The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing

Recently, and for some reason that I can only assume is related to head trauma or another mind altering condition, I decided I should really play an ARPG. While I’ve played a few titles that get lumped into this genre (i.e. Magicka), when it comes to the classical sense I’ve only really tried 4 games in 2 different series – Diablo 1 and 2 and Torchlight 1 and 2. The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing departs from those games and attempts to carve its own path. The question is, just how successful is it?

Some of the enemies are a little bit more unique than most games, but more of that in the next paragraph.

The game opens with the young offspring of the famous Van Helsing receiving a letter addressed to his father. Apparently something has gone terribly wrong in Borgova, an Eastern European city the famous monster hunter had previously set right. After some time (and a bit of trouble along the way), the young Van Helsing arrives near Borgova, accompanied by the lovely Lady Katarina, a ghost of Borgovan nobility. The first part of your quest involves a bit of a detour, after some damn fool blows up the bridge you needed to cross. And so you must slaughter everything from the mundane bandits and wolves, to more mythical creatures like vodyanoi, werewolves, and harpies (pretty much stock fantasy fare), to get into the city and find out just what’s going on. Once there, you’ll make contact with the resistance, largely headquarted in your father’s secret lair underneath the city, and it’s there you’ll learn that one of the scientists left in charge of the city by the original Van Helsing harnessed “elyctrical power” to create machines (like clockwork soldiers and walking cannons) and other abominations (giant electrically controlled wear wolves, gargantuan enemies that can teleport, and lots of things with tentacles) in order to gain control of the city. The story also results in an interesting steam punk/gothic mix setting that’s kind of cool.

Yep, that sounds about right.

An important note: I own the complete version of The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing, rather than the base version. That’s important because it means I have access to two additional classes not found in the base game – the Thaumaturge (think mage) and Arcane Mechanic (a ranged character that deploys turrets, mines, airstrikes, etc.), whereas the only class available in the base game is the Hunter, which has two talent trees, and can be leveled as a sword wielding melee character or a rifle/pistol range character. In addition to the wider array of character choices, owning the complete version also unlocks things like class specific loot (with many items going straight into storage at my account shared bank), class specific quests, the inability to complete certain achievements designed around the base game and the need to wield certain weapons, and additional upgrades for Lady Katarina. I actually played the game as the Arcane Mechanic, which struck me as being close to Torchlight 2’s Engineer (which I loved), and thus this review will be from that perspective, rather from the “no classes” viewpoint espoused by the game’s trailer.

Okay, onto the game itself. Van Helsing is a more casual version of the traditional ARPG, closer in style and tone to Diablo than Torchlight (graphically, thematically, etc.). And when I say casual, I really mean it. While the other titles I’ve listed rely on things like randomly generated maps that reset on each playthrough, because you’ll find yourself playing through them 4-5 times on varying difficulties before you grind and grind and grind to max out your character (usually level 99 or 100) and get the best items possible, and will completely repopulate maps that you leave for the aforementioned grinding, Van Helsing doesn’t do any of that. The maps are fixed, respawning enemies can be disabled (a godsend if you want to, say, play for 20 minutes before work, but don’t want to reclear half of a dungeon later in the day), and you’ll hit the level cap of 30 long before you finish the game. You’ll also max out your reputation (gained from killing elite monsters, which functions very much like Torchlight’s system), and hit the level cap for your ghostly companion (again, echoing Torchlight). The game even builds in town portal and item identification functions, includes health/mana potions that scale as you level, and the ability to reset almost all skill/ability points (some reputation earned perks cannot be undone). Again, casual, though also (in most cases) very welcomed improvements to the genre.

The game also has a tower defense section for some reason...

