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. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. djball
    Feb 28, 2018
    9
    Underrated gem, with a few costly mistakes. Extremely hard boss fights on normal difficulty, defense is crucial, think about your build . The Chimara fights are bloody ridiculous, and the final fight is simply RETARDED!! The Devs are ripped on crack.
  4. destinyfan1
    Feb 8, 2017
    8
    a good and addicting arpg with fun boss battles and very good graphics , great gameplay and character customisation ,and at least good dialogs... but i think the story is ( not bad ) but also not good , however their are changes in the game with new story campaign etc... it feels like the same as van helsing 1
    But in my opinion a great arpg that will keep you playing for maby weeks , but    a good and addicting arpg with fun boss battles and very good graphics , great gameplay and character customisation ,and at least good dialogs... but i think the story is ( not bad ) but also not good , however their are changes in the game with new story campaign etc... it feels like the same as van helsing 1
    But in my opinion a great arpg that will keep you playing for maby weeks , but not as good as diablo 3    … Expand
  5. Captain_Chaos
    Jun 22, 2016
    8
    Van Helsing 2 continues and expands on the gameplay of its predecessor in predictable, but satisfying ways. Beginning with the ability to import a saved character from the first game, II delivers an additional thirty levels of experience, new items, skills, quests, tower defense levels, enemies, quests, and sarcastic retorts from the ghostly Lady Katerina. It is more linear then the firstVan Helsing 2 continues and expands on the gameplay of its predecessor in predictable, but satisfying ways. Beginning with the ability to import a saved character from the first game, II delivers an additional thirty levels of experience, new items, skills, quests, tower defense levels, enemies, quests, and sarcastic retorts from the ghostly Lady Katerina. It is more linear then the first game, with fewer sidequests overall but more tower defense levels, and additional side mechanics that allow you to send out NPC captains to perform offscreen missions, rewarding you with additional gold and items, and an additional pet with customizable abilities. The equipment-modding obsessed can now alter their equipment in an additional way, via stat-increasing runes. While Van Helsing II treads ground already heavily traveled, it is nonetheless an excellent Diablolike and arguably a better singleplayer experience then many other titles in the genre, due in no small part to Van Helsing's both varied and powerful skillset. My hunter-class Van Helsing was capable of dealing extraordinary damage both to single targets and in an area, but was also very survivable thanks to a lot of lifesteal. The game is significantly easier on its normal difficulty then other titles in the genre, including the first Van Helsing, but offers two additional difficulty levels beyond that along with repeatable, randomized, high-level dungeons for the discerning munchkin. I will be proceeding directly to Van Helsing III and what I hope is a thrilling conclusion to the trilogy, and I will look forward greatly to Neocore's recently announced Warhammer 40,000 ARPG, Inquisitor - Martyr.… Expand
  6. 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.
  7. Aeryx
    Apr 9, 2016
    8
    Having played the original, I had high expectations. And although this didn't improve too far from the original, everything I loved about it is still here. The witty dialogue from the lovely Lady Katarina, Van Helsing, tons of gaming references, fast fluid gameplay, save game carry over from the first installment, base defense, commanders and tons of loot and customizations. This game isHaving played the original, I had high expectations. And although this didn't improve too far from the original, everything I loved about it is still here. The witty dialogue from the lovely Lady Katarina, Van Helsing, tons of gaming references, fast fluid gameplay, save game carry over from the first installment, base defense, commanders and tons of loot and customizations. This game is so packed full of RPG customization goodness that it is hard to fault for lacking in anything. There are some interface bugs which reset my melee attack interface everytime I loaded up the game, which is annoying and some lag. The voice acting is also, seemingly low-skill and low budget at best. But for $15, you really can't complain a lot as there is just huge huge value in this game that far surpasses nasty overpriced turds like Diablo 3. All the money went to development and game improvements. Nothing went to bribing "professional" Game Journalists and Media. No dollars were spent to producing fake expectations and hype. Overall, I love it and yes, I did get Van Helsing 3. Thumbs way up to the devs!… Expand
  8. eelegendo
    Jul 23, 2015
    0
    Neocore creativity summed up: put more monsters in the dungeons! More creativity: more monsters! But quantity not equals quality. If we die 500 times, all money goes to resurrection, feels like doing housecleaning and in the end we think: why are we even doing this? No problem, who cares about enjoying a game. Is it fun? No. Is it rewarding? No. Then why am I doing it?
    I got into the    Neocore creativity summed up: put more monsters in the dungeons! More creativity: more monsters! But quantity not equals quality. If we die 500 times, all money goes to resurrection, feels like doing housecleaning and in the end we think: why are we even doing this? No problem, who cares about enjoying a game. Is it fun? No. Is it rewarding? No. Then why am I doing it?
    I got into the Giantwoods, the screen was filled with monsters, literally filled. I could not see or control Mr. V. H. There was so many that sometimes I could not even do a thing and I was dead. Who thought this would be fun? The stupid controls were not fixed from the 1st part, so if there are many monsters on screen you're stuck. It is FUBAR.
    I closed the portal and the monsters were still coming back. After around 10000 killed, I lost my interest.
    So I died a lot of times and respawned and than I quit the game. That was it for me. It is meaningless, and not fun in any way. This game is even worse than the first one. I don't even care about IVH 3 or any other game from Neocore.    … Expand
  9. JoeHoodrock
    Jul 13, 2015
    10
    Hammer Game,es ist an alles gedacht worden.Das Gameplay ist einwandfrei.Die Optische Komponente ist echt okay.Die Umgebungen und die einzelnen Missionen werden Musikalisch,also die ATmosphäre wird so Authentisch wie möglich erstellt.Mir macht das Rollenspiel sehr viel Spaß und man viele möglichkeiten.Ein gutes Game um Chillig zu zocken..Grafik,Gameplay&Atmosphäre sind gute Arbeit,
  10. 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
  11. sh4dow
    May 22, 2015
    4
    Lost interest right at the beginning. Ornithopters spawning like crazy - I'm sitting there just hacking away, barely progressing... so I asked myself: Why am I doing this?
    There is really no good reason to sit at my PC and hold down the mouse button when there is really nothing going on in the game. So I'll play something else. It's a shame because I found the first game very amusing.
  12. Wrathymcpoo
    Feb 28, 2015
    0
    Horrible Broken Mess that wont even start past the loading screen. Waste of money don't buy cause you are not gonna get any type of refund and don't try to fix it, it will make it worst
  13. MustisTheCat
    Feb 25, 2015
    8
    Very good, laid back action rpg. I bought it because I was pleasantly surprised with the first Van Helsing and I was not dissapointed. Was the sequel improved? Well, yes. But I do not feel any of the improvements actually enriched the game. Many things are the same as in the 1st part, so this can even be called and expansion pack. There will be Van Helsing III and I`m sure than all of themVery good, laid back action rpg. I bought it because I was pleasantly surprised with the first Van Helsing and I was not dissapointed. Was the sequel improved? Well, yes. But I do not feel any of the improvements actually enriched the game. Many things are the same as in the 1st part, so this can even be called and expansion pack. There will be Van Helsing III and I`m sure than all of them could be made into just one game. Nevertheless, it was 15€ at premiere so it is worth it.

