The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II

 PC
User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 244 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 159 out of 244
  2. Mixed: 52 out of 244
  3. Negative: 33 out of 244

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  1. Ansatsu83
    Jan 11, 2015
    7
    This game is not bad at all. I picked it up on a steam sale, for 10 bucks, and it was well worth the purchase price. Its Diablo 2, Dracula style. The dialogue between the main character and his ghost friend is quite funny, at times. The game play is very close to diablo 2, in play, but it just feels great, the universe is good, its just a very good, underrated game. The only complaint IThis game is not bad at all. I picked it up on a steam sale, for 10 bucks, and it was well worth the purchase price. Its Diablo 2, Dracula style. The dialogue between the main character and his ghost friend is quite funny, at times. The game play is very close to diablo 2, in play, but it just feels great, the universe is good, its just a very good, underrated game. The only complaint I really have... Is the voice acting on the generic npcs is very monotone. It feels like they took audio recordings of each word and tried to stitch it together, just feels robotic.… Expand
  2. Kerberos07
    May 30, 2014
    6
    More than just a faithful adaptation of a cult TV series. It's a benchmark for translating a favourite property into a video game format, something that other licensed properties could learn from. And it's also the funniest game on the market.
  3. TheNikus
    Jul 16, 2014
    6
    I really enjoyed the first game, but this sequel is somewhat of a mess. It is more or less the same as the first game (literally) but with a lot of gimmicks thrown into it that clutter the whole experience (tower defense and army management, pet management, all very tedious).

    Speaking of clutter: the masses of enemies you encounter are insane! Sometimes you'll be dealing with a whole    I really enjoyed the first game, but this sequel is somewhat of a mess. It is more or less the same as the first game (literally) but with a lot of gimmicks thrown into it that clutter the whole experience (tower defense and army management, pet management, all very tedious).

    Speaking of clutter: the masses of enemies you encounter are insane! Sometimes you'll be dealing with a whole screen of enemies all clipped into each other and you'll have to kill them by whaling into the ball of bad guys for 5 minutes.

    The charm of the first game is also lacking. While the first game had its own humor, this one just throws in lame movie references like Terminator.

    My recommendation: Get the first Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing and all its DLCs and you'll have a better game than this.    … Expand
  4. LD9000
    Jun 30, 2014
    6
    Mediocre. After playing for a couple hours I have no desire to go back. Given that I've never played the first one, a lot of story seems disconnected - who is Katarina? Why do I have a bunch of soldiers under my command ?
  5. BIDMAL
    May 26, 2014
    5
    Major step down from the first part. I could excuse lots of bugs, since it is matter of time till they will get fix. But gameplay became dull and dumb: ability to change difficulty anytime you want, no hardcore mode (you can switch hc/sc for a character anytime too), no balance whatsoever on top of other casual mechanics which we all already got used.
    There were three good things about    Major step down from the first part. I could excuse lots of bugs, since it is matter of time till they will get fix. But gameplay became dull and dumb: ability to change difficulty anytime you want, no hardcore mode (you can switch hc/sc for a character anytime too), no balance whatsoever on top of other casual mechanics which we all already got used.
    There were three good things about the first game - story, gameplay and atmosphere as a result of first two. Now there's only story left, which is pretty short and unfinished with aiming for 3rd part.
    New features like chimera and rune-crafting are insignificant, irrelevant and dull.
    Big disappointment, i felt like it could be a great ARPG after failed D3, but Neocore decided to yield mainstream and casual players as well. And for those there already are polished games from major companies with more content.    … Expand
  6. Borreh1973
    May 28, 2014
    6
    Then immersed in the story is the strongest point of the game that continues where it stopped before. It has expanded skill system and option to start at level 30 lets you develop the game in a more dynamic way, sometimes improving the balance of combat, other times not changing anything in the routine hit-kill-loot.
    But the life bar falls frighteningly fast. 2 or 3 hits and you are lying    Then immersed in the story is the strongest point of the game that continues where it stopped before. It has expanded skill system and option to start at level 30 lets you develop the game in a more dynamic way, sometimes improving the balance of combat, other times not changing anything in the routine hit-kill-loot.
    But the life bar falls frighteningly fast. 2 or 3 hits and you are lying dead, even if you try to drink the potion will not have time to see the red bar back up.
    The main point to justify a middle score (6) is that the game is still a beta test, launched before the time ends. Let the players pay to test and find errors. It is cheaper, is not it? Then release patches correcting and then sell DLCs correcting and rewarding bidder. I see the future of this game (and their creators and their distributors) repeating the past of others. And I do not like what I see.    … Expand
  7. PowerGamer
    Jul 3, 2014
    6
    I really loved the first one. It was really great, kind out of no where to me, pleasantly surprised.
    On first impressions #2 it looked a lot the same. Even the starting level as I recall was about the same.
    Some stuff new, and some new stuff they probably shouldn't have attempted.. There are little one liners here and there, references to "Lord of the Rings", etc., the horrible    I really loved the first one. It was really great, kind out of no where to me, pleasantly surprised.
    On first impressions #2 it looked a lot the same. Even the starting level as I recall was about the same.

