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Van Helsing is awesome!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 10
Date: May 14, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Van Helsing is a fun and action filled game with strong graphics, deep action, and spectacular cut scenes. As Van Helsing, you travel through the dark land of Transylvania hunting the world's most legendary evils. Armed with an arsenal of weaponry, ranging from the crossbow to the gatling gun, you fight monsters such as the Wolf Man, Frankenstein, Igor, Dracula, and dracula's vile wives. During your dark journey, you attain new weapons and acquire new abilities and items. The cutscenes are well integrated into the game and are portrayed with excellent, detailed graphics. The story is much more deep thn other games. The weapons include dual pistols, razor tojo blades, a shotgun, scimitars, and a gas-powerd crossbow. Also, the grappler gun is very cool, and you are able to get to new areas and even attack enemies with it. The camera is slightly annoying at times, but does not take away from the fun, nonstop action. The game is extremely fun and is a worthy purchase for any action/adventure fan. AWESOME!!

Wow...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: November 19, 2004
Author: Amazon User

...that's my reaction to the Van Helsing game. Many people have criticized it as having a bad camera, not enough acting out of the story (too many cutscenes and such), as well as being repetitive, but they're all nitpicking.
The first time I saw this game I was really looking forward to it. Well, I rented it and after a day or two, I hated it. I'd been playing games like Hitman, which require more strategy and "brain power", so I thought this was stupid, mindless game. However, I didn't realize one thing. This is NOT a "shooter", though most of the weapons are guns. This is an ACTION game, entailing tons of exciting movement, such as jumping and fighting while watching the really cool villains do likewise. In short, you have to be in the right mood to play this, or not expect too much. You may be dissapointed if you think this is another Red Dead Revolver or something. I bought it and had a blast because I knew what kind of game I was playing.
The gameplay has been called repetitive, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's really fun to just lay into your opponents', though some of the weapon' shooting (dual pistols) can become tiresome, despite its propensity for success. You basically have to use your tojos and/or twin scimitars to liven it up with some variety (I recommend tojos against most non-flying creatures and bosses, as it's really fun to tear through your adversaries). There are a fair amount of other weapons, such as the crossbow, shotgun, electric gun, and a few other great weapons I don't want to spoil for you, which all have strength and weaknesses of their own, making each of them a value and a hindrace (realism, folks) to getting through the game. The jumping/grappling onto things is a good bit of variety in the game, and when you have to use them, it adds a bit of reality (if you consider some of Van Helsing's jump "realistic") and makes sense with the mission. Last of all, there's a load of great monsters, such as possessed skeletons, giant owls, gargoyles, the main bosses you saw in the movie (including bonus fights with Frankenstein's Monster), and well, the list covers just about every major mythological/horror creature, way past the dinky litte list in the manual that comes with the game. It's great, trust me.

And now, some Game Tips:

Try beating the five challenges in "order" (that they presented in the game) and twice in order if need be (whatever works; I played the game 15 or so times through before I beat all the challenges so I'm not completely sure what unlocks the Rifle, though I suspect it's just order), starting with Challenge #4 (the maze is the easiest challenge and can be done the first time through the game), next Challenge #5 (time attack, should be attempted the second or third time through the game so that you have the gatling gun), then Challenge #1 (break the statues is easily the hardest, but can be done the first time through the game. You need to break the statues up high before breaking the ones on ground level; jump up and down to enrage the gargoyles, and if they don't come, immediately grapple the gargoyles and pull them into close quarters; you may want to try this when you have a lot of glyphs and the Armory Anytime cheat found in the second through the game so that you can keep buying Life Replenishers), then Challenge #2 (stay on the ring and don't let the owls knock you off; probably the second hardest and you probably want to wait till the third time through the game, having beaten the hard difficulty, so that you have the Unlimited Alternate Ammo cheat to use), and finally Challenge #3 (rising blood challenge; go to the right of the screen and jump onto the gargoyle head and follow the logical progression of heads until you get to about the six or seventh, where'll you be safe to grapple away and beat the challenge). If you need any other game tips, like where to find all the Life Increasers or whatever, I HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend buying Prima Games' Official Strategy Guide to Van Helsing. This is an AWESOME tip book and helped me get almost everything on the game (I'm still missing some Increasers, though). It comes cheap, and will become your best friend when playing Van Helsing.
Now onto the graphics. The graphics are superb, though many criticize them for being simple for a such a graphically capable system such as the X-Box. The backgrounds are very well-lit, and the environments you're in are very time appropiate and detailed, rivaling and maybe even surpassing the movie's scope. While Anna looks a little piggish with her slightly upturned nose, the bosses are impressive (I really like Mr. Hyde), and the more common creatures are uniquely good.
Some other things, such as the sound and voice-acting are worth going over. The music is good, though sometimes backgroundish, and not entirely noticeable unless you listen for it. Not to say its bad, but seems rather distant sometimes. The voice acting is well-done, at least for the time the actors had to do them (they were on a tight schedule). Some of the Transylvanian accents, such as Anna's (sorry, Mandy), sound a bit stilted at times, but at worst it provides a chuckle.
Sure, I've sung the game's praises, but here are some admonitions, primarily for parents. Other than a minimal amount of blood spilled (not much but the dwergi and vampire bats "spew" it sometimes), Dracula's brides appear in a cutscene where they aren't, well, entirely clothed. However, this cutscene can be skipped by pressing "Start", so it's probably not much of a problem. The same thing goes for the green banshee women who remind me of mermaids; they hold green pieces of cloth against their chests, concealing, well, MOST of their bosoms, but not all. Nothing detailed here, but not very appropriate.
As a warning for gamers, don't expect to be able to play as a werewolf at the end of the game (probably the biggest letdown of the century), which would have skyrocketed this game right past probably my favorite, Red Dead Revolver. In my opinion, the game's greatest downfall, which put in some good stuff not included in the movie (Frankenstein fights, the exclusive game creatures and more weapons) but left out one of the movie's strongest points (the Van Hesling werewolf) in gameplay, which would have been so much fun (just use the Wolf Man's moves or something). Van Helsing does change into a werewolf in the cutscene but it's not the same. A good idea, in my humble opinion, would have been to have Van Helsing in human form fight Dracula in human form with his weapons, then have a cutscene where Dracula basically says the kid gloves are off and they both transform, then the gamer could fight with the Van Helsing werewolf against the Demon Dracula (that way the gamers AND the producers could have what they want).
Overall, the game was quite enjoyable, and had the potential to be even better. I would recommend at least a rental of this game, because its one of kind (or maybe it's that just because I haven't played Devil May Cry). Remember, you most likely have to be in the right mood and like this genre before you can appreciate and have fun playing Van Helsing. That's my two cents.

