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 Uncensored Version 
 The Last Starfighter   Thelma & Louise  To Live and Die in L.A  Evil Dead Rise  Ronin  The Burning |
Release: Aug 23, 2013 - Author: zombie-flesheater - Translator: Tony Montana
Eastern Block Shooter
...can be seperated in three categories: the good ones (S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Painkiller, Cryostasis), the ones that can be ignored (Battlestrike, Terrorist Takedown) and the ones that completely suck (Antikiller... argh!). And when some of the programers, who also worked on Painkiller and Medal of Honor: Airborne, are working on a new game, one can be pretty excited. The setting, this time it's a WW I scenario, hasn't been chosen that often so the odds are that the final result will be satisfactory. The Moment of Truth And yes, the beginning can actually keep up with highlights such as "Call of Duty" etc. The rainy nights and the claustrophibic looking trenches create an excellent atmosphere. Part of this amazing atmosphere is the loading screen with the letters of the Allies and the German soldiers - the letters are read out loud, too - with important information on the one hand and a very detailed discription of what happened in the trenches from different angles on the other hand. The zombies' appearance is pretty persuasive as well. It takes some time until one finally faces them after several victims and signs of a struggle. Also a great idea is the close combat at the beginning. The first few hours, one shoots, kicks and punches through atmospherical and sinister trenches and fortresses. Also a nice touch that the Germans aren't only the stereotype baddies, as usual. Besides Germans with good intentions, there are Allies with a different agenda which makes it more real - the zombie apocalypse part aside of course. Unfortunately, these first few and very entertaining hours is the best NecroVisioN has got... Lack of Ideas and Innovation? I wish! Because as soon as one finds some kind of mechwarriory battle robot in order take out the enemies, every single touch of atmosphere is gone in a heartbeat. The subsequent boss fight with a mechanic giant scorpion (!) doesn't make it better either. From now on, everything's going down the drain. One reaches an underground city inhabited by several hostile vampires. The architecture is incredible and also a lovely contrast to the gloomy trenches at the beginning. But considering the huge amount of hostiles, it's "Painkiller" all over again. That doesn't have to a bad thing but in this particular case, the initially terrific atmosphere gets completely thrown overboard. Simon Bukner, (anti) hero of the game, finding some kind of magic claw (yes, a talking glove!) doesn't make it any better at all although their verbal duel is quite entertaining. Now that the transition from sinister WW I shooter to funshooter is finally completed, one gets to fly with the last dragon still alive in order to battle other dragons later on. Who didn't get the irony the first time, may feel free to read repeat that sentence as often as necessary. Furthermore, we get the gift to bring people back from the dead. This might sound interesting at first. But considering the huge amount of hostiles we're already facing at that point, it's not very helpful. But look at that, the vampires aren't the root of all evil. It's a demon. So, we make a little detour to the cave. The textures are well but fighting all the hostiles becomes exhausting at some point. Furthermore, the gameplay starts to become unfair here. In the end, we finally get to battle the "demon in charge". No, one can't certainly complain about a lack of ideas. That's for sure. But one could very well complain about the fact that everythings looks hastily cobbled together. Not helpful are the admittedly well-drawn comic sequences between the levels that deliever a little preview of the ingame cutscenes from another angle - but sometimes entirely different and also with new dialoges. One can only guess which one of the plots is the actual one. Bottom Line Graphics, sound and music are on a very high level although the computer stutters now and then. The numerous skills, combos and close combat attacks are pleasing. Unfortunately, the longer one plays, the more potential gets wasted and the previously build atmosphere gets ruined. The ideas in the game would have been enough for several games. Be that as it may, friends of a simple shooter with a lot of gore resp. fans of "Serious Sam" and "Painkiller" shouldn't hesitate to get the game. Anyone else will probably deinstall it after the incredibly atmospherical first third. Censoring the Australian Version The Australian Version had to endure lots of censoring. Besides removed gore and the dissolving hostiles before the reduction of the blood amount, there are more differences: blood and splatter effects have been completely removed and so have the bodies for decoration and the ragdoll