    Some stuff new, and some new stuff they probably shouldn't have attempted..
    There are little one liners here and there, references to "Lord of the Rings", etc., the horrible voice acting
    and, or, the flippant way they were delivered was very cheesy.
    For that manner, one of the main characters is horribly voice acted too. He sounded like that one teenage schoolmate you probably had too that could make this constant guttural burp like voice.

    The bottom line, PLEASE have you voice acting professionally done and directed, and, or, have very little of it. Even with great professional graphics and what not with such horrible amateurish voice acting it makes the whole game feel cheap and shallow.

    There is one big nagging problem that made me give up and uninstall it this time around after several hours of trying.
    And that is the user interface/control interface that has to do with battles (which is really what the game is about after all).
    The percentage of the time I could not direct where I wanted my attacks/skills to go.
    I would right click in a direction, or most certainly get the cursor right on my target, but the dumb game would be fooled and think I wanted to move instead! I would click to attack but instead I run right into the enemy..oh great.
    Same problems with other skills like I'd try to put down a flame wall (that I bound on right click).
    A good percentage of the time the game would mess up and no wall was put down, and with no sort of feedback why it didn't. It became unbearably frustrating.
    The game was getting hard at points where I couldn't but help thinking that "humm.. maybe I'd have a chance if the game would just let me control my damn character!"

    For any game really, the #1 thing is..playing it. You got to get that right. The player has to be able to expressively control their character.
    All the graphics fluff (and horribly voice acted one liners) should come AFTER the game play control is solid!

    My advice if you really want to play this game is choose a skill build that has the least directionality to it, instead go for general AOE's that go down with a press/click or ones that are centered on your character et al.

    They had a hit with the first Van Helsing game, now hopefully next time around they will mature as a game company and put enough focus more on actual game play and interface mechanics the next time around..    … Expand
  8. justanhonestguy
    Jan 15, 2015
    5
    Tried Van Helsing 2 never having played VH 1. The mechanics of having a spectral companion was cool, the level design seemed good, production values good, but for me it seemed to be aimed at spamfest fans, and that's just not my idea of interesting.
    I only played it for a few hours before being bored with hundreds/thousands of enemies and no real point other than grinding through them    Tried Van Helsing 2 never having played VH 1. The mechanics of having a spectral companion was cool, the level design seemed good, production values good, but for me it seemed to be aimed at spamfest fans, and that's just not my idea of interesting.
    I only played it for a few hours before being bored with hundreds/thousands of enemies and no real point other than grinding through them with the same skills. I thought the writing and voicing were ok, but repetitive even after a couple of hours. It seems like a decent clickfest if that's what you're into, but all others might want to wait for a deal. Reminded me of the old Gauntlet games. Totally boring to me personally. 5/10    … Expand
  9. Klewer
    Apr 9, 2016
    5
    Not sure what is what about this game but I just couldn't get in to it. Played for about 3-4 hours and it was boring. The feedback from attacks was poor and the difficulty varied so much, you'd waltz through 20 minutes and out of nowhere massive mobs you can't seem to clear. Better alternatives like Torchlight out there.
  10. Llaerrick
    Sep 12, 2014
    7
    a good game for those who like their ARPGs. this game has a little of everything: interesting classes, fun and diverse skill trees/specialization, a lot of random/fun loot and treasure-hunting, a very interesting crafting system, witty dialogue and generally fun combat. some of the dialogue between the main protagonist and his ghost companion is hilarious. the only real downer for me wasa good game for those who like their ARPGs. this game has a little of everything: interesting classes, fun and diverse skill trees/specialization, a lot of random/fun loot and treasure-hunting, a very interesting crafting system, witty dialogue and generally fun combat. some of the dialogue between the main protagonist and his ghost companion is hilarious. the only real downer for me was that the main campaign/game was a little short - but then again, at that price, it provided good entertainment and i still felt it was good value for money.… Expand
  11. thingamajiggly
    Sep 21, 2014
    5
    The game is annoyingly glitchy, and has extremely long load screens... It's ok playing with my boyfriend, I guess, but I would never recommend this game to anyone
  12. Hack
    Jul 7, 2015
    6
    Van Helsing II is an aRPG set in the mythical land of Borgovia. If you've played Grim Dawn, Diablo or Torchlight you'll be familiar with the gameplay. The game does have a unique ability system though, as you fight you gain rage which can be spent to powerup your abilities. For example lets say you're using a lightning spell, powering it up may cause enemies to be shocked, or it mayVan Helsing II is an aRPG set in the mythical land of Borgovia. If you've played Grim Dawn, Diablo or Torchlight you'll be familiar with the gameplay. The game does have a unique ability system though, as you fight you gain rage which can be spent to powerup your abilities. For example lets say you're using a lightning spell, powering it up may cause enemies to be shocked, or it may increase the number of enemies hit. A powered up spell only has one charge and can be activated with the spacebar, although this becomes tedious very fast and I'd wager 99.9% of people have this set to auto cast whenever available. The game allows you to set up powerup presets so you can very much set it and forget it and the game will automatically boost the chosen ability(s) whenever you have sufficient rage. Apart from that it's your usual aRPG fare, you have a standard talent tree with forks and paths, passive abilities and stat points which allow you to customise your character further.

