Vanhelsing

Vanhelsing

Platform: PS2, Xbox, GBA
Release date: 2004
Rated T
Genre: 3rd person shooter
About About $10 used on Amazon

The Basics
For those of you who have seen the movie by the same name will be familiar with the plot and will immediatly recognize many of the bad guys and weapons. For the rest of you just realize that you play as a big time monster hunter in third person action romp. The game takes place in Transalvania and without giving anything deep away just know that you're out to stop Dracula and his minions from unleashing a terrible evil among the earth basically. So you control Van in an semi-isometric view and have several cool weapon to blast and slice you foes with.
Storyline
Again it follows the movies plot fairly closely but throws in several boss battles and a slew of new enviroments, weapons, and baddies for your blasting pleasure. You must stop Dracula from unleashing an ass load of vampires upon the world but in order to do so you have to wade through a bunch of lesser zombies, gouls, and goblins, as well as big timers like Igor, Drac's brides, and Frankenstein.
Gameplay
Though it's fairly basic at heard it really flows pretty well. You've got a few weapons to work with and pick up more along the way. Some of which include the not-so-rapid fire crowbow (though it was in the movie), a shotgun, buzz saw like tojo blades, dual scimitars, and matching pistols. Helsing is such a master marksman that you simply hold down R1 (on the PS2) and he'll auto-aim at the nearest ememy. Van's pretty acrobatic as well, he can jump well higher than you'd expect as it is but you can also double-jump off wall, and from there use your grappling gun to swing from ledge to ledge. Though it's hardly a platformer or puzzle game the developers threw in just enough of each to keep the action fresh.
During the course of each level you collect glyphs that pop out of dispatched baddies and then you can use them as currency at the end of each level to buy upgrades and abilities. But other than that it's pretty much run and gun. Well you can roll and straif too but that's beside the point.
Control
Yup Van controls fairly well, some of the camera angles can become awkward as you have no control over it but fortunately it's usually more of a help then a hinderance. The aiming system sounds boring but it really makes for an easier and more fun experience and you can actually dodge and roll as you shoot and more or less lock onto your opponents when you use melee attacks. The weapons are all unique and swapping them for greater effect on certain types of ememies is a breeze. Your primary ammo is unlimeted so reloaded is never a problem, though it takes away from the realism it's not like the game this supernatural began with much anyway. You do however find alt-ammo for each gun which is recharged by killing more dudes, it's a nice little touch that helps big time on later levels. And believe it or not they even managed to throw in just a dash of slow mo/bullet time as when you jump straight up with your pistols you can come down firing in slow mo with little bullet ripples traveling though the air. Though some may scoff I smirked whenever I used that trick.
The melee combat is usually pretty good. You've got some simple but effective combo's to work with but basically it's just mash the attack button and a few direct keys and watch in awe as Helsing launches a zombie into the air and fires up after it spinning around and slicing him appart. It's not exactly deep but it's often the quickest way to take down a group of foes.
Though it's not really a game element so much one clever thing the developers incorperate into the game is when you get knocked down by a powerful attack you loose your hat. But they intend you to pick it back up and finish the battle in style. If you complete the level with it on you get a few bonus points. Okay well it's not much but at least it's origional.
Sound
The games sound isn't stellar nor is it bad. Most of the time you just run around with just ambient noises of your surroundings to accompany the mood but when you meet some ememies the score starts up and compliments the action quite well. It's sort of dark gothic classical music, it's heavy but not at all too bad ass that it seems out of place or too "this game has attitude"-like. The weapons sound decent, especaily the alt ammo and the voice acting is actually very well done, Hugh Jackman of course lends his voice to his polygonal self.
Graphics
Really quite impressive in my opinion. Possibly because the viewpoint is fairly far away but overall everything looks really sharp, detailed, and fluid. There was quite a bit of artistry put into the levels and athough linear you still feel pretty immersed. The amimation is pretty much spot on, zombies samble, stone statues lumber along with a sense of weight, and Van himself jogs along with style. Speaking of Van he's probably the best rendered character in the game. His poly count is quite high and he bears a great likeness to Hugh Jackman, and the lip sincing is also pretty damn good. His cool jacket clips occasionally but it still looks cool as it flows around. The water is also very attractive, it ripples as you wade though it and the size of the ripple actually changes as you speed you pace. The water falls, complete with foam are really the most impressive out of the sights you'll see. Though the color palette is limeted and grey-centric it really jump amplifies th gothic vide so no complaints there.
The cut sceens are a mixed bag, the opening cinematic is very beautiful and hightly realistic but the cutscenes using the games engine show off some of the best and worst aspects of the game in the graphical sense. Van, espcially his pistols look great but certain characters look pretty bad and rushed. One womans hair is just a mass of dull textures over a few polys. Also you can see out certain windows that the backdrops look horrible, like someone took a crappy picture of a mountain range and saved it as a very low quality .gif in photoshop. But these are really minor complaints that only show in the cutsceens so it only has a small bearing on a game that otherwise looks similar in quality to Price of Persia: Warrior Within.
Difficulty
Almost exclusively easy. In fact often too much so. Although I myself don't mind a game I can breeze though I realize it's a turn off for many. However the unannounced checkpoints are very well placed which helps big time with the few challenging sequeces. Hordes of goblins can be quite a task and the second last boss battle against Drac's bride in vampire form is really quite difficult untill you perfect your technique. Otherwise it's really something anyone can do, even on the unlockable hard difficulty.
Multiplayer
Okay well being on dial-up I wouldn't know but from what I've been told not the greatest, just sort of the old meat and taders we've seen before, I dont' have the details but don't come into it expecting a great online experience.
Replay value and overall value
Not too good. There are secrets to be found, usually stuff you missed or didn't have the right weapon in order to blast the door open with that leads you to unlockables. Once you complete the game you have the option of starting it over in your currect jacked up state which makes and easy game even easier, yet still pretty fun as you can now whipe out foes you may have once slowly chipped away at. However at the same time it kills any futher replay value as completing it once, (I did it in about 4 1/2 hours) you may be ready for another go but not a third just becase a new difficulty is unlocked. But overall if you get it used I doubt you'll be dissappointed, if you don't come it expected it to blow your socks off with origionality and contect you shouldn't be let down. Ex has spoken...

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