    Overall I should say I had much fun with it. Except for the bugs, which are still in the works 10months after release, it is a must buy for aRPG fans.

    STORY
    The story picks up on where Van Helsing I ended. It is quite generic but not too boring. The sidequests are a bit tedious. I liked all the minibosses and the endbosses (yes, there are two of them). The ending is very weak. Also, I felt that all of the banter between Katarina and Van Helsing was very weak. Same should be said about some cameo`s which were corny. Still, 34 hours of gameplay is not bad.

    GAMEPLAY
    I am somewhat confused about this. The gameplay is overall fun though it is hampered by bugs. I had many CTDs and some graphical bugs and that made me a bit nervous. Had to search for answers on the forums and even then I did not find an answer to my troubleshooting. I had to test the graphic options for a few hours.
    Other than that it is still Van Helsing. I started from lvl 30 and to be honest it was quite hard at the start. My hardware was simply not up to the task so I had to get new stuff straight from part II to go on.
    The gameplay is very dynamic, using player skills is easy. The AI is not very bright but you face literally SWARMS of enemies at once so it doesn`t matter too much. As in the 1st part, the tower defense sections are very nice and fun with many very cool traps.

    Sadly, the sequel did not improve what should get improved. As in the first Van Helsing, sometimes I had trouble recognizing where to go, I was often stuck at some bushes or crystals which resulted in many cheap deaths. It really can get iritating at times.

    The game features some new stuff with adding runes, getting a Chimera pet but I didn`t find them any interesting. I felt that more should be improved on creating new skillsets and auras, reworking the UI but none of that happened.