    Throughout the game you're accompanied by your ghostly companion, Katarina. She works very much like the Torchlight pet, she can pick up items, fight for you and even be sent back to town to sell and buy which saves you the bother! She also has her own stats and talent tree, you can either build her to become stronger herself, or build her as a complete buff bot which will give you lots of powerful auras. Usefulness aside she's actually a big part of the game, and the banter between you and her is often really enjoyable, the voice acting for both Van Helsing and Katarina is top notch (the same can't be said for all the characters though!).

    The story will take around 10 hours to complete which is poor, and shorter than the first game. You will finish the story around level 30 but to do scenarios you'll need to be level 57 and I couldn't work out how to level up further. Perhaps this was only intended for people who imported their character from Van Helsing I but I started a new character so was much lower level by the end of the game.

    Technically the game is fine, most quests have voice acting which isn't always a given for this genre, especially from the smaller studios, and while not perfect it is pretty funny at times and there are plenty of references to other games and TV shows which I enjoyed. I will say the voice acting for Prisoner 7 is terrible, absolutely terrible and lowers the quality of the entire game by being so bad. Graphically the game is OK, it's a couple of years old and wouldn't have been anything to rave about back then, but it's fine. Performance is worse than Van Helsing I which stayed at 60fps without dips, whereas Van Helsing II will often dip in frame rate, and certain areas have issues and completely tank the frame rate. There is also a nasty bug with DX11 and Windows 8.1 where textures will not load, I suffered with this often and it made the game extremely frustrating at times.

    Overall it's better than Van Helsing I, but it also introduces its own problems so I can't score it higher than 6/10, which is what I gave the first game.    … Expand
  13. GraysonUA
    Mar 31, 2020
    7
    Діаблоїд з досить цікавим антуражем, та атмосферою. Багато класних пасхалок. Але не відчувається повноцінною, так як уся трилогія в принципі виглядає ніби серіал, який особливо не змінюється, лише сюжет. Відчувається дешевизна, не відчуваю імпакту від боїв, все якесь тускле.Діаблоїд з досить цікавим антуражем, та атмосферою. Багато класних пасхалок. Але не відчувається повноцінною, так як уся трилогія в принципі виглядає ніби серіал, який особливо не змінюється, лише сюжет. Відчувається дешевизна, не відчуваю імпакту від боїв, все якесь тускле.
  14. Wrathzo
    Mar 25, 2022
    7
    The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II is an action role-playing video game developed and published by NeocoreGames. In the second part of the unfolding saga that could also be enjoyed independently, you can explore new corners of this unique world and experience the mix of old-school gothic and mad science, with more action, powerful foes and plenty of stunning places to visit.

Awards & Rankings

99
#99 Best PC Game of 2014
89
#89 Most Discussed PC Game of 2014
97
#97 Most Shared PC Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 36 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 36
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 36
  3. Negative: 0 out of 36
  1. CD-Action
    Aug 25, 2014
    80
    As expected the sequel is massively improved and expanded (e.g. with two more character classes) in comparison to the original game. If it weren’t for Path of Exile and Reaper of Souls that got me my fix of hack’n’slash, I would be playing Van Helsing II till the third part appears. [08/2014, p.54]
  2. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Aug 21, 2014
    74
    To be honest The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II rather looks like a decent add-on than a sequel. But is this so important given that the game is still interesting just enough to keep us entertained till final credits? [September 2014, p. 60]
  3. Riot Pixels
    Jul 9, 2014
    67
    “I have this strange feeling of déjà vu…”, utters Van Helsing 5 minutes into the story campaign. Don’t look at the number in the title – this is an expansion pack, not a full-fledged sequel.
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