Since the start of the worldwide financial crisis, many companies suffered huge losses in the game's industry, some of them being bankrupt while others are still floating on uncharted waters. Therefore small companies from Eastern Europe, offering cheaper services with a comparable quality to Western products, tend to invade the market. Companies from Poland, Ukraine, Romania and Hungary entered the market quite successfully either by releasing products on their own, either by working for Western companies.  The Farm 51 is one of these Eastern Europe companies that have already a big experience in completing big projects in collaboration with big companies. Already known for their contribution to Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (in terms of creating models, shaders and textures), Painkiller and Painkiller: Battle Out of Hell (by creating most of the level design and level texturing) and Men of Valor: Vietnam (for the models and texturing for weapons and vehicles), the company decided it's time to develop their own game: NecroVision. Most of you will probably ask yourselves "why was so necessary to make such a detailed introduction of the developing company?" Because most of their past projects had a big impact on this game that I will tell you about.

NecroVision is an EGO shooter developed in the most classical way possible, but still consisting in some gameplay characteristics that increase its diversity and playability. You play as an American soldier that has joined the UK Army in the WWI. The first mission takes place at Verdun in 1916. As you struggle to fight your way out of the trenches, of the French front, you will fast realize that a greater evil is hiding underground. A world of vampires, zombies, ghosts and demons will make you fight for the human cause and later for the vampire's cause. But who cares on which side of the barricade you are when all the evil turns against humanity and vampires, and you have to fight for both sides. Just relax and forget about the story and try to kill as many zombies and demons as possible as they come the kill you wave after wave.

I can't say that this game stands out because of its originality. There are plenty of similarities with games like Serious Sam (you always feel outnumbered in front of the enemy) and Painkiller series (occult elements, 'H.P. Lovecraft' feeling, combo system ), and even with Dark Messiah (melee combat system and magical abilities). But all these elements put together create a dynamic gameplay, with cheesy but funny moments.  

The game offers three difficulty levels: easy, medium and hard. On medium level the game is already difficult to complete, but offers the best experience for this game. This is where you can use all the character's abilities. From firing you weapons (pistols, rifles, machine-guns) to hitting zombies with the bayonet and cutting their heads off with the entrenching tool.  Your character will use both hands in combat, the left hand being used for throwing grenades, stabbing and hitting opponents with melee weapons, and applying magical powers after you acquire the vampiric arm. The right hand is a typical support for fire weapons and can be doubled by the left hand if you acquire two fire weapons of the same kind.  While making use of melee and fire combat alternatively you will perform combos which will fill the adrenaline meter. This will allow you to slow down time at will, but the effect will last until the adrenaline meter gets empty.   Combos not only fill the adrenaline bar, but also increase the damage and offer a brutal visual experience.  Cutting throats, piercing somebody's thorax with the bayonet, exploding someone's head with a headshot, cutting off limbs with the machine gun, are gore images pointed out by cheesy commentaries from the main character. It's like playing Evil Dead movie series but without the chainsaw (what good addition this could have been!).  The self-refilling health bar is the one that preserves a bit of continuity to the game. A normal concept of health bar would have caused a frequently use of the quickload option. Anyway, the health bar is self-refilling at a certain level, from which the player is forced to look for additional health supplies to increase it at the maximum.