    MUSIC
    Same as in Van Helsing I. Very good, never boring. The devs gave OST which is very cool. I don`t mind if they use it in Van Helsing III.

    GRAPHICS
    Not much improvement over the 1st one. Still cool graphics but a little worse optimised. Most of the maps are the same. The user interface wasn`t changed much though it is still good.    … Expand
  14. 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
  15. 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
  16. Thiago_Fabrizio
    Dec 7, 2014
    10
    Não tenho o que reclamar, o jogo é lindo em gráficos, a ambientação é excelente, o audio é perfeito, a arvore de habilidades é realmente muito personalizada, a jogabilidade é muito boa, o jeito que vc pode controlar a sua ajudante, fazendo a mesma realizar tarefas chatas que vc não quer, tipo "vender objetos na cidade" ajuda muito nesse tipo de jogo.
  17. CoolDadTx
    Nov 9, 2014
    1
    One of the worst gimmicks I've ever seen. Took the first game, added thousands of extra HP to enemies, had them respawn infinitely in most areas and called it a new game. Some of the bosses have 1mil+ HP. This does absolutely nothing for fun except drag battles against overwhelming odds on and on.
  18. AlistairNY
    Sep 22, 2014
    8
    Great setting, humour and atmosphere make for a fun romp through this pretty, steampunk world. Visuals and voices are very good for a mid-range title. As to how it compares to others in its genre... I couldn't say because none of the others ever appealed enough to make me play them :)
  19. 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
  20. Fantarible
    Sep 14, 2014
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I've been playing this game for a couple of days and think it's fairly good for the price. think it was about 9$ on steam. It´s just one thing that annoys me and it is that the game is clearly made for several people to play coop in. It takes forever to kill some monsters when you play sigleplayer and the floating ship level is just ridiculous. Die, switch levels shoot the damn thing a couple of times, die switch levels shoot some more die...and so on, and You can't go back to the sanctuary either to do something more fun like exiting the game. I think it's gonna take me 2-3 hours just to off this boring boss.… Expand
  21. 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
  22. Decus
    Sep 12, 2014
    10
    Hands down one of my favourite games on Steam and I have far too many ;)!

    I loved the first iteration of Van Helsing and this just builds on it in so many positive ways. I can understand people saying the skill tree is a little random, but in reality, with a little thought it's quite intuitive. There's much more to the game than just hacking and slashing, the tower defense game is    Hands down one of my favourite games on Steam and I have far too many ;)!

    I loved the first iteration of Van Helsing and this just builds on it in so many positive ways.

    I can understand people saying the skill tree is a little random, but in reality, with a little thought it's quite intuitive.

    There's much more to the game than just hacking and slashing, the tower defense game is definitely one of the coolest examples, I can only hope and wait for them to release it on mobile :P. You have your own secret lair, send out commanders on missions and more.

    If you like ARPG's/Hackn'Slash with a little more meat to them in terms of extra features, like a great story, amazing atmosphere and environments, witty banter between you and your companions, many classic references, tons of humour and hands down one of the best soundtracks in a game, do yourself a favour and buy this for the ridiculously low price it's at. There are only minor downsides to the game and they really are only minor.

    Seriously good job to the devs - absolutely no idea why this game doesn't get more publicity, hope they continue this series!    … Expand
  23. fexef
    Aug 15, 2014
    10
    If you like ARPGs, you will love this game! I came into this game with only mild expectations due to some negative reviews and relatively lackluster reviewers - boy, was I surprised! This game advances the status-quo for the genre, taking the best features from games from Torchlight II and Diablo III and then upping the ante. An example of this is the perk system, which is similar to theIf you like ARPGs, you will love this game! I came into this game with only mild expectations due to some negative reviews and relatively lackluster reviewers - boy, was I surprised! This game advances the status-quo for the genre, taking the best features from games from Torchlight II and Diablo III and then upping the ante. An example of this is the perk system, which is similar to the "reputation" system in TL2, but instead of simply granting extra skill points, you can choose from a handful of semi-unique bonuses/abilities to give your build some more individuality.

    The cheap cost of respecing abilities/skills combined with the in-depth skill trees makes the skill system feel like a perfect blend between TL2 and D3 - you can easily swap out or experiment with new skills to tackle a certain level. Speaking of levels, they are quite varied, and will take you from drainage tunnels, mad scientist labs, urban streets, mountains, forests, and caves. The enemy types are just as varied, and I found the elite mob packs to be quite difficult if you don't have a balanced skill set!

