The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing 3 Review

I grew up on cheesy cinema. From Army of Darkness to The Creature from the Black Lagoon sequels, my childhood movie-going was dipped in cheap celluloid, battered in one liners, and baked into a crispy, campy treat. It's very rare for a game to capture the same inexplicable, scenery chewing humor and tone that goofy classic film leaned on, but The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing 3 managed to surprise me.

Taking place in the land of Borgova, a state overrun by dimensional rifts and mad science, Van Helsing and his ghost companion Katrina are tasked with hunting down his nemesis, Prisoner Seven. The plot itself is about as deep as a thin crust pizza, but the toppings make up for it. From straight faced camp to well placed references, Van Helsing delivers quirky so-bad-it's-good humor that tickled me. The voice actors for both the titular character and his sidekick should be commended. Van Helsing speaks in a gruff monotone that contrasts starkly with his goofy lines and Katrina's overdone Russian accent and impish demeanor is a delight to laugh with. Most other characters sound like family and friends phoning it in, but even their voice work is bolstered by the refreshingly silly dialogue. Unfortunately, the gameplay itself is not as sharp as the comedic writing.

Van Helsing is a very traditional action RPG. I was told to select a class and a difficulty setting, then thrown into a world of dumb-as-a-post enemies to burn, explode, and eviscerate. To its credit, Van Helsing does include a few twists to the traditional skill and stat points formula. A rage meter is filled by killing enemies and can be spent on customizable power ups to one's powers. Skills can also be given special upgrades that boost more than just their damage values. One of my favorites was a passive ability that made my sneaky Umbraist ninja heal and regain mana while he was cloaked. Combined with a skill that cloaked him whenever he scored a kill with it, I became a perpetually healthy wraith that only popped out of the shadows to gib his next unfortunate victim. However, despite small departures such as those, Van Helsing still consists of heavily investing skill points into a few abilities and narrowing your repertoire of attacks to a fine point. While this is fun, it isn't the most engaging RPG system for the genre, as most of the time when leveling up I simply dumped my rewards into the relevant skill and moved on without a thought. A respec system does give some wiggle room for experimentation, but not nearly as much as in Diablo 3 or Titan Quest.

Graphics and sound design present another mixed bag. Visuals in Van Helsing are filled with oddball mad science creations and eldritch abominations that make for fresh fodder, but animations are passable at their best and dated and jerky at their worst. Where the creatures and their puppet like motions leave me wanting, the soundscape of Borgova doubles down on disappointment. The soundtrack is corny and the sound effects canned. Flamethrowers sound like kindling, explosions sound like kinetic apologies, and monsters grumble with all the menace of a constipated mall cop. This all exacerbates the game's repetitive combat and average level up system, making long play sessions much less enjoyable.

My time with Van Helsing was a dichotomy of very memorable and completely forgettable. The camp and characters reminded me of a time when more games had a funny bone, but the presentation (and to a lesser extent, gameplay) felt as antiquated as the vampires I slew. It's a simple game that offers simple pleasures and though it can quickly wear out its welcome, I'll always have a soft spot for the B-movie banter.