The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing Preview
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True PC Gaming:
Another thing I loved, but more sophisticated players might decry, is the simplicity. There's only one character/class the monster hunter Van Helsing. He comes in one gender and has a limited skill set, which comes in at 16 total, split between a melee and a ranged/magic tree. I was able to turn him into the high defense/high DPS melee character I always play, but if you prefer something more summoner-y, you might be out of luck.
I say (might) because there are ways to customize your character outside of the skill trees. Perks are acquired as your fame increases but, more relevantly, there are also Tricks and Auras that can be purchased from NPCs. Tricks are basically spells that need to be activated, while auras are passive and always on. It's entirely possible that, as the game progresses, you'll gain a Trick that summons a horde of beasts to fight at your side, but I can't be sure since the preview copy only offers a limited slice of the adventure. Until that happens, if it ever does, you'll have to content yourself with Van Helsing's ghost companion: Lady Katarina.
Katarina is a versatile creature, able to fight alongside you in either melee or ranged capacity. Should you not want the extra help in combat, she can also remain in ghost mode, which provides passive boosts to your stats. She can be set to automatically gather loot and sent back to town to sell all the useless junk you've accumulated. What's more, you can have her bring back health and magic potions if you need to stock up.
Gaming Nexus:
Like other games in the genre, the game is built upon a series of missions. You can stack them up here and complete them in bunches to save time. The focus though is the action and it comes in huge droves. I don't think that I have played a game in this genre that throws as many enemies at you as Van Helsing does. The screens is constantly flooded with enemies which keeps things moving at a very fast pace. This is good for another reason too because with droves of monsters comes droves of loot! You will be picking up loot at an amazing pace, checking the stat comparisons to your current equipment and managing a variety of gear and weapons. Thankfully the system used to manage all of this is streamlined just like it is in Torchlight. It is very easy to compare the stats of items to each other,. including those equipped on your character and you can send Katarina off to cash in on your unwanted goods at any time.
Thus far, I fear that I have described the game as nothing more than a quality knockoff. In a gameplay sense, it definitely falls in line with its predecessors, but it is the engulfing and beautiful world that sets it a part from a lot of games. The game looks amazing when you have it running at full steam. The characters are very detailed and the world is amazingly beautiful. You will cover a lot of different ground in your adventure, from snow capped mountain paths to lush, dense wooded forests and even bustling towns.