effects (as a consequence because is impossible when the bodies dissolve). Any cutscene and ingame sequence with explicit content (which is part of these scenes with two or three exceptions being made) has been adapted to the ingame censoring. As a result, some of them seem pretty pointless now. A trademark of the game, the combos (disastrous hit combos) have almost been completely eleminated, too. And I believe it goes without saying that the atmosphere suffers a lot from all that. In addition to that, one weapon has been removed and the feature to bring dead people back to life has its limitations now. After "Antikiller", I was under the impression that nothing else could shock me anymore but it turns out I was wrong: the Australian Version of NecroVisioN is far and away one of the worst games I have ever had the (dis)pleasure to play. And I'm not only refering to cheap games of which I have played a lot / had to play a lot. The Australian Version isn't entertaining at all. On the contrary, it's so bad that just playing it causes a huge headache. If there's a target group for this piece of crap (and I'm not sure there is), it must be people with arachnophobia, vertigo, fear of dogs, the dentist, pregnant women, impotence, anal rape behind bars, atomic wars, armageddon or hell - the first 10 minutes of the Australian Version put all that in the right perspective so that one can just smile about these trivialities. Certainly, the game is violent but I have my doubts that all the alterations were really necessary. Please note: the screenshots are heavily brightened because most of the game takes place in the dark. And yet, some screenshots are still dark because other ones would be overexposed if I had brightened them more. Furthermore, it appears that NecroVisioN produces artifacts on the screenshots now and then - e.g. on some of the screenshots, the HUD or the bars during the cutscenes are missing. Moreover, the blood splatter is barely recognizable on the minimized screenshots of the cutscenes when the events are shown via close-up. For that, I apologize. It turns out that the Australian appears to be the very same censored version the Germans got which is why the following is legit for both the German and the Australian Version. General Gameplay Censoring
Removed Blood When Hostiles Get Hit When a hostile gets hit, blood splatters. The Australian Version contains little dustclouds instead.
Removed Damage Injured hostiles and bodies are being pointed out by bloody walls near the spot. But they aren't in the Australian Version. Screenshots from the uncensored version.
Removed Blood Blood splatters and it's stuck on the screen when you're in bloody combat action or when you get seriously hit and. The Australian Version contains some gray-white substance instead.
Vanishing Hostiles In the Australian Version, the offed hostiles don't drop dead. Instead, they vanish into thin air before they hit the ground and gray smoke appears. Screenshots from the censored version.
Removed blood on the walls and the ground If a hostile gets hit near the walls, blood splatters on them. Sometimes, there's blood splatter and sometimes even a pool of blood on the ground after some close combat action as well. But not in the Australian Version. Screenshots from the uncensored version.
Removed Decoration Bodies Although there are a few decoration bodies, most of them have been removed - escpecially the ones resulting from scripted sequences because they vanished into thin air. Furthermore, burning or burned bodies are completely missing in the Australian Version.
Removed Splatter Effects When attacking heavily (close combat combos), the hostiles heads literally explode resp. they lose body parts or their heads. In the Australian Version, they go up in smoke. Screenshots from the uncensored version.
Missing Ragdoll Feature In the uncensored Version, dead bodies can be moved to another spot via firing at them, explosions or close combat attacks. Since there are no bodies in the Australian Version, this effect is missing. Moreover, the very few remaining decoration bodies react extenuated to the attacks. Screenshots from the uncensored version.
Reduced Power of the Kick In the uncensored version, hostiles can be kicked away a few meters. The longer you play, the more important this nice little feature becomes because the number of hostiles gets higher and higher and with kick, further hostiles can be taken down by the one who got actually kicked. Basically, it means that this is the only way to free yourself when surrounded by hostiles. Probably as a consequence of the missing ragdoll effects, the power of the kick got reduced as well. The damage a kick causes remains unchanged but the effect is different: kicked hostiles do not react to further kicks which makes the gameplay somewhat unfair in higher levels because it's almost impossible get rid of all the hostiles when you're surrounded by them. Screenshots from the uncensored version.
