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Gothic atmosphere fans will love this game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 24 / 26
Date: June 18, 2004
Author: Amazon User

The trend having video games come out with better products than the related movies continues.

Van Helsin, Abraham of name, is one of the coolest characters to ever have populated horror and gothic novels. In this game he is less of a scholar and holy man and more of a "lethal weapon" against the un-dead.

The game is a 3rd person shooter with many similarities to Devil May Cry (which was, as everybody knows, a great game).

As Van Helsing you will give final peace to scores of monsters and un-dead minions by using an enormous variety of weapons; for example:
-pistols,
-buzz saw,
-shotgun,
-automatic crossbow,
-portable Gatlin,
-huge elephant rifle.

Plus other cooler weapons I don't want to reveal in order to avoid spoiling. However, the coolest thing is Van Helsing's grappling hook. The hook is both a weapon and an interactive tool which will allow you, for example, to grapple rooftops and jump through ravines. Very Indiana Jones, kind of Spiderman, overall very cool.

Graphics: 9/10 Really good, some room for improvement. The dark environments literally recreate the necessary gothic atmosphere and are dealt with in such way that visual remain clear an playable (something that doesn't often happen in games setted in dark places).
Sound: 10/10 gives the chills.
Story: 8/10 The story is nice, but it really doesn't drive the gameplay. In VH action is the driver.
Gameplay and Controls: 10/10 If you like action, you will love this game.

Bottom Line:
Overall Van Helsing is a very good product, which you will enjoy both if you liked or you disliked the movie.
Buying is strongly recommended to:
1) Fans of the movie
2) Gothic setting fans (Vampire: the Gathering, WereWolves, etc...even if the game is not exactly an RPG or similar the settings and environments created are very well done and inspiring)
3) 3rd person shooter lovers
4) Whoever wants 30 minutes off every now and then to immerse in a dark setting and blast away all you see

Vivendi Universal is showing some great examples of franchised games (go have a look at "Riddick, Escape from Butcher Bay"). KUDOS to VU.

Van Helsing May Cry

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 16 / 18
Date: May 08, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Video games based on movie licenses are always a hit or miss. For every good game like "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King," and "Spiderman: The Movie," there is the horrible "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines," and the mediocre, "Enter the Matrix." "Van Helsing" falls somewhere in between.

The game borrows heavily from "Devil May Cry," complete with cinematic camera angles and fighting combos and weapons you can purchase after a level. The graphics aren't especially detailed with low and blurry textures. The XBOX version is sharper, but below standards for a system with that much graphical capability. A treat is using the voice and likeness of Hugh Jackman as well as the other actors from the movie. Gameplay is steady enough with one button used for projectile weapons such as Helsing's twin guns and another for close combat which when timed right, unleashes a series of combos on an enemy. The L trigger is used to target the enemy you're fighting. However, the targeting system tends to focus on enemies farther away rather than the ones that are closer which can be frustrating since you need to toggle over and over.

My biggest gripe are the camera angles. Since it's fixed, judging where you're going can be very frustrating. For instance, you may be walking towards one part of a room when all of a sudden, the camera angle will shift to a new perspective. When this happened, I had to backtrack a few times just to make sure I was going in the right direction. Fortunately, on boss levels, the camera angle is just about right, hovering from a nice distance that allows you to see where you're going.

"Van Helsing" is by no means a bad game. It's just...okay. The graphics are nice, but not especially detailed. Gameplay is basic and easy to learn. The camera angles on the other hand, is a beast to contend with. All in all, the game doesn't really offer much of anything we haven't seen before.

what the heck?!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 11
Date: May 14, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Don't listen to Mr. "this game sux", he's just a hater. He didn't even give a decent review! Now, I haven't seen the movie yet, but i think the game is very good. Plenty of action, lots of weapons and monster types, great graphics, sound, and music. It is somewhat short - I beat it on 'easy' mode in roughly 6 hours - but it has replayability. There's a special area with timed challenges that will net you funny cheats like Big Head mode and giant swords, and a secret weapon upon completing them all. You can also find cheats/eggs behind little hidden doors throughout the game. Also, some people have marked this as a Devil May Cry clone, though not in a bad way.

I'd give it a 4/5. But give it a rental first, just in case. I didn't before I bought the game but thankfully its worth the money to me.

'' A COOL EFFORT '' !

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: March 15, 2005
Author: Amazon User