While the setup and much of the game’s core functions support easy access that make the game perfect for players new to the genre or for vets looking for a single play through, the actual nitty gritty of successfully clearing a map full of monsters isn’t so easy. While in Diablo 2 I might turn on a couple of auras on my paladin, or in Torchlight 2 summon bots to fight at my side and then spam flame hammer, I found that I was far more likely die in this game that the others. I attribute that partly to the level of difficulty involved, mostly due to being unable to really outlevel your enemies, and partly to things like a tendency for enemies to be closely spaced together, thus resulting in a large pull, or having summonable companions (some specific to the Arcane Mechanic) that are extremely aggressive. I spent plenty of time running back to where I died (when you die, you can either resurrect in town, at the start of the level, or where you died, but convenience costs you), partly because when it came to picking perks, a reward for reputation I’ll cover later, I favored damage increases rather than one that would allow me to resurrect in place for free once every few minutes. Also, I felt like there was plenty of random BS of some enemy nailing me with a death blow from off screen. My many deaths might also have been due to my experience in other games, we’re its really all about the loot and how you use a few abilities, and thus I didn’t take advantage of a few key features of this game, such as rage, auras, or tricks.

Here’s where this game separates itself from the others I’ve played. First, look at skill points and the way you can spend them. The Hunter class has two skill trees, one geared towards melee and one geared towards range (this is where the “no class, make your own” tagline seems to have come from), while the Thaumaturge and Arcane Mechanic each have one. Each skill has a cost, ranging from 1 to 3 points per level, as well as 3 super charge modifiers (the game calls them powerup combos) that can be purchased for 1 point each. Furthermore, buying 10 abilities within one tree unlocks a bonus (this is different than spending 10 points, which means those 2 or 3 point abilities only count as 1), but it’s those super charge modifies I really want to talk about. The modifiers are not permanent changes to your abilities, but rather ones that can be stacked, up to 3 times, by spending rage, something that builds up as you’re fighting. You can activate multiple modifiers at a time (no more than 3 in any combination) and get some truly potent results that turn so-so abilities into gib generating death beams/rockets/grenades/etc. For example, there were 3 main abilities I’d use on my Arcane Mechanic: a grenade lob (main attack that you start with, uses no mana), a flame thrower, and a rocket barrage. While the basic flame thrower was my highest DPS attack, its short range made it less than idea. However, in dire situations, I could supercharge it with to do 50% more damage (the ability would also burn 30% more mana), as well as increase the range by 2 additional yards (that was the specific combo I used, but others were possible). Great for those “oh, crap!” moments when I was surrounded by enemies. Another example involves that rocket barrage. The normal version would fire off 5 rockets, with each dealing some damage. When the skill was at its lowest ranks, it would maybe break even with my grenade lob ability in terms of damage, but the grenade attack had no cool down, didn’t cost mana, and had greater range. Basically, not really worth using…at least, not until you super charge it. Add two points into one modifier that adds 2 rockets per level, and a final point into one that increases the blast radius by 2 yards (up from 7) and you end up dealing 80% more damage over a 66% larger area. Basically, that means you kill things, lots and lots of things.

This modified rocket swarm did quite a bit of damage.

While supercharging abilities is probably Van Helsing’s most notable departure from other games (also perhaps its most memorable one), you can also spend your skill points on auras and tricks. Tricks function in many ways like abilities, something you deploy on demand for a desired effect, usually with a mana cost or long cool down. These also vary widely based on the class you’re playing, though there is some overlap. So in the case of the Arcane Mechanic, I would have access to the unique Elyctric Sphere ability to make me immune to all damage for a short period of time, restore my health and mana, and reduce the cool downs on all my abilities/tricks. I could also use a common trick to cause Lady Katarina to spawn to illusions with reduced health that could also deal damage. Tricks are largely stylized after each class, so the Arcane Mechanic’s focuses on things like deploying turrets, explosives, and shields, while the Hunter can freeze time or activate auras that increase damage (and benefit friends if you're one of those online gaming types), and the Thaumaturge increases fire damage or can cause all enemies to flee in terror. Some of these may have bonuses if you invest enough points in a particular trick, but they are not something that is affected by rage in the same way your attack abilities are.

