a fun shooter with some massive boss fights
So, from the technical aspect the game is set to provide an above average experience if you have a rather powerful rig. But how is the game itself? One thing for sure -- this is no Painkiller. Or, in other words, this game would had been a gem 4 or 5 years ago, but nowadays when almost everybody wants to pull something more out of games than just a simple but solid gameplay, this simplistic yet honest revisit to the old-school style shooter is very unlikely to be rewarded by critics or players who suddenly want from a game to offer not just a great gun and moving targets but also a friendly relationship with the gun dealer who is on the side also a philosopher and guides the main character to an unimaginable bliss of self-discovery ... ok, I went too far. In short, if you are looking for a "well-rounded" game that offers many things including shooting then this is not the game for you. On the other side, if you are looking for a fun, almost an old-school linear corridor shooter then you are very likely to enjoy this game. The words like *linear* and *corridor* usually carry a negative connotation in game reviews, but here I'm using them just as a descriptors -- in fact, NecroVisioN is either a perfect linear, corridor shooter or is very close to it.
GAMEPLAY. Gameplay = shoot everything that moves and then some. If you are not shooting then you are dead and are staring at the last save reload screen. The shooting part itself is very well done, so if you enjoy shooting, kicking, melee-ing, frying, and so on, your enemies then you'll enjoy this game. Blood, gore, and flying body parts are abundant (unless you live in one of those countries that restrict distribution of *excessively graphic* games). Typical gameplay includes going through hordes of your enemies on each level/chapter and usually ending with major boss fights. And I mean MAJOR. Boss fights are massive and difficult as hell -- similarly to Painkiller, to win these fights you usually need to be constantly on the move, try to discover and destroy the source of bosses' power, and kill the boss -- you can keep doing this for hours (save frequently). While combat, including close combat, is well done and you have the tools to defend, attack and win, there is also a certain sense of cheapness that comes from having hordes of low-power enemies coming at you reletlessly -- they can frequently cause you to die because your movement will become imposible from the piles of their bodies ... so keep moving and shooting. Of course, you can also use the leg kick which produces an over-the-top effect of the victim's body flying accross the room.
STORY. There is actually a story here, but you probably won't pay attention to it since the demand for your attention will be 100% focused on not dying. Tho the game starts as a WW I story, it quickly goes to a fantasy land of demons, vampires, etc. One minute you're firing your bolt-action rifle, the next you may be riding a flying dragon ... seriously. Overall, the story itself is average and it could be more coherent. While the main character has cheesy monolog lines, for some strange reason it fits nicely in the chaos of NecroVisioN.
- graphics: 8-8.5/10 on the highest settings, and deteriorates quickly to an average score if you lower the vid settings
- sound: 7.5-8/10 (in some areas sounds tend to be a bit flat)
- weapons: 8/10 (some very nice models of WW I weaponry)
- story: 6.5/10 (could be more coherent and it does require lots of imagination)
- gameplay: 7.5/10 (boss fights too hard)
- game mechanics: 8.5/10 (run, leg kick, melee, combo/chain melee, jump, aim/ironsights, alt fire, bullet (adrenaline) time, crouch; no leaning or a dedicated take-cover system)
- presentation: 6.5/10
- length/content: 9.5/10 (solid long game)
- multiplayer: yes
- game specifically built for PC (no port job)
In the end, it's hard to give a numeric score to the NecroVisioN experience. Taken apart, component by component, the game is definitively better than average going towards a very good. But taken all together, as a whole, there is something missing to really make it a great game ... something that Painkiller had, but it got lost in NecroVisioN. Maybe the major weakness is the extremely plain main character who can't really cover the holes in the story. Anyways, no doubt, this is a simple and perfectly done corridor shooter with amount of action to fill 3 to 4 other average games. Obviously, the extremely hard difficulty of boss fights tend to land right on the line between extremely challenging and hopelessly frustrating and that will be a turn-off for many. Overall, if you are looking for a fun shooter with lots of carnage (or are addicted to shooting Kaiser zombies) and not much depth otherwise, this is a perfect one for you. Otherwise, look elsewhere. Overall score: 7.1/10.