give it a thumbs up i just think it should of taken a different approach to the story as its been done before and feels like your playing a more budget version of the real thing which is half life but it is a recommended a play :)

Hell of a game for a solo developer. Essentially a clunky Russian Half Life.

Enemy AI isn't great and some quality of life things like a weapon-scroll are missing but the Dev pumped so much work into the game it gets a pass.

Yes this game has its issues, little bugs that are here an there but I wouldn't say anything major that makes the game unplayable , but the story is dumb enough to enjoy even if it is AI voice-over I didn't mind it. the astmosphere goes well with the game storytelling. It is a decent lenght about 8 hours depending how you play it. I love playing threw it even with all the b.s here and there . 8 out of 10 for me !

Had to do an immediate review after finishing this masterpiece! I throughly enjoyed this game! Fantastic gunplay and shooting mechanics, unforgettable music, gorgeous visuals and sound design with infinite customization.

My only couple cons is the constant performance dips, and the enemies tend to dash at you full speed with perfect accuracy like in Black Mesa. Level design can also be confusing at times as I tended to get lost.

It has the vibe of half life but the feel of Wolfenstein. I haven’t felt the need to immediately jump back into a game after finishing it for a long time! Please support this developer so we get a follow up to this bloody gorgeous work of art.

Outstanding! Vladik Brutal has a lot of atmosphere, fun, and action, with massive gore and gallons of blood. It also features a refreshing bleak aesthetic that enhances the ambience.

The weapons are a joy to use, and the story shares similarities with Half-Life, story wise, but also in level design and navigation, and an overall old-school style, while also incorporating a Metro touch.

The game pays homage to other great titles:
Stalker: A scene with a couple of characters sitting around a campfire, one playing the guitar.
Fear: A few instances where a ghostly girl can be seen if players pay close attention before she vanishes.

I found it to be an impressive game, and larger studios could certainly learn a thing or two from it.

Great game, amazing that it was made by a lone developer. Really strong atmosphere, good audio. Battles are often fast and messy (in a good way); very satisfying weapons. A must for any FPS fans who like Half Life, the Metro series and games with a Stalker vibe.

This game was pretty good. My biggest issues were enemies putting themselves into a kill funnel and the repeated use of the same puzzles. The car section would repeat the same thing. Drive a few feet until a roadblock. Kill all of the enemies and raise the gates, repeat. I very much enjoyed the endless onslaught of enemies. I just wish they would wait until I was out of a kill funnel. It made some of the fights fairly anticlimactic since I could just throw a molotov.

I really liked the mix mash of all different kinds of games. Half-life, Dead Space, Stalker, etc. It made for an oddly unique experience. I honestly got spooked a few times. The Dev knows how to make atmosphere.

The gun play was amazing. I did not expect such an engaging experience. If Doom 2016 had this type of gun play I would've finished it.

One of the best games ever, smooth, fun, polished, half pife, sovient architecture, yee

Vladik is a brutal prisoner assigned to helping scientists with experimentation. One day, while Vladik is operating machinery under orders from the scientists, the machinery explodes, releasing a mutating outbreak upon the country.
Sound like the beginning of another popular game?
In my opinion this game is worth the money and time to run through.
It's missing toggle aim and crouch if that is a hardcore issue which is for me but it is what it is,

this game is great, if you like half life games, this is a deffo game for you. theres not much to moan about. its not AAA, but very well worth the money

super fun a bit rough around the edges but considering this is made by ONE person its great i also love the optimization its amazing it can run on my awful pc

One guy made indie Half Life 3 and it's amazing, holy crap, this game is so good!

This game is not perfect, but it is a lot of fun. If you want to play something akin to Half Life, you should give this a shot. Definitely looking forward to the dev's next game.

a relaxing game on a rainy day,
i love to come back from my hard work and open my pc and just relax with the peacefull game.
recommend very much for players who are looking for a quiet game.

Very good game! Maybe graphics, level design and story isnt good. But gameplay is awesome! Reminds me HL2.
This game has:
good ketchup, fun gunplay, satisfying shooting at bloodthirsty gasmask cops.

Slavjank meets Half-Life written by a gopnik with a murder fantasy for Gorbachev and 90s Russia.

Overall pretty fun

Bro really saw the state of Half Life 3 and decided to make it himself.

The gameplay is a little clunky, but man the soul and atmosphere is here. Support a solo dev and give it a go

Excellent gameplay, fighting enemies is fun and guns feel very impactful. There is also a larger variety of enemies and guns to play with.
Level design is cool and a good mix up of light puzzle solving and fighting enemies.
Atmosphere is amazing, this guy really captured a good mix of soviet era dread and half life level design.
Well worth your time and money.

How it is even possible that what is basically a one-man operation has put this experience together that outshines large budget games is pretty wild.
It also kind of pisses me off, someone should put a guy like this in charge of making a bigger budget game I'd love to see what that could look like.

Great! Played on the hardest difficulty. certainly no lack of enemies :D

Runs well, and there's plenty of combat in the game, with little downtime
I would spend time tuning the graphics settings, anything above medium textures looks horribly grainy, and you can tune a lot of the view bob / weapon sway off, but not completely.

so many good things to say about it, but in summary a great russian love letter to half life

only three annoyances are:

- the gun recoil mechanics (first AR is a bit obnoxious to get used to)
- can't fully turn off blood screen mechanics
- "invisible" enemies are practically 99% invisible and make no real noise until they appear right behind you

A great game! A solo-developer gem which is a tribute to Half-Life 2 with a Russian taste, it's a long adventure which you can also play in VR, like I did here: https://youtu.be/mxt4F4kZlbM

Awesomely fun throwback action! Definitely worth a purchase :).

Great game.
It's a russian half life but there is more to it. Gameplay is much better than half life 1 or 2 however story...exists. Killing soldiers is fun and challenging and i really like the gun play and mini puzzels since the game can help you track when you can go with green sticks but it's just that. The con is checkpoint system because it's bad but you can save whenever you want (outside of cutscenes). Cutscenes are bad really bad and if you came here for a story you have nothing to search for. For 10$ worth the price. Good fun 6/10

Insane game...I was expecting something nice because of the reviews but the quality is amazing.

Top notch graphics with over the top settings (you can set and customize EVERYTHING), including different tonemappers and separate FOVs for view and weapon. Even raytracing is there, though there is no denoiser. It does like a bazillion FPS.

Everything is so smooth and fun, super detailed design and challenging enemies + incredible weapon feeling and sounds (weapons are LOUD). Maybe the best shotgun ever, after that of FEAR (and Trepang).

Game has hints to other games, and it's kind of funny to find the similarities.

It can only get better from now on, and I am only at the beginning but the game deserves already 10 positive reviews from me.

Whilst I understand this game was made by a single person, it's just not worth it. Essentially, it's a copy of half life 1/2 but so much worse. The graphics range from ok-ish to downright awful. The combat is... fine. It's not exactly special, and the enemies are the same throughout the entire game. The set design is ok, but its very obviously premade assets. The AI is awful, with enemies knowing where you are as soon as you enter a room. Not worth it imo.

Great game made by one Russian guy, if you like single player shooters i highly recommend it

Russian half-life, vodka, guns, monsters, and off brand combine. I'm having fun! only wish the bosses were more fun and not super easy.

I would say Easy is Normal, Normal is Hard, and Hard is Impossible for the game difficulty since a few punches can knock down your life quite far and enemies also ambush and rush you. The graphics and controls for this game are good. The storyline is also good for the game being made by one person.

Ну прям жемчужина отечественного геймдева, зачётно. Ещё и сделана в одно рыло, так что вообще уважаемо