Auras are, not surprisingly, passive modifications. While tricks have very little in common across characters, auras are largely the same, though not necessarily for all three characters. For example, both the Thaumaturge and Arcane Mechanic have auras that will increase their fire, frost, and electrical damage, while the Arcane Mechanic is the only one to have a similar aura for poison damage. The Hunter has the most unique ones, such as Hunter's Rejuvenation, which heals you when you land a blow, which makes that character more interesting. As it stands, I avoided aura, not because they couldn’t be beneficial, but because I had limited points and was more interested in obtaining top tier abilities or investing in a few tricks.

To make things easier, you can preload powerup combos, then pop space and hit the ability of your choice.

In the Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing, the young Van Hesling isn’t the only one with access to special abilities. There’s also your ghostly companion. The only other ARPG I’ve played where every class has a constant companion is Torchlight, and there it was more of a basic thing you used to sell items when your bags were full or would modify with fish to deal different damage. In that sense, Van Helsing is the hardcore version of Torchlight, because it adds many layers of depth to what Lady Katarina can and cannot do. In addition to functioning as a gofer to vendor trash items or purchase potions, Lady Katarina can be outfitted with items to impact her own health and damage. Furthermore, she has her own attribute and skill point system, so you can invest in one of the four standard ARPG stats (Body, Dexterity, Willpower, and Luck) to make her a damage tank, glass cannon, or whatever you desire. Then you can modify her behavior to defend you, range assist, attack, act as an aura booster, etc. Further, she has her own talent tree, with abilities that range from increasing her health, to increasing her attack speed, to benefiting your character by increasing the damage you can do. One DLC, which is included in the complete version of the game, even adds a second tree filled with tons of options that I found I favored over the base game.

The ability to chance Katarina's behavior is really nice. I made her into a tank that would attempt to defend me, but the result wasn't as potent as I hoped it would be.

The final thing I’d like to cover is the reputation/perk system, which, much like Lady Katarina, reminds me of Torchlight. As you’re out adventuring, you’ll inevitably stumble across elite monsters (sometimes they’re referred to as veteran units or some such, but the point is they are bit and strong and will likely kill you if you’re not careful). Killing these will give you points towards your reputation level, but when you level up, rather than gaining additional skill or attribute points (a la Torchlight), you are allowed to learn a perk. Perks vary from things like dealing 10% more damage when at max rage, dealing more of certain types of elemental damage, improved potion effect, to more skill/attribute points. There are many different perks, though not all of them are available right away. Instead, they are the result of some kind of achievement, like investing enough points into certain attributes, or equipping Lady Katarina with all yellow items. There’s actually enough secret stuff here that you might want to go look up what the requirements are for the perks you want. It’s an interesting system that made reputation for more meaningful that Torchlight’s system.

Perks can have a significant impact on the game, such as bumping fire damage by a large percentage or increasing damage when at max range.

All and all, I’ll say that while Van Helsing is a good game, it’s by no means a great game. Beautiful environments and a generally more casual feel to some of the more annoying features of the genre (i.e. scrolls of identification, the ability to respec) are good, but at the same time other features kill any motivation to replay the game (i.e. changing maps, low level cap). Much of the game feels very solid, though sometimes there seems to be a lack of variety (skills for the Arcane Mechanic, for instance), and other parts of the game feel unnecessary (there is a whole portion of the game that involves leveling up your base so you can play two rounds of tower defense). Yet at other times the game surprises with clever inclusions like finding rare gems if you continue to listen to the town drunk who will hint at where they are, to hidden quests, secret references to pop culture, and plenty of humorous exchanges between Lady Katarina and Van Helsing. There’s also the matter of the (much as is the case with my reviews) anticlimactic ending, though a sequel has already been released, and apparently the devs are going for a full on trilogy. In the end, this is a game worth getting, though I highly recommend the complete version of the game, which can probably be had for $5.00 or so. That will get you about 20 hours of a good ARPG, but by no means the same level of enjoyment as, say, Torchlight 2 – 7 out of 10.

So, the final breakdown:

Score: 7/10

Suggested Price: $5

***

For more Van Helsing, check out this collection of screenshots otherwise  unused in this review. Click on any one for a larger image.