Van Helsing

by Vivendi Universal

Product Features

• Explore the haunting land of Transylvania in 13 exciting missions.
• Battle Dracula, Frankensteins Monster, the WolfMan and 22 villainous creatures.
• Control an arsenal of powerful deadly weaponry: tojo blades, dual pistols, gatling gun, unlockable elephant gun, and more.
• Deliver spectacular kill moves to supernatural enemies.
• Unlock hidden content when you play through three different difficulty modes.

Product Details

• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B00011V8EA
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches ; 4.8 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: May 7, 2004
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,343 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Deep within the mysterious land of Transylvania, monsters that inhabit man's deepest nightmares take form. One man's destiny--and curse--is to vanquish evil and destroy the lethal and powerful Count Dracula. Descend into the murky depths of the Carpathian Mountains as legendary monster hunter Van Helsing. As Van Helsing, you battle fiendish creatures with a deadly array of weapons, unique abilities, and unparalleled courage.

Evil has one name to fear.

Game Features:

• Explore the haunting land of Transylvania in 13 exciting missions
• Battle Dracula, The Frankenstein Monster, The Wolf Man and 22 villainous creatures
• Control an arsenal of powerful deadly weaponry: tojo blades, dual pistols, gatling gun, unlockable elephant gun, and more
• Deliver spectacular kill moves to supernatural enemies
• Unlock hidden content when you play through three different difficulty modes

Product Description

Van Helsing gives you control of a man who seeks to vanquish the nightmares, whenever they take form and attack mankind. In the dark and mysterious land of Transylvania, Count Dracula builds a fiendish army. Use Van Helsing's incredible skills, unique weapons and amazing courage to fight against Dracula, before his darkness engulfs the world.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gothic atmosphere fans will love this game, June 18, 2004

By 

Rocco (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Van Helsing (Video Game)

The trend having video games come out with better products than the related movies continues.

Van Helsin, Abraham of name, is one of the coolest characters to ever have populated horror and gothic novels. In this game he is less of a scholar and holy man and more of a "lethal weapon" against the un-dead.

The game is a 3rd person shooter with many similarities to Devil May Cry (which was, as everybody knows, a great game).

As Van Helsing you will give final peace to scores of monsters and un-dead minions by using an enormous variety of weapons; for example:
-pistols,
-buzz saw,
-shotgun,
-automatic crossbow,
-portable Gatlin,
-huge elephant rifle.

Plus other cooler weapons I don't want to reveal in order to avoid spoiling. However, the coolest thing is Van Helsing's grappling hook. The hook is both a weapon and an interactive tool which will allow you, for example, to grapple rooftops and jump through ravines. Very Indiana Jones, kind of Spiderman, overall very cool.

Graphics: 9/10 Really good, some room for improvement. The dark environments literally recreate the necessary gothic atmosphere and are dealt with in such way that visual remain clear an playable (something that doesn't often happen in games setted in dark places).
Sound: 10/10 gives the chills.
Story: 8/10 The story is nice, but it really doesn't drive the gameplay. In VH action is the driver.
Gameplay and Controls: 10/10 If you like action, you will love this game.

Bottom Line:
Overall Van Helsing is a very good product, which you will enjoy both if you liked or you disliked the movie.
Buying is strongly recommended to:
1) Fans of the movie
2) Gothic setting fans (Vampire: the Gathering, WereWolves, etc...even if the game is not exactly an RPG or similar the settings and environments created are very well done and inspiring)
3) 3rd person shooter lovers
4) Whoever wants 30 minutes off every now and then to immerse in a dark setting and blast away all you see

Vivendi Universal is showing some great examples of franchised games (go have a look at "Riddick, Escape from Butcher Bay"). KUDOS to VU.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Van Helsing May Cry, May 8, 2004

By 

D.L. "generasian" (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Van Helsing (Video Game)

Video games based on movie licenses are always a hit or miss. For every good game like "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King," and "Spiderman: The Movie," there is the horrible "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines," and the mediocre, "Enter the Matrix." "Van Helsing" falls somewhere in between.