At last, a decent movie tie in!!!!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: June 21, 2004
Author: Amazon User

After seeing the AWESOME film Van Helsing, I was more than desperate to get my hands on the game based on the film for my xbox. I must admit that I was very worried, as I have played many movie-based videogames, few with satisfying results (the last movie-based game I had played was Terminator 3 - Rise of the machines! You can see why I was worried!!!).However, my worries amounted to nothing.
Van Helsing is a solid game on its own, but it is more fun to be taking up the role of Van Helsing. All his awesome weapons are there, and some new ones! The fact that you can lose your hat in a fight is a nice touch, and the original voices of Igor, Dracula and Van Helsing himself add much class.
Visually, Van Helsing is nothing new. Its no Ninja Gaiden, but it does have some truly gothic locations, excellent weapon designs, and Van Helsing himself looks the part.
I was a little disappointed in terms of sound (for me, this was the games weakest area). Sure, the voices are cool, but bar that, it was a let down. The film had some truly fantastic themes, while the game's score was very dry and basic (I rarely paid attention to it). There were some nice sound effects, but small things like Mr Hyde lacking his hilarious accent, and the Tojo blades making no buzzing noise were disappointing.
Gameplay wise, the controls are quite nice, with a good balance between guns and melee weapons. The grapple rope proved very useful and easily accessable. No faults in this area.
Overall, Van Helsing makes for a rather satisfying (if short)play. Its no Ninja Gaiden or Prince of Persia, but is one of the better movie tie-in games out there. For fans of the film, I'd advise it. For fans of the action-adventure genre, its worth a look at

Wayyyy Funnn but too short

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: May 12, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I went to see the Movie and had to get the game. Then the game came with a free pass and I went to see the movie again.
They are both awesome.
The only thing wrong with the game is it is too short by the standards of modern adventure games it took me 3 hours and 40 min to beat it the first time.
When you beat it though you get to keep your player and beat it again.
The best part is that it will not really spoil the movie. It sticks with the Dracula legend and adds a lot too it.
I wondered for almost a year how they were going to tie all the monsters together and I think they did a spectacular Job.
Play it for yourself and see.

Van Helsing May Cry

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 7
Date: May 08, 2004
Author: Amazon User

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.

That's some scary FUN!!!!!!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: January 29, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Based on the original hollywood movie, Van Helsing is an action packed game with voices of movie's cast. Instead of putting in cheat codes, you can cheats in the game by destroying secret doors, my favorite is the ghost body feature. As you go through the game, you battle tons of zomibes and monsters. You fight such monsters as Mr. Hyde, Wolfman, and, of course, Dracula. This game isn't for the Monsterpohbic.
Rating: 8.2 of 10

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This game ROCKS!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: February 12, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Van Helsing the game is so cool! The movie sucked, but the game is 9,000,000 times better. You fight such classic villians as the Wolfman, Dracula , Mr. Hyde, and more.
Only one problem. The camera angles are difficult to work with. You can't chage them.
All in All, it's a great game!

AWESOME! 7/10

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 11
Date: May 08, 2004
Author: Amazon User

GOOD GAME! IT'S AWESOME! AT FIRST I THOUGHT IT WAS GOING TO SUCK BUT IT'S AWESOME! JUST LIKE THE MOVIE! DEFINENTLEY BUY IT!

how could you give this 5 stars?

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 15
Date: June 16, 2004
Author: Amazon User

worst game ever! I played a demo for it and got killed a bajillion times because of the awful camera. The enemies are very frustrating and Van Helsing moves are awful. I got lost in a very small room because of the camera. Stay far away!

I like it

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: September 29, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I like vampire games and although I have not seen a vampire as yet I like this game it is based on the movie so you will see some familiar scenes. So far I am at the part where I am battle skeletons. The only thing I find a little frustrating is that you can't do the 360 turn to look around, other wise in that I like it and enjoying it.

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