The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing (henceforth referred to as just "Van Helsing" is the first of a trilogy of games from Hungarian studio, Neocore, set in the Dracula-inspired (Bram Stoker) 19th century setting of Van Helsing. All three of the games feature a strong Diablo-esque ARPG main mechanic combined with some light tower defence sections and mashes it together with one of the most compelling and deep story universes (in my opinion!).
This first Van Helsing game was released in 2013 on the PC and again several years later when on consoles when their hardware managed to crawl up to match the mighty PC of past generations of gaming (hehe...). NeoCore Games has long had a fond affinity for Van Helsing and King Arthur related games, with their current Kickstarter backed game revisiting the Arthurian myth in a XCOM Turn Based game. Throughout all their games, you will find in-house references to other games in the stable, a loving nod to fellow developers and loyal fans!
The Setup
Van Helsing is set in an alternate reality 19th century in which advanced Steampunk technology exists alongside Sorcery and Magic. The supernatural and the mechanical exist in an uneasy balance, and Van Helsing is summoned back to his ancestral home of Borgovia in Eastern Europe by a mysterious letter.
It is hard to understate how lovingly crafted the story cutscenes are.... the style and narration just grab you and you are drawn into the universe and story. Too many developers ignore this part of a game, and just focus on mechanics. However, without these little bits of player engagement, there really isn't anything for a player to hold on to in order to desire to play the game!
In keeping with the Van Helsing universe, there is a nice selection of six character classes. Each of the Steampunk and Magic spheres are represented by three typical RPG stereotypes... Caster, Tank and Ranged.
Each of the two spheres have their own distinct art and character style, with the Steampunk ones having a distinctly industrial flair to their design!
The Game
The game plays out in a familiar sort of ARPG overland map linked together by physical paths and mystical passages through the "Ink". As you play further into the story, you unlock more maps and base nodes. So, this part is quite familiar to any veteran of ARPGs like Torchlight and Diablo.
Combat also plays out in a familiar way, with activated and passive skills allowing you to take down mobs of enemies who die by the millions at your hands. The familiar kill-loot-upgrade cycle is also present, with multiple inventory slots being enhanced with incrementally more powerful gear that favour your particular character's playstyle.
What is quite different is the idea of the activated skills being able to be charged with up for different effects. The game then transforms from a fairly bland ARPG click fest to an on the fly juggling of how to best maximise the charges for best effect.
Each skill has three different upgrade slots that will produce different effects. Depending on the skill, this can vary from area effects, elemental effects or one of many countless variations on the damage (or shielding) dynamic. With each slaying, Van Helsing gathers charges that can be allocated to these upgrades before unleashing them and consuming the charges.
The trick is that you can only allocate a total three charges to the three upgrade slots for each firing of the skill... so, knowing exactly what outcome you want for that skill against the particular type of monster that you are fighting at that moment is quite critical for maximising efficiency.
... and maximising efficiency is key, as your charges decay relatively quickly over time... which results in your pushing forward into the fray in order to keep the charge-unleash-kill-charge cycle spinning around!
... and speaking of skills. You will not be short of choices! It will be pretty hard to cover the complete circle of skills for any single character on a single playthrough, so you will find yourself attracted to skills that will complement your character's playstyle. Each character has its own circle of skills, and so you will find more than enough variety to suit any playstyle, plus it allows different characters to be played in vastly different ways depending on the skill set that you have leveled for.
Add in Passive Skills, Reuptational Perks and Challenge based unlocks, and you have a HUGE variety of buffs and nerfs that will send any min-maxer into stifling indecision!
If you didn't think that that was enough, your companion character (Lady Katarina) can be equipped with her own inventory, skillset (active and passive) and has three different playstyles (which approximate classes). So, a wealth of choice... and they have implemented that all time favourite handy mechanic of modern ARPGs... sending your companion back to the village shop! In fact, I think this was one of the first games that actually did this, saving you multiple trips back to town... either by foot or Town Portal scrolls!
Speaking of Lady Katarina, she really and truly is the highlight of the game. She is the dry and sarcastic humour to the ever-suffering Van Helsing. The pair have such a terribly good relationship... Honestly, I would even put her as the best character in the game over the main character himself!
Visuals, Sound and Performance
The visuals are a bit dated from the point of view of a modern 2021 game. The field of view is pretty close in, and you will be wishing for ability to zoom out. However, for most modern computers, this game is going to be a breeze to render. In fact, I started to wonder if my iGPU was doing the heavy lifting instead of the dGPU... the computer was running so cool and quiet!
Still, the visuals of the game are hearbreakingly beautiful to experience, and the universe is one that I have grown to love so much!
From the point of view of sound, the voice acting of both Van Helsing and Lady Katarina are top-notch! Both have a dry and sarcastic sense of humour, and the way that they interact with each other is the back and forth of a long suffering couple who can't live without each other! I LOVE IT!
My Thoughts
Van Helsing was quite revolutionary in its approach to the ARPG genre of the time. At that time, Diablo was the franchise to topple, and Torchlight had come out with a decent competitor.
Later games in the trilogy would refine on the mechanics that this original Van Helsing presented. It is easy to look back on this game with modern eyes, but the ideas combining different game genres were quite interesting at the time... even if they were not completely successful in execution!
Where Van Helsing completely trounces its fellow stablemates is in the atmosphere and setting. Voice acting is top-quality as is the writing for the characters, it isn't crazy... just sarcastic and dry. This is my sort of humour!
Much like the Witcher universe, it does touch upon a more nuanced version of "good and evil" in comparison to the Western European/American games. Monsters aren't just evil for the sake of it, and things are often more complex than they appear from a story point of view.
Despite shortcomings and bugs in the tower-defence sections of the game, I would have to say that this original Van Helsing outing was one of my favourite games of the genre. I'm really looking forward to playing the later games in the trilogy to see how they managed to refine the game... and looking really forward to joining the awkward couple of ghost and monster hunter!
Review Specs
DELL XPS15 (9560)
CPU: i7-7700HQ
RAM: 16 GB
Storage: SSD
GPU: Nvidia GTX 1050
Played at 1080p (144Hz) on:
XMG Fusion 15
CPU: Intel Core i7-9750H
RAM: 16 GB
Storage: SSD (SATA/Nvme)
GPU: Nvidia GTX 2070 Max-Q
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