    Combat itself is a joy, with very satisfying sound effects, explosions, and death animations. I never feel confused or disoriented, and always have total control of Van Helsing, which is great. The interface is fairly typical for an ARPG with one twist: the powerup system. Killing enemies gives you Rage points (also acquired through certain skills!) which can be consumed to activate a powerup associated with a skill. Each skill has 3 possible powerups with 3 activation levels, and you can activate any combination. For example, the basic skill "shot" shoot a single bullet at a single enemy...simple, right? Well, you can use a single powerup to increase it's damage by +50%, or cause it to do area effect damage for a +1 meter radius, or cause it to slow enemies by -30%...or make it do some combination of these! This really gives the combat some variety and, IMO, distinguishes it from other ARPGs.

    To sum it up, this game is the cream of the crop action rpg, and for the price, I can't recommend it strongly enough.    … Expand
  24. 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
  25. lorddragonstar
    Jul 12, 2014
    10
    I have had more fun with this game than other other game I can remember in recent times, it is a stellar ARPG for a ridiculous budget. If you played the first this is a must buy. If you haven't played the first one it's still a fantastic game if you like games similar to diablo, titan quest, or torchlight, but I highly recommend the first game as well.

    I did picked this up recently    I have had more fun with this game than other other game I can remember in recent times, it is a stellar ARPG for a ridiculous budget. If you played the first this is a must buy. If you haven't played the first one it's still a fantastic game if you like games similar to diablo, titan quest, or torchlight, but I highly recommend the first game as well.

    I did picked this up recently and I'm not seeing all the bugs other reviewers have mentioned. I've had a couple of crashes to desktop but the save system has ensured I've never lost a minute of progress, just had to restart the game.

    I love the story. The character voice acting and interactions are top notch - better than most AAA games. The plot is engaging and fun and keeps the player invigorated to complete the next objective. The music is PERFECT, I love the music in this game. The graphics are cool, lots of eye candy spell effects explosions and very nice animations.

    It is fantastically deep, re-playable, and has a fun endgame. You can specialize your character or respect into different builds, you can specialize your ghost companion, you can modify, enhance, and craft your items - in fact it has one of my favorite item crafting systems because it uses a number of different modifiers but each one is simple. Want an enchantment? Pay gold to the enchanter and get a random enchantment. Don't like that one? Remove it and pay for a new one! Quite easy, and when you do have the enchantment that you want and get a low roll, that's OK! Reroll to get a higher value (at the cost of gold)! Of course, you'll need lots gold, lol, which you get by playing the storyline, scenarios, or online.

    I also have to give a shout out to loot explosion lovers like myself. This is the first game in a long time that genuinely gets me excited about loot explosions. Sure, the mobs drop and plop the loot but you also get a chimera that you send on missions, when he comes back you get a loot explosion from whatever he gathered (usually 5+ rares on the higher missions). In the endgame you can do scenarios which drop lots of loot themselves, but you also randomly get keys that let you open up chests in your secret lair that - yes, give you loot explosions and chests can be reopened for each key you have!. It's so satisfying.

    I would pay $50.00 for this game, fortunately I only paid $15.00 and picked up the additional scenario for $5.00 which is rather short but I enjoyed it - a game lovers bargain for sure.

    I seriously can't recommend this game enough.    … Expand
  26. 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
  27. 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 ?
  28. Hermes_tri
    Jun 26, 2014
    8
    So, one year after the release of the awesome Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing 1 second part ia out. Neocore has managed to improve on many aspects on the game, without changing too much. Honestly, I like ARpg games although I like to play them and not grind them! I like the good story and charachets that feel alive. The game is well done, although it feels more like expansion then aSo, one year after the release of the awesome Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing 1 second part ia out. Neocore has managed to improve on many aspects on the game, without changing too much. Honestly, I like ARpg games although I like to play them and not grind them! I like the good story and charachets that feel alive. The game is well done, although it feels more like expansion then a second part. Story is better this time around, its more logical with better character evolution. Gameplay is much better, three classes(actually four, as the hunter class has two completely different trees) push you to level up all of them ae they are so distinct - warrior specializes in melee combat with either in and out skirmish attacks or tanking the mobs, Hunter rolls with guns and burst damage, Thaumaturge either controls the battlefield and mobs with various spells, or destroys them with wallw of fire, ice and wild energy. This class has lots of drawing, holding and fast clicking skills. The last class is the Arcane Mechanic - he uses various gadgets and can summon awesome mechanical spiders to fight for them - this changes the gameplay completely.