Censored Bayonet Action When a hostile gets hit by the bayonet, it's stuck in his body and can be picked up again. In the Australian Version, it's not stuck and goes up in smoke with the body instead. Screenshots from the uncensored version.
Censored Shovel Action A thrown shovel can get stuck in the body, too. It's also possible that a body part gets chopped off in the process. Contrary to the bayonet, the shovel cannot be picked up again. In the Australian Version, shovel and hostile go up in smoke. Screenshots from the uncensored version.
Removed Death Animation for Human Hostiles When human hostiles have to take a heavy hit in the leg, they lose it. They also keep crawling around while bleeding and screaming until they finally die. When an arm gets chopped off, they stumble around and scream before they're going down for good. Since chopping off body parts isn't an option in the Australian Version, the death animations don't exist either. Screenshots from the uncensored version.
Censored Death Animations for Flying Firerays In the uncensored version, this species can kiss their lives goodbye in a huge explosion. In the Australian Version, they simply fall from the sky and remain on the ground as flat as a pancake. At least, they don't go up in smoke.
Censored Death Animations for Dragons Usually, their body bursts and it's very messy. In the Australian Version, they freeze for a second before they go up in smoke.
Censored Death Animations for Flamethrower Vampires When under fire, these tedious little suckers keep flying around for a while before they explode (again: pretty messy). In the Australian Version, the only thing left after the explosion is an intact body. Screenshots from the uncensored version.
Removed Barbwire Zombies Attacks These hostiles are chasing the player and perform close combat attacks. The arms can be shot off but they keep attacking. Now and then, they lose their legs. As a result, they keep crawling after you. Since the body parts can't be removed in the Australian Version, all that is missing. Please note: it happens that the legless zombies are being sent after you which is also the case in the Australian Version. Screenshots from the uncensored version.
Rmoved Demon Attacks Similar to the Barbwire Zombies, these little suckers can lose their arms and legs and yet they keep attacking Simon. Again, not in the Australian Version. Screenshots from the uncensored version.
Removed Carbonizing While the process of burning is still in the Australian Version - anguished crying included - only in the Uncensored Version, the burning hostiles hit the gound before their bodies carbonize. Screenshots from the uncensored version.
Removed Weapon: Vampire Flamethrower With this weapon, hostiles can be torched. Unfortunately, it's missing in the Australian Version. Please note: the missing / removed weapon becomes obvious for anyone because one usually gets some kind of weapon, ammo, body amour etc. when being on a scouting expedition. In the Australian Version, one even gets to read the info that a secret has been found on the screen when in fact there's no new weapon or whatever at all in the Australian Version. Screenshots from the uncensored version.
Removed Weapon Effect for Barbwire Shadowhand With this weapon, one can wrap up the hostile with barbwire in order to cause damage. In the uncensored Version, they bleed when the barbwire touches their bodies plus blood is leaking out of the wounds, even when they're dead. The blood has been removed from the Australian Version. Screenshots from the uncensored version.
Very Limited Skill: Necromancer In the uncensored version, one can bring the dead (when they're zombies) back to life with a nice little weapon called Necromancer. When they're back from the dead, they support the player and attack the hostiles - surrounded by bright flashes of light. Basic requirement for that a particular amount of adrenalin which automatically increases when hostiles get killed. Combos will do that trick as well. Once there's enough, one simply has to target a dead hostile or a decoration body and push the "use" botton. With this button, one can also give commands such as "Go to..." or "Attack that hostile". Since the bodies immediately disaapear in the Australian Version, all that is nearly impossible. Only the remaining decoration can be "necromanced". Please note: and again, the censorshio is beyond obvous and also sloppy. At least the manual of the German Version (which equals the Australian Version, as already mentioned in the intro) mentions this particular feature. Moreover, it's being explained in the little ingame tutorial (please see further below). Screenshots from the uncensored version.
