Showing posts with label Extended Edition. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Extended Edition. Show all posts

Sunday, March 5, 2017

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing Extended Ed. (PS4)

Before I get into the updated options of the extended edition of 'The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing' let me redirect you for a moment to my previous Xbox One review of the same base game. You can click the link here (Van Helsing) to get a good idea as to what I thought of the original console release before hearing me rant again about some of the same issues ...

Van Helsing (as I'm gonna call it) is a game that borrows heavily from Blizzard's Diablo series. It features character gear setups that are not too dissimilar from said gaming world as well as a rarity system that takes in account Blizzard's color coded item and enemy rankings, among other things. There's that, and the overall look of the game which in itself is reminiscent of Diablo on so many levels. When it comes to this particular game though you'll find that it does have it's own mythology, and story that is admirably accented by nonstop voice-over talent that was no doubt costly for the developer to add in. We get to see the son of the infamous monster slayer Abraham Van Helsing do his thing as he follows in his father's footsteps alongside his ghostly female companion, Katarina. It's an adventure filled to the brim with humor, sarcasm, and challenging quests involving the burdened people of Borgova (Borgovia?), and those who would meddle with science and the supernatural.

The extended edition of this quirky dialogue enriched Diablo-like Van Helsing adventure, as it were, is a direct all inclusive port of the PC and Xbox One versions of the same game. Yes, I said "port". It lacks any fixes, and is pretty much a carbon copy of the previous PC, and console versions all the way down to the frame rate stuttering. As far as being "all inclusive" goes I simply mean that the additional DLC of the first game is included at no additional charge. You get the base singleplayer adventure from before which follows closely the exploits of the original Van Helsing's son, and his ghostly companion Katarina as well as the multiplayer tag-along-mode for an online co-op experience, should you feel the need to drag a friend along on the journey. Along with that is the character class DLC (Thaumaturge & Arcane Mechanic), and two new modes of play that extend up the originally offered four difficulty settings (Easy - Hellion) and two campaign types (Normal & Hardcore). Everything from the gameplay to the in-game mechanics, and even the campaign content stays fairly much the same. Those pesky problems I mentioned in my link, they are still there as well. The lack of a guide explaining what you should level up first still hinders early progress as does the abusive hive minded enemy AI which, for lack of a better word, makes for a proper fustercluck. It's a game experience that could have been great, but fell short due to over-complication.