Retro Review: Van Helsing (PS2)

<p><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">Games based off movies typically aren’t longed for much when it comes to either sales or reputation&period; There are many unfortunate circumstances in regards to why this is&comma; but translation is certainly near the top of the list&period; For example&comma; trying to take something that is anywhere from one to two hours long and stretching it out to eight or nine hours does not usually go well&period; The final product is&comma; more often than not&comma; hollow and lacking in any sort of value or enjoyment&period; That being said&comma; though&comma; a game that managed to overcome this mistake is none other than the PlayStation 2 title&comma; <&sol;span><i><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">Van Helsing<&sol;span><&sol;i><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3><b>Story<&sol;b><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;"><b><&sol;b>When discussing the plot of the game&comma; one need not do more than watch the movie itself&period; Add a couple of levels&comma; throw in some new dialogue &lpar;with the same actors might I add&rpar;&comma; and eureka&comma; you basically got yourself the game&&num;8217&semi;s main story with a bit of new polish&period; I must say&comma; it’s rather enjoyable to hear Hugh Jackman come back for the role as Van Helsing&period; Other actors might not feel as strongly about trying to redo a role for a property that didn’t fare too well&period; Regardless&comma; for those who do not know the story&comma; the basic premise is that Mr&period; Helsing hunts down the paranormal&comma; with Dracula at the top of his list&period; Pretty decent stuff&comma; all in all&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3><b>Gameplay<&sol;b><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;140238" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-140238" style&equals;"width&colon; 640px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"size-full wp-image-140238" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;07&sol;11002322&sol;vanhelsing&lowbar;sc007&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"640" height&equals;"480" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-140238" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">&lpar;<em>Van Helsing<&sol;em>&comma; <span style&equals;"display&colon; inline &excl;important&semi; float&colon; none&semi; background-color&colon; transparent&semi; color&colon; &num;333333&semi; cursor&colon; text&semi; font-family&colon; Georgia&comma;'Times New Roman'&comma;'Bitstream Charter'&comma;Times&comma;serif&semi; font-size&colon; 16px&semi; font-style&colon; normal&semi; font-variant&colon; normal&semi; font-weight&colon; 400&semi; letter-spacing&colon; normal&semi; orphans&colon; 2&semi; text-align&colon; left&semi; text-decoration&colon; none&semi; text-indent&colon; 0px&semi; text-transform&colon; none&semi; -webkit-text-stroke-width&colon; 0px&semi; white-space&colon; normal&semi; word-spacing&colon; 0px&semi;">Vivendi<&sol;span> Universal&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">This might be where I’m the most biased about this title &OpenCurlyQuote;cause <&sol;span><i><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">Van Helsing<&sol;span><&sol;i><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;"> plays a lot like <&sol;span><i><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">Devil May Cry<&sol;span><&sol;i><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">&comma; and I loved <&sol;span><i><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">Devil May Cry<&sol;span><&sol;i><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">&period; The movement&comma; combat&comma; and general flow of the game is where <&sol;span><i><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">Van Helsing<&sol;span><&sol;i><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;"> really shines&period; Hitting and shooting things feels satisfying without being overly tedious&period; Areas in-game are large enough to the point where you’re not getting swamped by enemies&period; The upgrade system is also worth highlighting as it’s easy to use and has enough variety to keep the player interested&period; The last thing I’ll mention in terms of gameplay is the progression&period; This is a game where it feels like you’re becoming stronger the further you get&period; Even nowadays&comma; this is something titles seem to have trouble with&period; Long story short&comma; take it from me&period; When it comes to <&sol;span><i><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">Van Helsing<&sol;span><&sol;i><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">&comma; the gameplay is where it’s at&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3><b>Visuals<&sol;b><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">When going back and looking at the visuals for this title&comma; it&&num;8217&semi;s shocking to see they still hold up&period; A lot of other games simply do not have the same graphical punch as they did when first released&period; <&sol;span><i><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">Van Helsing<&sol;span><&sol;i><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;"> managed to keep its style and flare by doing a lot with a little&period; It combined an old-Victorian setting with a creepy gothic perspective that helped players get immersed in the world&period; The levels look genuinely scary and the boss designs made me so nervous I didn’t even want to continue&period; To sum up&comma; the look and feel of the game was almost too effective&period; <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3><b>Characterization<&sol;b><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;140240" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-140240" style&equals;"width&colon; 640px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"size-full wp-image-140240" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;07&sol;11002447&sol;slus-20738-game-ss-8&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"640" height&equals;"360" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-140240" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">&lpar;<em>Van Helsing<&sol;em> &&num;8211&semi; Vivendi Universal&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">Well&comma; this category is a bit of a cop-out&comma; considering its more or the less the same as the story&period; If you liked the characters in the film&comma; you’re bound to enjoy their portrayal in the game&period; If you’re interested in knowing more about them&comma; however&comma; then <&sol;span><i><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">Van Helsing<&sol;span><&sol;i><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;"> provides some great moments for expanding their backgrounds&period; Again&comma; it&&num;8217&semi;s not much&comma; but it is something to help tide dedicated fans over&period;  <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3><b>Replayability&colon;<&sol;b><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">Last but not least&comma; we come to replayability&period;<&sol;span> <span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">Is this title worth your time after you’ve already finished it&quest; I would have to say a solid maybe&period; I really enjoyed the game for what it is&comma; being an action-adventure combat-centric thrill ride&period; That being said&comma; of course&comma; I feel like this a title that you could finish once and be satisfied with&period; I do think it has an amazing introductory level that is worth playing again and again&period; That’s with any game&comma; though&period; The intro is what should sell it for you&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">So&comma; with everything said and done&comma; is <&sol;span><i><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">Van Helsing<&sol;span><&sol;i><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;"> a title that still holds up&quest; Yeah&comma; definitely&period; If my opening paragraph didn’t give it away&comma; there’s no doubt that this game is a gem&period; Although a bit dated in certain departments and ripping off others &lpar;i&period;e&period; the movie&rpar;&comma; <em>Van Helsing<&sol;em> outshines its date&period; So&comma; if you ever manage to find this game&comma; do yourself a huge favor and pick it up&period; <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;