Censored Combos An exceptional feature is the huge number of combos. Combos are particular hit combinations that can cause a lot of damage to the hostiles. They also slow down time when being performed successfully. Removed Confirmation Text In the uncensored version, a text appears in the upper part of the screen when a combo is complete. It does not in the Australian Version. The actual combos are also possible in the Australian Version though. They're listed in the statistics under "Most used combo" - even though one can only guess which combo it was and what kind of action lead to it. Examples from the uncensored version:
Less Violent Combos Because combos usually end with a bloody finishing move, they've been censored for the Australian Version. As always, the hostiles simply go up in smoke when a combo has been comlpleted. There's no blood or blood splatter at all. Please note: because the game has a lot of different combos to offer and pattern of the censoring is always the same, only a few examples of the uncensored combos. Less Violent Combo: Double Stabber When Simon attacks hostiles with the bayonet in close combat, he stabs him in the chest with it instead of hitting him for a third time. He twists the blade in the chest several times before he removes it all of a sudden. Pretty bloody move. Please note: there's a bug in the Australian Version. As a result, the blood gushing out is actually there now and then. Screenshots from the uncensored version.
Less Violent Combo: Hair Cutter When attacking a hostile with the shovel in close combat, he pushes him to the ground instead of hitting him a third time. The hostile goes on his knees and tries to protect his head with the hand before the shovel finally crushes his skull. Screenshots from the uncensored version.
Less Violent Combo: The Doctor When attacking a hostile with the bayonet in close combat, he stabs him in a very bloody way and he keeps poking - more blood splatters. Screenshots from the uncensored version.
Less Violent Combo: Impalement When attacking a hostile's head with the rifle including the bayonet in close combat, Simon smashes the hostile's chin with it which makes the head explode. Screenshots from the uncensored version.
Less Violent Combo: Pistol Headshot When Simon puts a bullet into a hostile's head at close range, the first shot only paralyses him. Then, an animation begins: Simon holds the gun in front of the hostile's face and blows his head off. Screenshots from the uncensored version.
Less Violent: Pure Fatality When attacking a hostile with the shotgun in close combat several times, Simon puts the gun at the hostile's chin and pulls the trigger instead of hitting him with the gun a third time. Brain splatters in all kind of directions. Screenshots from the uncensored version.
Less Violent: Shredder When attacking a hostile with the shadowhand in close combat, his body bursts into pieces. Screenshots from the uncensored version.
Less Violent Combo: Throat Cutter When attacking a hostile's head with the baynet in close combat several times, Simon slits his throat in a very bloody way. While trying to stop the bleeding by putting his hands on the neck wound, he slowly sinks to the floow. Screenshots from the uncensored version.
Level Specific Censoring The alterations in the cutscenes and ingame sequences correspond to those in the gameplay. For the sake of completeness, I mentioned it anyway. Prolog Censored Cutscene in the Prolog Lots of bloody scenes during the ambush. German and British soldiers attack each other with bayonets, aircraft bombs make bodies explode, a British soldier gets an incredibly bloody headshot, a soldier gets staked because of the blast of an explosion, burning soldiers are going down and they keep burning until completely carbonized etc. In additional to all that, there are always a lot of bodies, body parts and blood on the battle field. The Australian Version contains all the mentioned ingame alterations. There aren't any bodies anymore during the battle and all the blood and splatter effects are gone as well.
Level 1 - Trench Warfare Censored Cutscene: Gas Attack A few German soldiers are leaving the military hospital until they finally succumb to the toxic gas. They remain on the gound, coughing and twitching. In the Australian Version, they vanish as soon as they hit the ground.
Censored Cutscene: Attacking the Trench While some soldiers get shredded by the explosion, one of the unlucky guys gets wrapped up in barbwire. A lot of blood splatters and leaks. Finally, he's beamed away by a bright cone of light. In the Australian Version, the soldiers' bodies don't explode and the barbwire victim stops bleeding as soon as he dies.
Censored Ingame Sequence: Encounter with the Machine Gunner Two soldiers literally get shredded by a machine gunner. As always, there's a lot of blood. The sequence doesn't contain any blood at all in the Australian Version. Furthermore, the bodies vanish before they hit the ground.