The game borrows heavily from "Devil May Cry," complete with cinematic camera angles and fighting combos and weapons you can purchase after a level. The graphics aren't especially detailed with low and blurry textures. The XBOX version is sharper, but below standards for a system with that much graphical capability. A treat is using the voice and likeness of Hugh Jackman as well as the other actors from the movie. Gameplay is steady enough with one button used for projectile weapons such as Helsing's twin guns and another for close combat which when timed right, unleashes a series of combos on an enemy. The L trigger is used to target the enemy you're fighting. However, the targeting system tends to focus on enemies farther away rather than the ones that are closer which can be frustrating since you need to toggle over and over.

My biggest gripe are the camera angles. Since it's fixed, judging where you're going can be very frustrating. For instance, you may be walking towards one part of a room when all of a sudden, the camera angle will shift to a new perspective. When this happened, I had to backtrack a few times just to make sure I was going in the right direction. Fortunately, on boss levels, the camera angle is just about right, hovering from a nice distance that allows you to see where you're going.

"Van Helsing" is by no means a bad game. It's just...okay. The graphics are nice, but not especially detailed. Gameplay is basic and easy to learn. The camera angles on the other hand, is a beast to contend with. All in all, the game doesn't really offer much of anything we haven't seen before.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars '' A COOL EFFORT '' !, March 14, 2005

By 

R. JANKOWSKI "HORROR FAN" (YONKERS, NEW YORK United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Van Helsing (Video Game)

THIS IS WHAT HORROR FANS , HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR ! A COOL GAME BASED ON A VERY COOL MOVIE! ! ! IN THIS GAME YOU TAKE ON THE ROLE OF VAN HELSING - AND PLAY THRU LEVELS BASED ON THE HIT MOVIE.THERE ARE NICE THINGS ABOUT THIS GAME , AND STUFF THAT ISN'T EVEN NEEDED..THE EASTER EGG BONUSES ARE NOT REALLY NEEDED, AS WELL AS THE SCORING SYSTEM SIMILAR TO THE SCORING IN '' DEVIL MAY CRY ''.YOU GET LOTS OF VERY COOL WEAPONS , AS WELL AS YOUR TOJO BLADES, BUT SOME WEAPONS YOU HAVE TO SEARCH FOR .BUT YOU REALLY NEED TO MASTER THE SKILL OF DUCKING AND ROLLING WHILE FIRING YOUR WEAPONS, OR YOU CAN JUST GRAPPLE OUT OF HARM'S WAY.BUT MOST ENEMIES WILL FOLLOW YOU AND ARE RELENTLESS.. AND BELIEVE ME,THERE ARE MANY ENEMIES TO TAKE ON IN THE GAME. IF YOU TRY LEAVING AN AREA AND RETURNING LATER , IT MAY ONLY WORSEN YOUR CONDITION- AS THE ENEMIES ON THE RETURN TRIP MAY BE WORSE THAN THE ONES PREVIOUSLY FACED.YOU CAN ALSO USE HIS TOJO BLADES AS WELL, BUT SOME ENEMIES ARE TOO HARD TO GET INTO CLOSE QUARTERS WHILE FIGHTING..THE BOSS FIGHTS ARE REALLY GOOD , AND WORTH THE PRICE OF THE GAME ALONE.BUT THERE IS NO MAP , AND IT IS VERY EASY TO GET LOST..YOU CAN BUY HEALTH AND OTHER TYPE POWERUPS, OR DEFEATED ENEMIES WILL DROP SOME FOR YOU, AGAIN JUST LIKE '' DEVIL MAY CRY '' .YOU RARELY HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT RUNNING OUT OF AMMO, AND YOU CAN USE AN ALTERNATE TYPE AMMO THAT DOES MORE DAMAGE.BUT THE GAME IS BY NO MEANS EASY, AS YOU GET SURROUNDED CONSTANTLY BY ENEMIES.THE SIDE MISSIONS ARE NOT ALL THAT IMPORTANT ,UNLESS YOU WANT TO DO EVERYTHING THE GAME HAS TO OFFER YOU..SO PICK UP A COPY TODAY, AND TAKE ON MR.HYDE, DRACULA AND HIS BRIDES,FRANKENSTEN,IGOR,AND OF COURSE THE WOLFMAN TOO.YOU'LL HAVE LOTS OF FUN , AND PLAY MORE THAN ONCE FOR SURE..