The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing - Part III Released

[MicoSelva]

I think we were missing a thread for this fun-looking hack'n'slash game, which seems more and more promising with each preview.

Release Date: 22 May 2013

-> Developer Blog <-

IncGamers

NeoCore’s upcoming game is an action-RPG, so surely The Walking a Few Steps and Slashing at some Monsters with a Sword of Van Helsing would be more accurate?

Perhaps so, but during the three hour act that this single player preview build of the game consisted of, I conversed with a werewolf, did battle with mechanical soldiers dressed in Napoleonic era uniforms and chatted about archaeology with an aquatic fellow named Professor Frog. By most standards, each of those events would qualify as an incredible adventure. I got all of them.

Did I mention that your AI companion is a sharp-tongued, aristocratic ghost from a fictional Eastern European nation?

PC Gamer

Van Helsing is accompanied in his familiar ARPG questing, slaying, and looting by Lady Katarina. A unique story companion, Katarina is a female spectre who can help you in combat, store loot, and sell things in town while you continue to mow through the legions of darkness. She has her own equipment slots, attributes, and skill trees as well. You can build her to be a sturdy melee combatant if you’re more of a “hang back and pick things off with my crossbow” sort of player, or invest in more support-driven abilities if you’d rather remain in the thick of things.

Polygon

In Van Helsing, players will have access to two separate skill trees: the melee skill tree and the ranged skill tree. According to Toth, both skill trees can be combined, and players can strategically choose paths so that their skills from both trees complement each other.

"So say you're building a melee character, you can use the spells of the ranged skill tree with a melee weapon," she said. "So there are many different ways you can advance your character."

Toth told Polygon that players will not be able to unlock every skill in a single playthrough, so they will be forced to choose a path. Their choices will then be reflected in their character. The game doesn't have character classes, but the skill trees allow players to customize Van Helsing and his companion, Lady Katarina, in such a way that one player may have a ranged character while another has a melee character and another has a magic-focused character.

GamesRadar

The story kicks off in the country of Borgovia, as Van Helsing arrives at his destination with his ghost companion Katalina. Katalina is more than just an NPC that you'll have casual conversations with, she also plays a significant role in combat, acting as a pet character of sorts. She can take on different celestial forms that make her useful in either melee combat, ranged attacks, or support buffs and her skills and gear are customizable as you level up. Depending on how you wish to deck out Van Helsing with skills, you can use Katalina to compliment your build. For example, if you wanted to play a close-ranged melee fighter, you could outfit Katalina with ranged or support skills to lay waste to enemies from a distance.

EDIT: All preview links are shamelessly stolen from GameBanshee.

EDIT 2: Some YT links:

Katarina trailer

Pre-order trailer

Rage and power-up system trailer

"Hunter's Lair" Trailer

 

[Metro]

This is multi-platform?

 

[Turjan]

This is multi-platform?

It's definitely here:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/215530/

This is Neocore. King Arthur I was pretty good, King Arthur II was crap. Let's see how this will turn out.

Edit: Seems as if it were PC only. I guess this has to be moved to prestigious "Computer RPG Discussion"

By the way, you can already buy a beta Steam key for $15 here.

 

[MicoSelva]

Edit: Seems as if it were PC only. I guess this has to be moved to prestigious "Computer RPG Discussion"

Nope. It's also to be released on XBLA.

 

[Metro]

It looks okay but I'm tired of Diablo clones at the moment.

 

[Zed]

sounds and look incredibly dull.

 

[tuluse]

From the descriptions I was hoping for something different. Like Thief with a combat focus, or a Bethesda style game done right, or a Dracula themed 3D metroidvania. Instead it's a Diablo clone.

 

[Turjan]

It's a bit of a waste of potential, indeed. The way the game looks now, it could have any name.

 

[MicoSelva]

GameBanshee preview. A bit soulless, but there's some new info on character and item system.

 

[Metro]

It'll make for nice bundle fodder. I like Neocore but they made a mistake foraying into this already crowded (sub) genre.

 

[1451]

This seems good, I was bored of reading and so I watched a gameplay video. Reminded me of Torchlight 2 which is good. Thanks for the thread, without it I probably wouldn't even notice it. They didn't invest much in promotion it seems.
To be honest, I don't like the pre defined female companion. It's just like the latest Bioshock in that regard, something about neckbeard fulfilment fantasies. I'll try to ignore this, as it might have some good writing in dialogues between the duo.

 

[Giauz Ragnacock]

DR. COX DISAPPROVES!

 

[MicoSelva]

New trailer reveals there will be tower defense elements in the game.

"Hunter's Lair" Trailer

 

[Dreaad]

This seems good, I was bored of reading and so I watched a gameplay video. Reminded me of Torchlight 2 which is good. Thanks for the thread, without it I probably wouldn't even notice it. They didn't invest much in promotion it seems.
To be honest, I don't like the pre defined female companion. It's just like the latest Bioshock in that regard, something about neckbeard fulfilment fantasies. I'll try to ignore this, as it might have some good writing in dialogues between the duo.

 

[Metro]

Hey Shithead, no hotlinking.

 

[Dreaad]

Sorry, I just assumed that's what the insert/edit image function was designed for.

 

[Metro]

I'm quoting the image that shows up in your post. Maybe it's a Firefox thing.

 

[Dreaad]

That's pretty amusing really

 

[Mastermind]

This looks awesome. Will starve another two months to buy. Or would if my computer wasn't shit. :patriot:

 

[Grunker]

So, this game is out now right? How is it?

 

[anus_pounder]

The game isn't out yet, in a manner of speaking. Will tell you once it is.

 

[Grunker]

The game isn't out yet, in a manner of speaking.

But Steam says May 22 :O

 

[anus_pounder]

The game isn't out yet, in a manner of speaking.

But Steam says May 22 :O

The game is now available if anyone wants to try it. 9.# GB, Its quite big for those with a potato net so watch out.

Gonna take some time out of my extraordinarily busy schedule (read - grinding mmos) to try a bit of this. Hopefully its decent.

 

[Grunker]

I think I'm going to try the... demo... and let that be the judge of whether I'll buy this game or not

It looks cool enough.

 

[laclongquan]

take one for codex. do Lp thingies!