Van Helsing

"Wolfman, Frainkenstein, Dracula Oh my."

I watched Van Helsing the movie and thought that it was one great movie. Then I heard about the Van Helsing game so I wanted to give it a try and I'm glad I did. This game can deliver some good monster slashing and shooting fun.

Game play: 9/10
This game resembles devil may cry. You have a fixed camera at each screen and you shoot and slash your enemies. As you advance through each new level you can find new weapons, challenges, and secrets but don't loose your hat. That's another interesting thing about Van Helsing if he takes a hit he can loose his hat. If this happens you need to retrieve it. The controls are very good and it doesn't take long to learn the controls. There are many monsters to fight in this game and there are some good boss battles.

Graphics: 8/10
The graphics are great but nothing real special. They could be just a little better, but the towns, monsters and cast of characters look just like there movie counterparts. I think it would have been great if they added some movie footage into the game. But all of the cut scenes in the game resemble the movie and characters. It would have been better if they looked more lifelike. But overall the graphics are just average.

Story: 7/10
The story follows the movie almost exactly. A few things have changed and a few things have been added. It's a really good story, but if you saw the movie then you'll know what's going to happen in the game. I guess the story could be better. They couldn't added more to it and showed more cut scenes to make it a better video game experience. I give the story 7 out of 10 because it follows the movies story, but if you've seen the movie then you're not going to pay much attention to the story in the game because you know it already.

Replay: 6/10

There probably isn't much replay to this game for most people. After you've played it once, done everything you can, get all of the unlockables then you'll probably won't want to replay it. If you missed some unlockables then that might give you reason to or if you want to just experience the game again then that might give you some more reason. But beating the game won't take very long, probably about 5 hours or so of play time here. You might want to rent this game first before you buy and the game can be beaten in a single rental so unless you are a big fan of the movie and really like this game a rental would probably be best. I'd wait till the price went down before spending lots of money on it.

Overall:

For me Van Helsing was a great movie, and it was a good video game. But in the end you just get a game that is based off of a movie. The game is short and in my opinion it's not an original game. It makes up for some of the other poor licensed games in the past. But this game is just an average game at best. Paying a lot for this game would be too much. Either rent this game first or wait till the price drops. But I think this game lives up to the movie so if you like the movie then you won't be disappointed.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/04/04