What is it: This is a Diablo style game with a steampunk theme, with the playing taking on the role of the son of the famed Doctor Van Helsing. It features a lengthy campaign, lots of monsters to kill, a skill system that allows for quite a bit of customization, and of course lots of shiny loot. I put about 25 hours into this game, and enjoyed almost every moment of it. More on that later.
Pros
Graphics - It's a good looking game. It has a very realistic style, something very similar to TitanQuest. The presentation of a dull, industrialized world is very well shown in the city landscapes, and the villages are nicely done, reminding me of eastern Europe. The intervening times in the wilderness and the Ink had their own style, and every area had a uniqueness to it.
Music/Sound - Very well done, I could sit and listen to this all day. There's a good variety of music, and the sound design fits the areas nicely. The sounds for the various monsters and devices works nicely and helps to round out the setting. There's a eerie sense of beauty to the music, which also suits the setting quite well.
Character Customization - This is where the game really shines. No matter which of the three classes you pick, there is a crazy amount of customizing. With the base class of Hunter, you can pick a path of guns or swords. The DLC added two classes, the Arcane Mechanic, and Thaumaturge. The Arcane Mechanic focuses on things like grenades, mechanical constructs, and various kinds of traps, while the Thamaturge focuses on magical spells of many kinds. Each class has a unique look with the different kinds of armor and weapons. The Hunter looks like a Van Helsing that just stepped out of a movie, complete with many kinds of hats. The Mechanic wears a gas mask, a chemical tank on his back, and always has something to shoot at the enemies. The Thamaturge looks the most theatrical, wearing a mask and flowing capes.
Every class also has access to auras and tricks, passive and active skills that makes the game easier. These include auras that heal you or cause more damage, and tricks that provide active heals and additional damage cooldowns. The customization even extends to your ghost companion Katatina, who has her own tree of auras and tricks to use.
Lady Katarina - Your ghostly companion is perhaps the best part of the game. Snarky and always striving to be in charge of the situation, she constantly taunts your character, but is ultimately very helpful. She can also store items for later vendoring, as well as sending her to buy potions if you run out in the middle of adventuring.
Story - It's pretty solid. Lots of interesting little points and characters to be found along the way, as well as a few references to your character's father. The theme of weird science gone mad permeates the whole story, and it becomes a battle of Van Helsing against these many elements. There are quite a number of side missions as well, and choices to be made. While they do not ultimately affect the outcome of the game, it's neat that there are a few moral decisions to be made. With Katarina commenting the entire way.
Monsters - There are a LOT of different beasts, constructs, and other things affected by weird science to fight throughout the game. In one area, you can fight at least a half dozen different kinds of enemies, each with their own behaviors and nasty tricks. There are elite monsters as well, with additional nasty skills. Something fun for me was seeing all the different kinds of monsters from mythology, such as rusalka, domovoi, and others.
Other elements - You have a lair once you hit the big city, which has a customizable maze you can set with traps. Every now and again, you get missions to defend the lair with aid from those traps. Once you finish the story, there are a couple of options for continuing the game. You can either start over at a higher difficulty, or go on special scenarios. Both will drop high quality loot.
Cons
DLC - I purchased the DLC as part of a package, but I am not sure if I would have bought it separately. Each class is $4 each, and extra skills for Katarina is another $2. While the extra classes are nice, they add no additional content or missions to the game. It feels like this should have been included content. Not a game breaker, but I would recommend getting these either on sale, or in a bundle.
Difficulty - It ramps up without any sort of warning at various points of the game, which can be very annoying. When you get swarmed by a number of elites in multiple packs, it can be very difficult to get out of.
The ending - I have to admit that I did not actually finish the game, I got stuck on the very last battle. I got frustrated, and found a video to tell me what happened. And it really wasn't much of an ending.
I would have been very upset had there not been a second game as follow up.
Gameplay - My only dislike for this category is that there is little in the way of innovation. It's pretty standard in running around and shooting, stabbing or setting monsters on fire.
Overall - It's a pretty solid game, with an interesting premise, and lot of funny moments. There's a two headed, talking cow in the first village you find, just as a hint. If you buy the DLC, there should be a class and style to suit just about anyone. To me, this one is well worth getting, and a very good start to a franchise.
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