Van Helsing - Yet Another Preview

411mania has another preview from among many this week for The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing.

The first time I played The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing, I was given a brief hands-off demo by Linda Bozoradi and Orsolya Toth from Neocore. They both emphasized the Slavic Mythology-inspired world & creatures, with werewolves and ghouls being the most prominent enemies in that particular section of the game, though I wouldn't be surprised if vampires and other creatures of the night appear later in the game. Linda also shed some light on the relationship between Lady Katerina and Van Helsing. Katerina was a ghost who was saved by Abraham Van Helsing and is now bound to his legacy, and so she accompanies the junior Van Helsing in his travels.

"Snappy dialogue is key", Linda mentioned to me during a fairly amusing scene with Katerina and Van Helsing riffing off one another, Katerina mentioning that they could fly over a broken bridge with ease, before realizing that Helsing was but a mortal being without supernatural powers like flight. Katerina is a pretty stellar foil for the grim, slightly cocky Van Helsing, making pithy remarks when sent off to town to sell items ("But I'll miss all the fun!") or when seeing a man hanging from a noose ("You should take one home for your collection"). It'll be interesting to see how this relationship continues to play out in the actual game.

I was a bit blase towards the preview build of Van Helsing after the demo with Linda and Orsolya, if only because I felt like I saw what I had needed to see and was unwilling to get into one of those types of games again. And of course, some 3 ½ hours later, I reached the end of the preview build, waiting for more. I'm still a bit confused as to why this game in particular grabbed me. It doesn't have the AAA production values of a Diablo or Torchlight and it doesn't seem to completely reinvent the genre (from what I've seen). But something about the devotion to the mythology, the character interactions, the easter eggs and the highly polished core mechanics kept me going and I'm totally thrilled about that. You should already know if you want to play The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing or not, and if you do, you will not be disappointed. Even if you don't, you should probably give it a shot. It's got werewolves, man.