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The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing Preview for Xbox 360

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing Preview for Xbox 360

I Swear To The Lord I’ll Slay Him!

It’s hard to deny the popularity of the vampire in today’s culture. I mean, just flipping through the channels on your television set, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll stumble over a Twilight or True Blood marathon. But Neocore Games’ upcoming action RPG, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing, is here to remind us that not all vampires sparkle or have the ladies swooning. We got our hands on a pre-alpha build of the game that was made especially for the crowds at E3, and what we found was a niche title that should satisfy PC RPG enthusiasts who thirst for something a little bit off the beaten path.

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing Screenshot

Set in a steampunk version of Victorian-era Europe, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing tells the story of one of the most famous vampire hunters of all time, Van Helsing. Well, actually, that’s not entirely true. The game’s Van Helsing isn’t the one we know and love from the classic Dracula novel, but rather his son. Still, his last name is Van Helsing and he’s (sort of) a vampire hunter himself.

Van Helsing Jr. narrates this story with a particular charm and a constant tongue-in-cheek style that will keep you chuckling to yourself. However, this lighthearted narration provides a stark contrast against the story’s dark setting, a setting Neocore refers to as “a world of monsters, mystery, and the marvels of science.”

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing Screenshot

You see, this is a version of 19th Century Europe where hordes of monsters have been created through scientific means, and these creatures are wreaking all sorts of chaos on the streets of Borgovia. Van Helsing Jr. is the guy who’s trying to rein all this chaos in by slaughtering these creatures by whatever means necessary, even if he has to side with his family’s long-time vampiric enemies to do so.

The gameplay should feel familiar to those who’ve played Diablo III or Torchlight recently. You’ll run around the game’s world with an arsenal of hotkeyed skills and potions at your disposal, taking on massive crowds of monsters that drop treasure and loot. (There’s also an Xbox LIVE version in the works, but what I played was on PC, complete with mouse and keyboard controls.)

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing Screenshot

All the while, you’ll want to keep a close eye on you blue mana bar and red health bar (“bar” being an admittedly unsuitable term, as these stats are shown as two halves of a circle). Additionally, you build a yellow Rage meter as you kill monsters, and this can be spent on more powerful Rage-enhanced moves.

Van Helsing carries a sword for melee attacks and a pistol for ranged attacks, on top of his skills in magic. Of course, it’s not all mindless button/keyboard mashing here. Different enemy types have different strengths and resistances, and some take far more damage from behind or when stunned. You’ll have to use all your skills in strategic ways in order to do well here.

In fact, the game seemed fairly difficult to me, but, in my defense, I was involved in a conversation with Neocore’s Orsolya Tóth about the game’s finer features the entire time I was playing it. Then again, she was reaching over me and hotkeying healing potions to keep me alive as well. I eventually found a rhythm to the combat, though, as Orsolya explained the unique weaknesses of each enemy type to me and I was able to exploit this knowledge to my full advantage. It’s definitely a game that rewards experimentation and knowing a good deal about your enemies.

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing Screenshot

Now, the skills I mentioned above are able to be enhanced as you play the game, and I was told that most skills in the game can be leveled up to 5. Additionally, leveling up will grant you Ability Points, which you can apply to Body, Dexterity, Willpower, or Luck, and Skill Points, which you’ll apply to a skill tree.

Now, even though it was sort of awkward to have a second person hitting hotkeys for me, I can definitely see how this game would be a ton of fun with multiple players. To that end, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing will include four-player online co-op.

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing is a unique steampunkish take on the action RPG, and fans of vampire hunting should definitely be adding this to their list of anticipated games. Expect the full game to land at some point before the end of this year.

Game Features:

  • The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing is an Action RPG filled with fierce and demonic battles, memorable characters, and a refreshingly unique story that brings the legendary vampire slayer to modern audiences.
  • The upcoming title, loosely based on Bram Stoker’s classic novel Dracula, is being developed for PC and Xbox LIVE Arcade for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.
  • Set in a gothic-noir universe resembling a fantastical 19th century Europe filled with monsters, magic, and weird technology, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing will follow the son of the famed hunter, known in-game as Van Helsing, in a tale wrought with wry humor and snappy dialogue.

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