The fantastic gameplay from the original is also back and better than ever. The game features three classes: the classic Hunter, the magical Thaumaturge, and the heavy gunning, master engineering Arcane Mechanic. This time around, instead of a single small page filled with some semi-effective skills, a massive page with a towering amount of skills is now at your disposal. Just like I mentioned in the preview of The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II, this allows for a deeper level of customization that empowers the player to create a more distinct Van Helsing character. No matter which class you end up choosing, the same empowerment can be found with each; no one class is better than the others. I personally chose the Hunter and focused on damage-per-second and healing capabilities. Best of all, it’s easy to “create” these sub-classes due to the fantastic range of skills and accessibility in the game design.
You also get full control of your secret lair this time around, and it features a plethora of things to take up your time. There are shops, enchanters, crafters and smithies to suit all of your needs. There’s also the ability to fully control your resistance. You can raise the strength of your forces, and even send them on various missions that have to do with ridding Borgovia of General Harkers minions. Sometimes, the tunnels leading to your stronghold will be threatened by said minions, which gives you option of either clearing them yourself or sending your soldiers. If you choose to do it yourself then you’re treated with a fun tower defense mini-game that was found in the first game. While I found the strategic tower defense mode fun, I normally chose to use my resistance soldiers so they could gain experience and level up. I mean, come on, what’s a leader with out a powerful force, right?
The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II is packed to the brim with content. Amongst the 20-hour campaign, Neocore Games filled each environment to the brim with easter eggs and branching sidequests that will take multiple playthroughs to find. Thankfully, like the first game, New Game Plus makes a return. There are also plenty of co-op offerings ranging from the difficult Nightmare Scenario Mode, Story Mode and a PVP battle arena. While PVP and the co-op story mode are pretty self-explanatory, Nightmare Scenario Mode offers excruciatingly difficult challenge levels with a high chance of powerful loot. So, even after the story mode comes to an end, there are plenty of reason to come back to the game.
Throughout the years of me consuming any tasty bit of ARPG goodness I could get my hands on, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II had me enthralled. Heck, even after the campaign was finished, I instantly started my New Game Plus playthrough; it’s going to be a while before I put this bad boy down. Thankfully, the series isn’t over yet as Neocore Games planned the The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing to a be a trilogy. I know I’ll be anxiously awaiting Van Helsing’s grand finale, but, until then, I have some adventuring to do!
The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II can be bought on Steam for $14.99.
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Review copy provided by Neocore Games.