THIS IS WHAT HORROR FANS , HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR ! A COOL GAME BASED ON A VERY COOL MOVIE! ! ! IN THIS GAME YOU TAKE ON THE ROLE OF VAN HELSING - AND PLAY THRU LEVELS BASED ON THE HIT MOVIE.THERE ARE NICE THINGS ABOUT THIS GAME , AND STUFF THAT ISN'T EVEN NEEDED..THE EASTER EGG BONUSES ARE NOT REALLY NEEDED, AS WELL AS THE SCORING SYSTEM SIMILAR TO THE SCORING IN '' DEVIL MAY CRY ''.YOU GET LOTS OF VERY COOL WEAPONS , AS WELL AS YOUR TOJO BLADES, BUT SOME WEAPONS YOU HAVE TO SEARCH FOR .BUT YOU REALLY NEED TO MASTER THE SKILL OF DUCKING AND ROLLING WHILE FIRING YOUR WEAPONS, OR YOU CAN JUST GRAPPLE OUT OF HARM'S WAY.BUT MOST ENEMIES WILL FOLLOW YOU AND ARE RELENTLESS.. AND BELIEVE ME,THERE ARE MANY ENEMIES TO TAKE ON IN THE GAME. IF YOU TRY LEAVING AN AREA AND RETURNING LATER , IT MAY ONLY WORSEN YOUR CONDITION- AS THE ENEMIES ON THE RETURN TRIP MAY BE WORSE THAN THE ONES PREVIOUSLY FACED.YOU CAN ALSO USE HIS TOJO BLADES AS WELL, BUT SOME ENEMIES ARE TOO HARD TO GET INTO CLOSE QUARTERS WHILE FIGHTING..THE BOSS FIGHTS ARE REALLY GOOD , AND WORTH THE PRICE OF THE GAME ALONE.BUT THERE IS NO MAP , AND IT IS VERY EASY TO GET LOST..YOU CAN BUY HEALTH AND OTHER TYPE POWERUPS, OR DEFEATED ENEMIES WILL DROP SOME FOR YOU, AGAIN JUST LIKE '' DEVIL MAY CRY '' .YOU RARELY HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT RUNNING OUT OF AMMO, AND YOU CAN USE AN ALTERNATE TYPE AMMO THAT DOES MORE DAMAGE.BUT THE GAME IS BY NO MEANS EASY, AS YOU GET SURROUNDED CONSTANTLY BY ENEMIES.THE SIDE MISSIONS ARE NOT ALL THAT IMPORTANT ,UNLESS YOU WANT TO DO EVERYTHING THE GAME HAS TO OFFER YOU..SO PICK UP A COPY TODAY, AND TAKE ON MR.HYDE, DRACULA AND HIS BRIDES,FRANKENSTEN,IGOR,AND OF COURSE THE WOLFMAN TOO.YOU'LL HAVE LOTS OF FUN , AND PLAY MORE THAN ONCE FOR SURE..

An Awesome Game.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: May 11, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Van Helsing rules. this game is non stop action and cool graphics. it goes along with the movie very well. This game is sweet. What can i say it rocks. It's worth buying.

LOVE IT

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: May 09, 2004
Author: Amazon User

THIS IS BY FAR THE BEST GAME I'VE EVER PLAYED....I LOVE HOW IT TAKES THE OLD MONSTER CHARACTERS AND FUSES THEM INTO THE SWEET GAME THAT IS VA HELSING....THE ONLY DOWN SIDE IS IT IS A SHORT GAME I REQUEST U RENT IT.

Great game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: May 13, 2004
Author: Amazon User

The main reason i gave this game five stars is for the fact you have unlimited ammo for all the weapons found.Frankly i got a little tired getting to bosses on other games and not having enough ammo to make it through.NOT HERE THOUGH..UNLIMITED BABY!!This is definitly a great movie to game adaption.Some events were changed but not really enough to gripe about.It can seem easy at first maybe a little too easy when you start out but trust me it gets alot harder when you progress.I definitly recommend this to anyone who is a vampire and horror movie fan or to those who just want a great action game.

Awesome, but not for repeated playing

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: April 04, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I made my b/f rent this game and then we sat down together and played it, making me realize we work very well together. Anyway, I really enjoyed playing this game. The weapons were awesome (especially the tojo blades) and the gameplay was a lot of fun. It's pretty easy to figure out, but the gameplay isn't so simple that it leaves you yawning.

We got a good 8 hours of continual gameplay, but that was us figuring out everything together so it may take longer for others to finish it. Overall, highly enjoyable, but after you beat it it's not fun enough to play again.

...Monster Killer, Not Murderer...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: April 04, 2007
Author: Amazon User

What an incredible game. In fact, this game BUILDS on the film. I have never played a movie licensed game that expounded this much on a story. The intro with Jekyll and Hyde is great, and so are all the cutscenes therafter. Anyways, this game also has incredible gameplay, addictive and entertaining, along with graphics that are very smooth, and some of the best I have seen.

Definately buy this.
PS
Not reccomended for Pre Teens due to violence and some creepy sequences involving vampires, werewolves and other creatures.

Van Helsing is awesome!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: May 23, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Van Helsing is an extremely cool action game with sweet graphics, cool cutscenes, and an excellent variety of weapons, ranging from the crossbow to the gatling gun. As you travel through Transylvania, you fight vile minions like Darcula and the Wolf Man. The special abilities are spectacular. The grappling gun is awesome, and is useful for swinging across areas of the game and can be deadly in battle. The weapons are extremely well balanced. Weapons such as scimitars, an unlockable elephant gun, and an electric gun are only a few of the amazing weapons. The only cons are an occasional annoying camera and the lenght of the game. The game is very short. Still, it is an excellent action/adventure game. Van Helsing is a very fun, action packed adventure!

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