    Environments are different, and some of them are so beautiful and atmospheric with nice weather effects.

    Enemies range from forest creatures, to lots of mechanical and steampunk mutants and to even few undeads. Game could use more undeads actually but they probably saving it for next part. I loved the minigames - one is tower defense(totally skippable if you prefer that), and second is a resistance management game where you decide who to send on which mission. Your chimera pet also gives you choice - do you take it with you as a helper or send it on the hunts for some special items?

    Loot - there is plenty of it! Swords, axes, pistols and staves, and some more. Skills are flashy and impactful, although some of them feel not logical(I know its an ARpg) and not balanced.

    So few things for me detract from 9 or 10 - the game coukd be longer, choices could have more impact, Ui could be cleaner, more enemy types, more rounded story without such obvious sequal bait and better villain.

    So there you have it, bargain for the price - 8 out of 10 for me.

    P.s. Dont forget to check the ingame journal, its awesome    … Expand
  29. LauraPax
    Jun 15, 2014
    9
    Van Helsing II is an entertaining experience, full of variety of play and witty and often hilarious dialogue between Van Helsing and Lady Katerina. A lot of the play is old Diablo II style, which most gamers fell in love with and which Diablo III failed to replicate. The Van Helsing series is like a steampunk version of Diablo. VHII is steampunk in the sense that you are fighting in aVan Helsing II is an entertaining experience, full of variety of play and witty and often hilarious dialogue between Van Helsing and Lady Katerina. A lot of the play is old Diablo II style, which most gamers fell in love with and which Diablo III failed to replicate. The Van Helsing series is like a steampunk version of Diablo. VHII is steampunk in the sense that you are fighting in a world of mad science and machines (and you get to use guns and not just the traditional RPG swords.) The music is hypnotic and beautiful. Beginning VHII, you have the choice of three ways to play Van Helsing. I chose Van Helsing classic, because I like the traditional hat-and-cape, gun wielding character, but you can choose from two other character versions, including "arcane mechanic." This game is different also because you are in command of a team of four experts and you send them out on missions. If you don't like the "traps" mini-game from VHI, you can assign one of your experts to do it instead. I thought the traps game was harder in VHII. I couldn't win it and so I assigned it to one of my captains. I have no idea whatsoever why this game was only $15. It's worth at least twice that. Although I only played for 30 hours, the game has good re-play value, since you can alter the character and it is easier to fail quests (and there are far more "Easter eggs") in this game than in other games of this genre. There are lots of ways to vary the game experience and you may want to replay parts of the game to see if you can succeed where you failed before. I like the variety of matching armor sets you can collect, too. I only rated the game a 9 because of a couple of technical things. I could never get my "chimera" to come when called. The "summon" button didn't work. Also, I couldn't use the rune crafting machine. It wasn't intuitive like the essence insertion one. I loved this game.… Expand
  30. nutcrackr
    Jun 6, 2014
    8
    Good sequel that improves quite a few areas. Tower defense is better with more arenas and smarter level flow - but don't worry they are optional. Spent most time with the new Thaumaturge class, which is fantastic because of the many awesome spells. You can still get pretty complex with different attacks and combos. You can change your spec up quite easily in the Secret Lair which isGood sequel that improves quite a few areas. Tower defense is better with more arenas and smarter level flow - but don't worry they are optional. Spent most time with the new Thaumaturge class, which is fantastic because of the many awesome spells. You can still get pretty complex with different attacks and combos. You can change your spec up quite easily in the Secret Lair which is populated with more people for this adventure.

    Campaign is reasonably lengthy, 15 hours or so, with a few alternate quests you might miss first time through. Monster variety and world design better this time, no more wave after wave of electric werewolves like the end of the first game. Scenarios are replayable levels, they are quite good but locked away at level 57 and that will take like 25hrs if you start from a blank character.

    Would have liked to see more lush zones and monster hunting, but the steampunk design is better for this sequel largely thanks to the stunning rainy night misson. Multiplayer is still buggy and rough around the edges, PvP seems the most underdone although it’s probably not something I’d play much anyway. Couple of areas that overstay the welcome, namely the Viaduct Junction. At least cooperative modes are more fun because of the class variation. I am quite impressed with the performance during heavy action too, seems well optimized for the big battles.    … Expand
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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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