Review: The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing III (PlayStation 4)
In Borgovia, the war is over, but the future looks grim. The city of weird science is in ruins, squabbling factions and criminals fight for power and a strange cult prophesizes the coming of “the end times.” And they might be just right: a wave of uncanny events shakes the land, and it’s all connected to a mysterious creature, a former ally turned into a fearful arch-villain. This means that Van Helsing will do what he does best: he grabs his weapons, prepares his deadly tricks, and hunts down the most dangerous monster who has ever lived… and this time it’s personal. He’s prepared to do anything to achieve his goal, even to face the darkest secret about the birth of the modern Borgovia.
Pros:
- Decent graphics.
- 13.26gb download size.
- Platinum trophy.
- ARPG gameplay.
- Six character types-Protector/Bounty Hunter/Elementist/Umbraust/Phlogistoneer and constructor.
- Five difficulties-Casual/normal/hard/heroic and fearless.
- Hardcore option. (one life)
- Game settings-Blood/hats/pets/respawning enemies/health bars/auto equip/highlight.
- Video settings-performance (1080), Balance (1620) and quality (4k).
- Uses DS4 speaker.
- Platinum trophy.
- Tutorial tips as you play.
- Main hub-Buy/sell items, forge, gamble station, army tabletop, shop, stats reset guy, NPC to interact with, Chimera.
- War table-buy/recruit/upgrade an army and send them out to complete objectives and bring back loot. It plays out in real-time behind the scenes.
- Optional side quests pop up as you play.
- Lady Katarina- your Ai partner who you can get loot for/equip gear, change her appearance and behavior and if and what she can collect for you. She levels up and has her own skill tree.
- Chimera-feed it essence to level him up and send him out on hunts for loot and target missions.
- Horde mode-different mission type that plays out like a tower defense as you fight waves of enemies and set traps.
- Fast travel points.
- Nice dark Gothic feeling locations.
- Big boss fights.
- Tiered enemy types and loot has rarity levels.
- Secret areas to find.
- A decent well-told story.
- Takes a lot of mechanics and ideas from Diablo 3.
Cons:
- Can’t rebind controls.
- Small text size.
- Slow pace.
- The slowdown in built-up areas.
- Tower defense/horde mode is really slow and drawn out.
- Daunting menu structure with lists of numbers and tabs.
- Not a lot is explained especially with how leveling up works, feats, trophies, etc.
- It plays the same as the last game.
- Table wars are real-time but only when you are in the game and playing.
- Hit detection issues.
- The view can get obscured.
- Wooden voice performances in place.
