Sometimes you wonder why games are made out of movies, and most of the time whether the movie is good or bad the game usually feels like something thrown together as some sort of marketing ploy to get as much as they can out of its release. When it comes to Van Helsing whether you see the movie or not, this game seems to be able to stand on its own two feet, giving you some challenging gameplay followed up by some great graphics.

The game like the movie is set in a time where creatures of darkness roam the earth tormenting and preying on the innocents. Some of the foes you will encounter are many of the favorites including Dracula, the Wolf Man, and Frankenstein's monster. Not only are there well know characters in the game but there are many other opponents to keep you interested so you can slice and dice through the game with a large selection of weapons.

Your standard weapons when you begin the game are the buzz saw-like tojo blades and duel pistols, but also included in Van Helsing's arsenal is a grappler gun that shoots out a piercing hook that can be used to swing to areas you are unable to jump to, and even in battle to grab enemies. The grapple gun does sound like a fun item to use but for the most part it doesn't have very much effectiveness in a battle except for using it to pull you out of danger. If you do shoot it at an enemy it grabs them and pulls it right in front of you where it can bash on you more. It would have been a great feature if the game would have expanded on the grappler so that it could have been used more as a weapon at times because it is a lot of fun to use. If you think about how the whip in Castlevania made it famous and how much fun it was to snap at enemies just think about grappling an enemy and smashing them to the ground or into other objects.

During the game you pick up more weapons and items as the enemies get more difficult. Some of the weapons you acquire are a shotgun, crossbows, and even a lightening gun to send some shivers down the backs of these haunting opponents. One very cool feature of the weapons is that they have a secondary power-up almost doubling the amount of weapons at your disposal. Discovering the potential of each of the weapons is something you will find out during the course of the game. Some weapons work better on certain foes, like using the powered up shotgun to blow stone enemies to bits. The really great thing about having such a wide range of weapons to use is the ability to switch between them very easily. When it comes to this games fast paced action, you will definitely need that.

One huge complaint that really takes away from the gameplay is the bad camera angle. In keeping with the concept that the game you are playing is "movie-like" the games camera angle shifts around automatically giving you different perspectives. It becomes apparent very quickly that it is going to be a problem especially when during fights you are attacking enemies that are off the screen but you have no idea what or who they are. It would have been a really nice feature if you had control of the games camera. Yes, it's an artistic thing to flip the camera around giving you that cinematic presence, but at least give us the choice to move the camera so we can see who is kicking our butt. Most likely the reason why the auto aiming of weapons was added to game was so that you can at least target an enemy even if you can't see them. Who wants to shoot off the screen and not see the carnage though?

Van Helsing is a pretty straight forward linear single player game. It keeps you visually enticed and doesn't lose your attention because of its fast paced action. If you are a big Castlevania fan and looking for something to tide you over until Konami decides to release another title in the series, give this one a run through.