Van Helsing review (PS2)

Never mind the game, just play the movie. They might as well have stuck a health bar in the top left corner of the screen considering the film’s unspoken intention to be as close to emulating a video game on the big screen as possible. As a matter of fact, every time Van Helsing fished another weapon out of his coat, or fought another boss monster, my thumbs would unconsciously twitch and jab at the armrest as I tried to change the camera angle. Of course, I blamed how it ended on the person next to me.

For all the similarities though, it doesn’t quite work the other way; the game isn’t the movie. At least that had some variation and emotion underneath its popcorn exterior (it did? – ed.), not like the tedious shoot and dodge design that this game devolves into.

Castlevania

Taking its influence directly from Devil May Cry, it follows that game’s same system of being able to both target enemies with projectiles and get in close with melee weapons. It works without complaint, but Van Helsing lacks the style that Devil May Cry’s Dante exudes and, despite obtaining new weapons every few levels, things are never really varied enough to make tactics more than derivative. Sure, different weapons are good against different enemies but, because an area only ever consists of one species of monster, there’s no need to consider anything beyond quickly selecting the best one for the job and getting on with it.

Jumping also feels a little unresponsive and the game has a fixed camera which, while never getting in the way of the action, feels restricted in what it shows. Also, lazy design means that secrets and bonuses are often obscured by the camera rather than by the landscape.

Monster mash

Weapons have unlimited ammo and alternative modes of fire and these more powerful modes are only accessible by hitting monsters. Fair enough. But, by doing this and constantly pressing on the button to activate them, you can stay this way most of the time, making it again a matter of repeating yourself rather than of using much in the way of skill. The grappling hook, too, the one that looked like such a great idea in the movie, feels underused, certainly not as exciting as dragging enemies towards you or ascending walls should be.

Each level ends with a boss monster (sometimes the same one returning), and each is despatched in exactly the same way. Namely that of depressing the fire button and using the power-ups until their health bar goes down. There’s no real strategy between any of the monsters, beyond rolling away and making sure they don’t get too close.

Hugh Jackass

On the subject of power-ups and upgrades, whether through bad design or misguided aid, what should be something to strive for can be bypassed very early on. You buy things in the end of level armoury by defeating monsters and collecting the green orbs they leave behind. Trouble is, as of the second level (the first is a solitary boss), enemies respawn and it’s possible to amass all the orbs you need to buy the permanent upgrades by continually re-entering an area and blasting away. A little bit of patience early on pointlessly negates most of the challenge and reward that buying upgrades should have.

While by no means a walkover, the twelve levels and relatively short distance between restart points are enough to be able to finish it in a weekend. It’s purposely designed to be replayed, however, with secrets doors that can only be destroyed with weapons available later on in the game. These doors give way to secret challenges or cheats. Though whether you’d want to dedicate your time to repeating the experience for the sake of a new costume change or giving yourself a big head is questionable.

Potato mash

Plot-wise it obviously takes a detour from the movie while still trying to stay true to its atmosphere. That is, it all feels a bit drab and grey and a little repetitive by the end, though still enjoyable enough not to decry it as poor – just like the movie (cough – ed.). Somehow they’ve managed to drag Hugh Jackman in to voice his character once more, yet for all the emotion and thrills that this provides the cut scenes with, they might as well have employed a sound-alike and saved some money.

The biggest crime in the plot sense, though, is that, without spoiling the film for those who haven’t seen it, the climatic battle only happens in a final cut scene. Anyone looking forward to a change of direction, even it is too little too late, need be warned that you’re on exactly the same action path until the bitter end.

Looking past the movie licence necessities, there just doesn’t seem anything more than an adequate game behind this. It’s little more than a clone of a more successfully designed game, produced as a good idea for garnering a license respect rather than a good game in itself. For that reason it fails in its ambitions, being nothing more than another derivative action game.