Level 2 - Fortress Censored Cutscene at the Beginning of the Mission At the beginning of the mission, imprisoned Simon gets punched to the ground by the Germans. Then they kick and beat the crap out of him. A lot of blood splatters. Contrary to expectations, most of the German soldiers get killed by a monster - offscreen! Splatter noises and screams are audible in the process which has been completely removed in the Australian Version.
Censored Cutscene: Wounded Soldiers Having found the wounded soldiers and given him the gun, he kills himself with a bloody headshot as soon as one has left. The Australian Version contains dust instead of blood.
Censored Ingame Sequence: The First Victim of the Monster A German soldier's body is shredded when thrown against the wall. The Australian Version lacks the blood plus he goes up in smoke as soon as he hits the wall. This all happens so fast and no traces are left which makes it almost impossible to actually recognize what just happened.
Censored Ingame Sequence: The Second Victim of the Monster Lots of blood and body parts are falling off the ceiling. The only thing coming down in the Australian Version is dust which makes Simon's comment how disgusting that was kind of redundant.
Censored Ingame Sequence: Demon The captured demon gets juiced until his body bursts. In the Australian Version, his body just drops.
Level 3 - The Hill Censored Cutscene: Attacking the Sniper The surrendering German gets killed by a sniper. No blood in the Australian Version.
Censored Ingame Sequence: The Trench One corner of the trench is filled with bodies and rats. The rats are still in the Australian Version, the bodies not so much.
Censored Cutscene: Zombie Attack German soldiers and zombies are fighting for their (dead) lives. Quite messy. In the Australian Version, the action corresponds to the ingame alteration which means only smoke and disappearing bodies.
Level 4 - Stronghold Censored Cutscene Before Encountering J. R. R. Tolkien One can listen to the torture. The imprisoned Brit gets punched in the face twice. Blood splatters on the ground. But Simon is being made and the German informs the other ones. While being taken down by them, one can still see the captive being shot in the head. After the encounter with Tolkien and the subsequent prison break (including a fight with Adolf Hitler), one can take a closer look at the body. There's a huge hole in his head. No blood in the Australian Version and no wounds on the body.
Censored Cutscene: Zombie Attack And again: German soldiers are attacked by zombies, this time with much more participants on each side. And also again: dust instead of blood in the Australian Version.
Level 6 - Mole Underground Censored Tutorial: Resurrecting the Dead This new skill is being explained to the player at some other point which is supposed to be some kind of training. Simon spots a British captive. After a short conversation, Simon frees him. Subsequently, he gets killed by the attacking zombies though which is unavoidable. Simon is blaming himself. He also says this zombie was going to turn as well. But then, the shadowhand comes up with a suggestion: Since Simon is already a Necromancer with the skill to bring people back to life, it would probably be better if this soldier fought with Simon for a change. Reluctantly, Simon brings him back to life and they're fighting side by side now - as predicted by the shadowhand (at least until the soldier dies a second time - this time, he's dead for good). Basically, the events in the Australian Version are the same (including all the dialogs and shots of... the ground....). There's only one tiny difference: the body is missing! As a result, there's nobody to resurrect and team up with. And this is more than just a tiny flaw, this is a huge plothole.
Censored Cutscene: Battling Monsters in the Arena Two monsters are fighting each other in an arena. At first, one of them tossed to the ground which leaves a pool of blood behind. After a further bloody punch in the face and several wrestling moves, the loser gets his adams apple ripped out which causes a huge fountain of blood. The blood is completely missing in the Australian Version. Especially the ripped off adams apple looks ridiculously weird because of that.
Level 8 - Mole Temple Censored Cutscene: The Crusher Enter the room and a cutscene follows: several zombies are getting squashed by a press. No blood in the Australian Version plus the zombies go up in smoke.
Level 10 - Azazel Temple Censored Cutscene: The Dog's Death Azazel's dog is going down bleeding. Azazel spars him any further suffering by stabbing him in the head. A lot of blood comes out. No blood at all in the Australian Version.
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Censored Version